The Chocolate Touch is a children's book by Patrick Skene Catling, first published in the US in 1957. John Midas is delighted when, through a magical gift, everything his lips touch turns into chocolate. The story is patterned after the myth of King Midas, whose magic turned everything he touched into gold. The original illustrations were by Mildred Coughlin McNutt, but another edition in the same year, a "newly illustrated" edition, had illustrations by Margot Apple and more pages. Summary John Midas is a young boy with an intense, but obsessive love of confectionery, especially chocolate. Dr. Cranium, the Midas' family doctor warns John that his health is poor, and until further notice, he is to eat only those foods that are conducive to a healthy body, much to the boy's disgruntlement. The doctor's orders are backed by John's folks, who dispose of their son's entire candy stash and have control over his spending money. Angered at having his life micromanaged, John goes for a walk to clear his head. Whilst on his excursion he sees a coin on the ground. John rejoices over his good fortune; having found a way to clandestinely acquire some chocolate. However, when he studies the coin he sees it is engraved with the image of a fat boy and the letters JM, and dismisses it as a unknown token. Even so, John remarks the coin is unique as JM stands for John Midas, and decides to hang on to it. Also on his walk he comes across a candy store he has never seen before. Even more odd is that the store is run by a man whom John has never met before, but is friendly and refers to John by name and extols his chocolate as the finest ever. The confectioner offers John a box of his chocolates in exchange for the strange coin. That night before going to bed, John decides to have one final chocolate feast, only to be dismayed to find the box contains nothing save for an ordinary chocolate ball. Although it is only a small piece of chocolate, it is the most chocolatey chocolate he has ever tasted. The next morning, John is amazed to find everything he eats tastes like chocolate, even his toothpaste and morning toast. Then, the Chocolate Touch's effects go into full swing, and whatever touches his mouth turns to chocolate. However, he cannot