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King Midas and the Golden Touch
Book by Perkins, Al
Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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About the author
Al Perkins
33 books35 followersAl Perkins is an author of several children's books, including the ever-popular Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (1969), The Digging-est Dog (1967), and The Ear Book (1968).He also wrote early titles in the Beginner Books and Bright and Early series.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 6, 2017
Gets the basic story across very nicely for beginning readers. A little disappointed that we seem to have relocated to some kind of medieval Europe instead of ancient Greece - why? Also, perhaps because of this, the "strange little man" is not Dionysus but just a strange little man.
January 10, 2015
The curse of great wealth
16 November 2013
This is a retelling of an ancient Greek story about a king who loved gold so much that when a god gave him a wish he made the wish that everything he touched turned to gold, which as we all know ended up having tragic consequences. In the original myth (and the original myth doesn't actually have him turning his daughter into gold, that actually came much later, around the 19th century) Midas found one of Dionysius' followers in a drunken stupor so he brought him into his palace, fed and clothed him, and then returned him to Dionysius, who as a reward gave him the golden touch (which is what Midas had asked for).
Anyway, the story ends in one of two ways. In both versions Midas discovered that his golden touch meant that he could not eat or drink, and in one of the versions he ends up dying of starvation. In another version, he prays to Dionysius who reverses the curse, but to do so Midas must wash in one of the rivers, which he does, and as a result of the power flowing into the water, many of the stones in the river bed turned into gold, which as it turns out is the case with this particular river, so it is believed that the story came about as a myth explaining why this particular river was rich in gold.
This particular book has quite a happy ending, but it does not mention Dionysius, instead having a fairy appear to grant Midas his wish. When I compare this particular story with the original I must admit that it is quite deficient (yes, I know, it is a children's book, but just because it is a children's book, does not mean that the author has to do away with a reasonable plot). My main gripe is that there is no reason that the fairy should approach Midas and offer him a wish. At least in the original version it was a reward for looking after one of Dionysius' servants.
The story has another interesting aspect to it in that our greatest dreams and our greatest wishes may not, in the end, be all that great. In this story (this particular book, not the myth in general) we have Midas who is incredibly wealthy, but he is not satisfied with the wealth that he currently has and he wants more, however in his desire to obtain more wealth he ends ups destroying himself and those around him. It is unclear in the original story whether he already had great wealth, but since he was a king, this probably goes without saying.
Therefore, the two concurrent themes in this story would be that the desire for more wealth can be a very destructive desire, but it also shows how even if we have much, that much is never enough and we end up always wanting more. It is the idea that we believe that wealth will secure us on this Earth, and as long as we have much wealth then we will not need to worry. However, there is always that fear that what we have may not actually be enough, so we will always go out to get some more, and in doing so we end up pushing other things aside. A person who, through their desire for wealth, neglects family, friends, and even their own health, so that even if they have the wealth, and their future is (so they believe) secure, in the end that future, even though it is secure, is not necessarily happy.
16 November 2013
This is a retelling of an ancient Greek story about a king who loved gold so much that when a god gave him a wish he made the wish that everything he touched turned to gold, which as we all know ended up having tragic consequences. In the original myth (and the original myth doesn't actually have him turning his daughter into gold, that actually came much later, around the 19th century) Midas found one of Dionysius' followers in a drunken stupor so he brought him into his palace, fed and clothed him, and then returned him to Dionysius, who as a reward gave him the golden touch (which is what Midas had asked for).
Anyway, the story ends in one of two ways. In both versions Midas discovered that his golden touch meant that he could not eat or drink, and in one of the versions he ends up dying of starvation. In another version, he prays to Dionysius who reverses the curse, but to do so Midas must wash in one of the rivers, which he does, and as a result of the power flowing into the water, many of the stones in the river bed turned into gold, which as it turns out is the case with this particular river, so it is believed that the story came about as a myth explaining why this particular river was rich in gold.
This particular book has quite a happy ending, but it does not mention Dionysius, instead having a fairy appear to grant Midas his wish. When I compare this particular story with the original I must admit that it is quite deficient (yes, I know, it is a children's book, but just because it is a children's book, does not mean that the author has to do away with a reasonable plot). My main gripe is that there is no reason that the fairy should approach Midas and offer him a wish. At least in the original version it was a reward for looking after one of Dionysius' servants.
The story has another interesting aspect to it in that our greatest dreams and our greatest wishes may not, in the end, be all that great. In this story (this particular book, not the myth in general) we have Midas who is incredibly wealthy, but he is not satisfied with the wealth that he currently has and he wants more, however in his desire to obtain more wealth he ends ups destroying himself and those around him. It is unclear in the original story whether he already had great wealth, but since he was a king, this probably goes without saying.
Therefore, the two concurrent themes in this story would be that the desire for more wealth can be a very destructive desire, but it also shows how even if we have much, that much is never enough and we end up always wanting more. It is the idea that we believe that wealth will secure us on this Earth, and as long as we have much wealth then we will not need to worry. However, there is always that fear that what we have may not actually be enough, so we will always go out to get some more, and in doing so we end up pushing other things aside. A person who, through their desire for wealth, neglects family, friends, and even their own health, so that even if they have the wealth, and their future is (so they believe) secure, in the end that future, even though it is secure, is not necessarily happy.
November 30, 2017
King Midas loved gold. He sat down to breakfast with his daughter. They drank from golden cups. They ate from golden plates. His goldsmiths made him golden clocks and golden tables. He went all over his land looking for gold. “Gold! Gold! Gold! How I love my gold!”
“What do I wish for most? Gold, of course!” That is a very big wish. It may not make you happy. But if that is what you want…
“Ouch!” Yelled King Midas. “My sausage has turned to gold!” He grabbed a fish. It turned to gold. He grabbed apples and donuts. He grabbed more and more sausages. The same thing happened.
All the king’s servants ran away. No one could work in a palace like this. King Midas sat on his golden bed. He began to cry. King Midas reached out. He touched his little girl. The princess turned into a statue of gold. He looked and he looked at his cold, gold daughter.
“King Midas,” said the little man, “I think I will give you one more wish. If you love something more than gold, wish for it, King Midas. Wish for it with all your heart!”
But King Midas could not decide. Should he wish for a gigantic wall, or should he wish for huge tax cuts for the 1%, or should he settle for repealing health care for millions of people?
“What do I wish for most? Gold, of course!” That is a very big wish. It may not make you happy. But if that is what you want…
“Ouch!” Yelled King Midas. “My sausage has turned to gold!” He grabbed a fish. It turned to gold. He grabbed apples and donuts. He grabbed more and more sausages. The same thing happened.
All the king’s servants ran away. No one could work in a palace like this. King Midas sat on his golden bed. He began to cry. King Midas reached out. He touched his little girl. The princess turned into a statue of gold. He looked and he looked at his cold, gold daughter.
“King Midas,” said the little man, “I think I will give you one more wish. If you love something more than gold, wish for it, King Midas. Wish for it with all your heart!”
But King Midas could not decide. Should he wish for a gigantic wall, or should he wish for huge tax cuts for the 1%, or should he settle for repealing health care for millions of people?
September 25, 2022
King Midas and the Golden Touch by Al Perkins, Illustrator- Regina Shekerjian and Haig Shekerjian- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates the story of Greek King Midas, God Dionysus and his daughter Marigold. King Midas becomes too greedy for gold. One day, God Dionysus appeared and enquired if he had any wish to make. King Midas wishes that “everything he touches will turn to gold.” However, what he touches on the next day, turns into gold. His fruit juice, his food turns in gold. He starts weeping. His dear daughter hears him weep. She arrives and hugs her father. She turns into gold. Midas ultimately feels shame and sadness about his greed and begs for his wish to be undone. Dionyses, the God who granted the wish in the first place, sees how sorry Midas is and eventually allows for the power to turn everything into gold to be taken away from him. Message greed is bad. Coloured illustrations help the reader in relating to the story.
February 7, 2021
King Midas and the Golden Touch is about a King who lets his selfish desires get the best of him. King Midas loves gold. He would leave his castle daily just to go and collect gold. He would store up all of his gold in a locked room. One day, King Midas met a man that could grant any wish King Midas desired. King Midas wished that everything that he touched would turn into gold. King Midas' wish did come true. However, the wish came at a great price. This book teaches the lesson of never becoming too greedy. This book is a great addition to any classroom library!
September 8, 2024
A nice retelling of the classic tale. It focuses on some good details and has some fine illustrations.
August 2, 2009
Al Perkins gives a cute rendition in Beginner Book style of the old fable of King Midas. Fun illustrations and a fabulous lesson all wrapped up into a short and easy book to read to kids or for young readers to read themselves.
June 2, 2013
The classic story of unintended consequences, as well as the fact that too much of a good thing is not good at all.
I like the old style art with the majority in black and white ink and just the gold items in gold.
I like the old style art with the majority in black and white ink and just the gold items in gold.
April 9, 2017
My 3 kids enjoyed reading this book. I thought that there was a good message in there. I would recommend this book to others.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews