November Meeting Wrap-Up

The Book Buddies Book Club met this past Monday, November 23rd to discuss the book The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. We did things a little bit differently this month - instead of talking about the book and then doing our activity, we did our activity first. Appropriately enough, in honor of our reading of The Chocolate Touch we made chocolates! The kids had a great time melting the chocolate and pouring it into different molds. We made lollipops and other individual chocolates in all different shapes and in two flavors: white chocolate and milk chocolate. The chocolate tasted delicious and really inspired our discussion of the book.

We began by talking about John and how we would describe him as a character. A few people felt that he was very greedy and selfish but others thought that he was just a regular kid. Some found him funny and nice and like a kid they might know.

We talked about John's chocolatitis and why it seemed to accelerate during the day and how it was cured. We thought about things that John learned from his experience including not to be greedy, to think about others and the importance of a balanced diet.

We discussed different foods that we wished everything tasted like including ice cream, cake and even rice! However, we all agreed that having everything taste the same, even if it's something that tastes great, is not a good thing and would get old quickly.

Finally we read the story of King Midas and compared his story to John's in The Chocolate Touch.

Overall, most club members really liked The Chocolate Touch and would recommend it to their friends. We all had a great time making (and eating) our chocolates and look forward to next month's meeting!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet this Monday, November 23rd at 3:30pm to discuss The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling.

Have a great weekend!

King Midas

The Chocolate Touch (in which everything John's lips touch turns to chocolate) is a spoof of the greek myth about King Midas. Everything King Midas touched turned to gold. Much like John, at first King Midas was delighted with his power. But over time, he realized how horrible it really was. The children's department has a couple of books about King Midas that you might want to look at to expand your reading of The Chocolate Touch:

King Midas by Neil Philip (j292 Phi)

In ancient Greece, King Midas had the chance to ask one favor of the god Dionysus. He asked that everything he touched might turn to gold.

King Midas and the Golden Touch by Charlotte Craft (j398.2 Cra)

A king finds himself bitterly regretting the consequences of his wish that everything he touches would turn to gold.

The Many Covers of The Chocolate Touch

Like many of the books we've read, The Chocolate Touch has been published with a variety of covers. Here are just a few of the covers I was able to find. Which is your favorite? Which one does the best job of making you want to read the book? Which one is your least favorite? How would you design the cover? (Anyone who would like to submit an idea for a cover is more than welcome!)

November Book Selection

The November book selection is The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. We will be meeting to discuss this book on Monday, November 23rd at 3:30pm in the Children's Program Room. Copies of the book are available at the Children's Desk or by request through the library catalog.

A boy acquires a magical gift that turns everything his lips touch into chocolate.