King Midas and the Golden Touch

by Kathryn Hewitt (Adapter), Nathaniel Hawthorne

A king who wishes for the golden touch is faced with its unfortunate consequences.

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 1987

Reviews

[Joe Bertelloni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Categories/Genres for this class fulfilled by this book: Traditional, Picture book

Copyright Date: 1988

Estimate of age level of interest: K-3rd Grade

Estimate of reading level: 2nd-3rd Grade

Brief description:
King Midas and the Golden Touch is the story of King Midas who so loves gold that he wishes for the power to turn anything he touches into gold. At daybreak his wish is granted and he immediately starts turning everything into gold. His glasses (which he can no longer see through), books (that he can no longer read), and finally his daughter. When he realizes that his poor daughter is now trapped as a gold statue, he laments his wish and it is reversed.

Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book:

The plot structure of King Midas and the Golden Touch is reminiscent of a fable wherein the king learns a valuable lesson at the end. Here the king is obsessed with gold, to the point where everything in his life is either gold or named after gold. His dog is a golden retriever, the cat is named Goldilocks, and his daughter is named Marigold. His love for gold is so strong that when he is granted the power he uses it with reckless abandon, even trying to eat food that turns to molten gold as it touches his tongue. But when Marigold is turned into a gold statue he realizes his folly and prays for forgiveness. The king is granted the power to turn everyone back and never wants to see gold again.

The characterization of King Midas is similarly simplified in this retelling of the story. He is a man that ignores his child and spends most of his days locked in a basement admiring his golden treasure. When presented with the power, he is told it will begin at daybreak the following morning. He wakes up early and is disappointed that the power has not manifested yet. Once it does, however, he spends most of the morning turning his property into gold, even kicking the cat and the dog much to the horror of his daughter.

In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
This book is not very good retelling of the story, except for perhaps the most cursory teaching of the tale. The text is to complicated for emerging readers, but the story is too simple for the appropriate reading level student. It would do as a picture book for students in the kindergarten or pre-kindergarten classroom, but would probably fall flat beyond there.

Awards if any:
None could be found.


Links to published reviews from professional sources e.g. ALA, Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ, etc. if any:

School Library Journal, 1987

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book states on the cover that the source for this story is Nathaniel Hawthorne, because it says King Midas and the Golden Touch by Nathaniel Hawthorne, retold and illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt. The end flap notes that Hawthornes’ version included “a touch of his own humor” and that Hewitt adds fallibility as a trait of the king. This book is assigned the 398 category of traditional literature, rather than the 290 for mythology. As with other books I discuss, the subject headings assigned are Greek mythology. You can really see a difference in the stories that ultimately must depend on the source used. Philip’s Midas was simply a much-beloved king, born to greatness, and a wise ruler who delighted in this family and his rose garden. Hewitt, by contrast, describes Midas as “a king who loved money”. And instead of everything turning to gold, it becomes “golden”. Thus, his blanket becomes made of soft gold cloth, rather than hard, unyielding gold metal. But the pages of books he touches do become “thin golden plates, making the wisdom of the book disappear”, not that he could read, as the lenses of his glasses also become metal. But then it seems that everything does become gold metal, and when King Midas kisses his daughter on the top of her head, she becomes a gold statue. When Midas is revisited by the stranger who granted him the golden touch, Midas asks to be relieved of it. As with Philip, Midas bathes in the river. Then Midas splashes everything he had turned to gold with river water and they once again become living things. In Philip’s version, by contrast, Midas is smart enough not to touch his daughter. And no mention is made of the things that had been turned to gold. Of the two, I think I prefer Philip’s version. It seems more serious and thoughtful. So perhaps children would prefer Hewitt’s!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

King Midas and the Golden Touch By: Nathaniel Hawthorne, ISBN 0152428003, 1987. King Midas loved money and wanted to everything he touched to turn to gold. He made a wish from a magic spirit for just that but his wish did not make him happy because he had lost all the things he had cared for. He learned a valuable lesson that there are more important things in his life than gold.

**An important lesson to teach from this book is to be happy with what you have and to not be selfish

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this version of King Midas and the Gold touch primarily because of the pictures throughout the book. I remember when I was little I loved this book. My mom used to pick out certain things for us to look for. The story is the same as always but the pictures are the best!