The Chocolate Touch Chapter 1

Volume past Patrick Skene Catling

The Chocolate Touch
1979 HarperCollins edition
Author	Patrick Skene Catling
Illustrator	Mildred Coughlin McNutt
Country	The states
Language	English
Published	1957 past William Morrow
Pages	128
OCLC	1470182

The Chocolate Touch is a children'south book by Patrick Skene Catling, first published in the US in 1957. John Midas is delighted when, through a magical souvenir, everything his lips touch on turns into chocolate. The story is patterned later the myth of King Midas, whose magic turned everything he touched into golden. The original illustrations were past Mildred Coughlin McNutt, but some other edition in the aforementioned year, a "newly illustrated" edition, had illustrations by Margot Apple and more pages.^[1]

Summary [edit]

John Midas is a young boy with an intense, but obsessive love of confectionery, particularly chocolate. Dr. Cranium, the Midas' family unit doctor warns John that his wellness is poor, and until further notice, he is to eat only those foods that are conducive to a healthy trunk, much to the boy'due south disgruntlement. The medico'south orders are backed by John's folks, who dispose of their son's unabridged processed stash and have control over his spending money. Angered at having his life micromanaged, John goes for a walk to clear his head.

Whilst on his excursion he sees a money on the footing. John rejoices over his good fortune; having found a manner to clandestinely acquire some chocolate. However, when he studies the coin he sees it is engraved with the paradigm of a fat boy and the letters JM, and dismisses it as a unknown token. Fifty-fifty so, John remarks the coin is unique every bit JM stands for John Midas, and decides to hang on to it. Also on his walk he comes across a candy store he has never seen before. Even more odd is that the shop is run by a human being whom John has never met before, just is friendly and refers to John by name and extols his chocolate as the finest ever. The confectioner offers John a box of his chocolates in exchange for the strange coin. That night before going to bed, John decides to take 1 final chocolate feast, only to be dismayed to find the box contains cipher salvage for an ordinary chocolate ball, which does not taste overly different from most other types of chocolate.

The side by side morning, John is amazed to observe everything he eats tastes like chocolate. Then, the Chocolate Bear on's furnishings go into full swing, and whatsoever touches his mouth turns to chocolate. However, he cannot properly hydrate himself this style. He then gets tired of eating chocolate and yearns once again to exist able to consume foods with nutrients, viewing ham sandwiches, sliced chicken, cherries and other such prosaic fare equally Earth'southward choicest delicacies, for the first time in his young life preferring "normal food" to candy. The boy also realizes everything he touches with his oral fissure transforms into chocolate, as evidenced when he turns his trumpet into a chocolate trumpet during ring do. John ruins the altogether party of his friend Susan when a game of bobbing for apples results in everyone being awash in chocolate sauce. John tells his dad he needs help. Under the impression John needs reinforcement with his diet, they become to Dr. Cranium, who prescribes a tonic - John promptly spits out chocolate syrup and a chocolate spoon, exposing John's chocolate transforming ability. Dr. Cranium then turns his attention to his own fame in the medical world, calling this "Cranium'due south affliction", and Mrs. Midas cries when she finds out John is affected by this apparent disease. In lodge to comfort her, John tries to kiss his mother, but he turns her into a chocolate statue. Horrified, he rushes to the candy store, where the chocolate vendor tells him only greedy people can see the money he spent at the store. He offers John a pick between restoring his mother to normal and removing the chocolate touch on and John begs him to help his mother. Recognising that John has repented, the shopkeeper promises that all the things John turned to chocolate take reverted to their original states, his friendship with Susan is repaired, and neither his parents nor Dr. Attic have any knowledge of the chocolate transforming ability. John returns home to a tranquility house and his mom once once more a living human woman. Realizing every bit part of his reformation he ought to thank the shopkeeper for undoing all the harm, he runs back to the candy store, simply to see zippo but an empty lot.

Themes [edit]

The Chocolate Touch covers roughly the aforementioned narrative as the myth of King Midas, hence the name John Midas, but in changing the object of its protagonist's want, modifies its target in significant ways. The myth of Rex Midas, who loved gold above all things, targets greed as its main theme, while The Chocolate Impact highlights some other of the Seven Deadly Sins, gluttony. Both stories bargain with self-centeredness versus compassion, though The Chocolate Affect does so in a manner accessible to children.

Significance [edit]

The Chocolate Touch is nonetheless in print, and is often used in course school curricula throughout the United States.^[2] ^[iii] It won the Massachusetts Children'south Volume Honor^[iv] in 1989, the Utah Children's Choice Honors Award in 1983,^{[ commendation needed ]} and the Beehive Laurels^[five] from the Children's Literature Association of Utah in 1983.

References [edit]

^ The Chocolate Touch at WorldCat
^ eMints National Eye, "Literature: "The Chocolate Bear on" past Patrick Catling", accessed 01-21-2009
^ ksagclassroom.org, The Chocolate Touch in form material and lesson plan, accessed 01-21-2009
^ The Massachusetts Children's Book Award, "1989 - The Chocolate Affect by Patrick Catling", accessed 01-21-2009
^ The Utah Beehive Awards, "Utah Children'southward Fiction Volume Honour - The Chocolate Touch By Patrick Catling (1983)", accessed 01-21-2009