"The Chocolate Touch"



Modern Fantasy book reflection – week 3

 

 

Catling, P.S. (1952). The chocolate touch. New York: Harper Trophy.

The genre of The Chocolate Touch is a modern fantasy chapter book that tells the story of what happens to a little boy who eats too much chocolate. 

Plot/Summary: The story has a progressive plot and the main character and protagonist of the story is John Midas.  John is a greedy boy who loves candy, especially chocolate.  His parents try to get him to eat healthy food choices, but all he wants to eat is chocolate.  He eats so much that his mom makes him drink a vitamin tonic so that he can get proper nutrients that his body needs.  John’s doctor orders that he is not to eat anymore chocolate.  This news was not what he wanted to hear.  John had to find a way to get his hands on some chocolate.  One day he found an unusual coin and notices a candy store that he had never seen before.  So of course he goes in with his coin to purchase some chocolate.  When he got the box of chocolate home he saw that there was only one piece, so he ate it.  This chocolate was unlike any chocolate that he had eaten before.  The next day strange things start to happen to John; everything he drinks or eats tastes like chocolate.  John faces different conflict throughout the story such as person-against-person because people do not believe him.  It is not until the end that he meets his greatest conflict  of person-against-self when something happens to his mother that might make him reconsider his craving for chocolate.  John has to make a very important choice.  Read the book to find out what happens to his mother and the decision that John makes.

               The Chocolate Touch has a book level of 4.7 and can be used to teach many different standards.  One standard that it can be used to teach in the 3^rd grade would be RL3.3 describes characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.  Students could talk about words that describe John’s character traits and use examples from the story to support their ideas.

Big Questions: “What would you do if everything you consumed tasted like chocolate?” “What is one word that you could use to describe John and why did you choose that word?”