𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡

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King Midas and the Golden Touch 

This is a sample of Children's literature and had been famous for its fascinating story and its theme for greed. This story was written by Jan Mark, a british writer best known for children's books. In all she wrote over fifty novels and plays and many anthologised short stories. She won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject, both for Thunder and Lightnings (1976) and for Handles (1983). She was also a "Highly Commended" runner up for Nothing To Be Afraid Of (1980). She has won the Carnegie Medal twice, and no one has won three Carnegies.

 Verbal elements: 

Writer's purpose: 

The author’s purpose is to inform readers about the true origins of the myth of Midas and his golden touch. The author wants to tell his readers that greed is one of the deadly sins and there will be consequences to pay if you commit this sin just as King Midas turned her daughter to gold.

 Plot summary: 

Once there lived a king named Midas. He had a large kingdom. He had many palaces. But still, he was not happy. He wanted to have more gold as he was greedy. One day as he was praying, a holy man appeared. King Midas asked, “Grant me a boon, Holy Man! Whatever I touch should turn into gold!” The holy man said, “Son, your wish is granted.” The King became very happy. He touched his throne and it changed into gold. He touched the chairs, tables, vases, and statues and all of them turned into gold. King Midas was happy beyond words. He thought he was the richest man in the world. Happily, he then ordered his dinner. As soon as he touched it, it turned into gold. The king was astonished. He could not eat or drink anything. Suddenly, his daughter rushed in. As he put his arms around her, his daughter too changed into a statue of gold. King Midas was shocked. “Oh no! I do not want any more gold. I want my dear daughter back. Holy man, take back your boon, I beg of you.” he cried. The holy man appeared and gives him a bottle of water and said, “Sprinkle this water on all the things that have been changed into gold.” When King Midas sprinkled the water, all the things came into their original form. King Midas was very happy now. He had learned a lesson, “Gold does not give happiness.” 

Characters: 

Silenus is a satyr, a chubby dude with goat legs and horns. These guys often play the pipes and like to chase nymphs. Silenus is also a friend and teacher to the god of wine, Dionysus. 

 Dionysus is the god of wine and parties. He's all over Greek myths, but in the story of King Midas, he's the wish-granter. 

 King Midas is the main character of the story. He was once rewarded by God for taking good care of his friend. Midas asked God to grant him a wish that whatever he touched should turn to gold. God asked him if he had thought wisely. Midas said he had taken a wise decision. When he touched his daughter, she turned to Gold. 

King Midas daughter is the one who had been turned into gold the moment he hugged his father. 

Settings: The story happened in the Bronze Age, where his kingdom casted bronze, a high tech field of the day. The metallic deposits near Phrygia, his kingdom, possesed an abundance of ores with zinc. 

Themes: You see, we might call it the story of King Midas, but it isn't actually about King Midas. It's about greed. King Midas is just a tool used to teach us about the dangers of being greedy. Fancy people call this kind of story a parable: a short story with an obvious moral or life lesson. 

 Style: The Golden Touch is a Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon made in 1935. The story is based on the Greek myth of King Midas, albeit updated into a Medieval setting. 

Visual elements: One of the visual elements used in the story is illustrations. One of the things that the illustrations can do is to help us better understand the words in the text. Illustrations can enhance or increase our understanding.

My reactions to the story: 

After reading the King Midas and the Golden Touch, I cans say that King Midas was a kind man, but he did not have very good judgement. One day, Midas was generous to Silenus, a satyr, and so Dionysus granted him one wish. Dionysus, like all Greek gods, liked to teach mortals lessons. His only fault was his greed for wealth that results to his daughter being turned to gold. We can conclude that too much money can blind you and your judgement that is why it is better to seek normality and simpleness towards a peaceful life.

My reading experience for Prelim:

The learning experiences I've had for Prelim are crucial in taking this course because the study of children's literature examines the literature appropriate for children from birth to adolescence. It includes fiction and nonfiction, for those age levels, as well as poetry and prose. The variety of literature available for children is diverse and wide-ranging in topic and complexity. Children's literature has the greatest importance in the life and development of the nation. Every developed nation has powerful children's literature. Its culture is temporarily baseless without children's literature, the same goes with adult literature.