“The Chocolate Touch” by Patrick Skene Catling is a funny children’s book about a young boy named John Midas who loves chocolate. He would rather eat chocolate than any other food in the whole world, and he won’t eat his regular meals. His parents have tried to explain to him that it’s important to have a balanced diet and that he really should have fruits and vegetables, but he won’t eat them. Consequently, every night he has to take a yucky vitamin tonic to offset some of the damage done by the sugar.
One day while walking to a friend’s house, he finds a strange coin lying in the street. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket, thinking that he’ll start a coin collection. As he turns the corner, he sees a candy shop, its window filled with all sorts of chocolate. He’s never seen such a display in all his life, and he heads in.
The owner tells John that this chocolate is the best in all the world, and that for the price of the very coin in John’s pocket, he can take home a great big box. John can hardly believe his good fortune and hands over the money, picking out a pretty box. He sneaks it into his bedroom, and as soon as he’s tucked in for the night, he undoes the bow.
He’s disappointed to find only one small piece of chocolate in the box, but it is the very best chocolate he’s ever tasted. When he wakes up in the morning, he discovers something unusual – his toothpaste tastes like chocolate, and he eats the whole tube’s worth!
Breakfast is wonderful – chocolate orange juice, chocolate toast, chocolate eggs and bacon – everything tastes like chocolate! He thinks he’s died and gone to heaven. But as the day progresses, he finds that everything he puts in his mouth tastes like chocolate, from the pencil he nibbled during a test, to the glove he chews while thinking. Soon his mouth is dry and he wants a drink, but water tastes like chocolate too.
During lunch, he feels pretty tired of all the chocolate, and tries to put a healthy meal on his tray. But his sandwich and fruit taste like chocolate too. Worst of all, when he gets home and kisses his mother on the cheek, she turns into a chocolate statue!
Running back to the candy store, John sets things right with the owner and everything is restored to normal, including John’s mother. Best of all, he learns an important lesson – there’s more to life than chocolate, and love is always better than greed.
(This book was first published in 1952.)
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