Review – The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling (4/5 stars)

I got this book as part of a clearance bundle at Half Price Books.  This is a short kid’s book (beginning chapter book) that tackles the evils of candy and the results of selfish behavior.  It was a fun read and I liked it.  It is suitable for kids of all ages and adults will find it amusing too.

John loves candy, especially chocolate.  He loves it to the point where his parents are getting concerned and are trying to get him to give up his candy habits.  Then one day John finds a strange coin and stumbles upon a strange candy shop.  The coin buys him a box of chocolates.  When he opens that box it is not what he expected.  Now everything tastes like chocolate and his affliction (at first a blessing) seems to be getting out of control.

This was a cute story with good illustrations.  It is pretty short for a novel, as an adult it took me maybe 15 minutes to read it.  The idea of everything tasting like chocolate and turning into chocolate is amusing and good for a few laughs.  Overall a great retelling of the King Midas story that kids should be able to relate to well.  The writing was straight forward and easy to read, very appropriate for the age group it was written for.

The book also teaches a good lesson about moderating the amount of candy you eat, not being greedy, and not being selfish.  This was a fun book that I will be keeping around to read to my son when he gets older (he is only three now).