The Chocolate Touch

Most of the time, John Midas was a nice, well-behaved boy. In fact, he only had one fault, but it was a big one. He was candy mad. He devoured it every day, never shared it, and spent all of his money to buy more. In this modern-day cautionary tale, which may remind you of a Greek myth you know, children learn the hard way what happens if you eat too much sugar.

When his mother notices red spots on John's nose, she takes him to see Dr. Cranium, who shines his little light in the boy's throat. "Gracious me-he seems to be full of candy!" the good doctor declares. Though the doctor and John's mother implore him to eat fewer sweets, John craves more, especially chocolate. He would like chocolate all the time. (And so would some of us, come to think of it, which is why readers identify so strongly with the insatiable boy.) Heading to his friend Susan's house on Sunday, he notices a coin on the sidewalk. It's the size and shape of a quarter, but on one side, there's a chubby boy, and on the other, the initials "J. M." When he comes upon a little corner candy store he's somehow never noticed before, the friendly store owner inexplicably welcomes him by name, and swaps John's special coin for a big box of chocolate.

Back in his bedroom, the greedy guy tears off the wrappings from the box, which contains only a tiny piece of chocolate, wrapped in gold paper. Disappointed, John nevertheless pops the chocolate in his mouth. "It was the most chocolatey chocolate he had ever encountered." The next morning, his toothpaste tastes like chocolate. His orange juice tastes like chocolate. His bacon and egg taste like chocolate. Even his leather glove tastes like chocolate. In fact, everything he puts into his mouth turns to chocolate, which turns out to be an unexpected affliction at school and with his friends all day, and then a real disaster once he goes home.

Themes : CHOCOLATE. FANTASY. HUMOR. MAGIC.