Title: The Midas Touch
Author: Jan Mark
Illustrator: Juan Wijngaard
Traditional Literature #3
Traditional Literature #3
As a child I remember either hearing about, reading
about, or seeing a rendition of this old tale so this was a trip down memory
lane for me. In this rendition of the story there were little to no differences
from what I originally remember happening. In the beginning, a centaur has
fallen asleep in King Midas’s vineyard and his workers have decided to tie him
up for fun. Appalled by their actions, King Midas frees the creature. Luckily
for him, the god Dionysus is watching and offers to reward him for his good
deed by letting him make one wish. Being the foolish man he is, Midas asks that
everything he touches be turned to gold. This poses quite a problem when the
clothes he wears, the bed he sleeps in, the ground he walks on, and the food he
attempts to eat all turn to gold! Within a few days of his wish being granted,
Midas is starving and wishing he had never asked for such a thing! Thankfully,
Midas locates Dionysus and asks that his wish be revoked and, because his
original intent was to reward and not punish him, Dionysus agrees.
I remember this story kind of scaring me when I was
little because I imagined not being able to eat and choking on gold food and
how terrible it would be. Because of this, I’m not sure if I would use this
story with younger children. However, I do think the book would work nicely for
students aged 3rd to 5th grade. I love the illustrations and mosaics used. The are beautiful to look at. I also like how the story has
the all-important “you should be careful what you wish for” meaning and the
overall idea that the grass is not always greener on the other side. You may
think things would be better if things were a certain way but that is not
always the case and that is an important concept for students to learn
particularly at the age level that I mentioned. In the end, this is a great
book I will be sure to include in my own library.
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