Customer Reviews

King Midas and the Golden Touch

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"King Midas and the Golden Touch," retold by Charlotte Craft with illustrations by K.Y. Craft, is an outstanding version of a classic tale. Although you may have read or seen versions of this story before, this book is truly special.

The story of King Midas, who gains the power to turn anything he touches to gold, is a tale with an important lesson. The story teaches us to not be greedy, and to treasure the people and things that we take for granted. These are important ideas for both children and adults. Charlotte Craft presents this story in straightforward, yet elegant language. A typical line: "The roses glistened with the morning dew, and their scent gently perfumed the air."

But it is Kinuko Y. Craft's breathtaking artwork that really brings magic to this collaboration. Each illustration looks like a classic painting by an old master--lovingly detailed and alive with rich colors. K.Y. Craft's realistic portrayals of people, animals, and plants are an effective complement to the fantasy elements of the story. This book is both a timeless tale and a stunning work of art.

This elaborately illustrated book helps the reader enjoy the story of King Midas and his golden touch. The pictures will draw the reader first. The story is well written and the page lay-out is pleasing to the eye. It will interest students and teachers alike. Highly reccommended for grades 1 - 4.

Each page is like a canvas from the preraphaelite movement. Gold is simmering in the light with each turn to read more of the story. Its a story that most are pretty familiar with, but I love these illustrations, they are what a fairy tale should look like (in my mind).

Craft's telling of the story is well done, except at one point I felt like I had accidentally turned two pages (but it really was only one) as the story had skipped more abruptly from point A to B than I would have liked. Otherwise, it is worth buying this book for the art alone.

This book was about the famous story of the king who wanted everything he owned to be gold. He was a very greedy king and he did not appreciate what he already had. So one day he got his wish. However the king soon learned that being able to turn things into gold with one touch was not all good. The king ended up turning his young daughter into to gold, and was miserable. He didn't want the golden touch anymore. I like this book because it is humorous way for the child to learn not to take for granted what they already have. The illustrations were also great. The king learns that gold is not the only thing that is valuable. I would use this book to introduce the importance of family and friends and how some people believe that money is the only thing that can bring happiness.

The tale told here is well done and is a good rendering but in this case, the wonderfully detailed and golden illustrations make the book. I found that as I read each page to the children, if I paused and had them study each and ever picture, the questions would start flying. Each child saw something new in each picture and the discussion went on and on which is a good thing. It make the kids actually think. The tale of course is a good one with several lessons to be learned. Old tales are quite often the best ones as they have stood the test of time and this is a perfect example of this. Highly recommend this one.

King Midas--We all know the story. It has been told for generations by parents around the world. A king gets his values `confused' and almost looses everything of real value (such as his daughter) as he greedily pursues sparkling gold.

It remains a favorite, I think, because all of us need to be reminded, from time to time, that material things are not really the well-spring of happiness. Health and love come first and it is on the latter that the Craft's focus.

In this lovely, lavish book, the Crafts produce a convincing telling of the story. For example, I have looked at other books where the father's expression of love towards his daughter is not all that convincing. In this one you can feel the King's distress as he holds his lifeless daughter.

Five Stars. A wonderful book. The Craft's tell the tale especially well. The story is well paced and the artwork is simply sumptuous. Worth owning for the story and the art

We know of the story of King Midas from Ovid's Metamorphosis. Midas is a creation of the Ancient world and its mythology. "King Midas and the Golden Touch" is well written and the illustrations are beautifully rendered. The one thing I do not like about this book is that it takes the story of King Midas out of its Greco-Roman context and makes it a fairy tale. The book's illustrations portray a Renaissance world and not an Ancient world. King Midas' touch is given to him by a magical young man and not by Bacchus/Dionysius. There is no old satyr who falls asleep in the rose garden. All and all, its a good book but I am a bit of a purist.

King Midas and the Golden Touch is one of my favourites of KY Craft's works. The paintings are rich and detailed and the emotions portrayed - watch out for the dogs and their dislike of the 'golden garden' - are real and touching. The illustrations capture the essence of the tale of King Midas. Highly recommended for adults, children and everything in-between.

King Midas loved his wealth more than anything in the world. When Greek God Dionysus asks him his wish he replies that he wants everything he touches to turn to gold. A wish granted and the curse begins. Midas can no longer eat or pet his cat or enjoy wine ... everything turns to gold. In desperation he asks for the magic to be reversed and then in disgust gives away his fortune. Moral of the story: Gratitude ALWAYS instead of greed.

It's impossible to exaggerate the beauty of K. Y. Craft's artwork. Every shadow, every fold of cloth, every strand of hair, every background scene is stunning in its detail, colour and composition. Forget whatever story is being narrated; the illustrations are glorious enough to sustain any story on their own.

"King Midas and the Golden Touch" is one of three Greek tales that Craft has illustrated, along with "Cupid and Psyche" and "Pegasus", both of which also come very highly recommended. Here the tale of the greedy King Midas is told simply and elegantly by Charlotte Craft, with all the trappings and details of the original myth. After hosting a mysterious stranger at his dinner table, Midas is given his heart's desire - that anything he touches be turned to gold.

At first the gift seems wonderful as he transforms his palace and gardens to gold...but everything comes with a price, as he discovers when trying to eat a meal, clothe himself, and hug his precious daughter Aurelia. Once the King realises the error of his ways, the stranger once again appears to divulge the watery antidote to the golden touch.

But the centrepiece of the tale is clearly K. Y. Craft's illustrations that light up every page, and are sometimes given two-page spreads to better appreciate their beauty. She adds several clever ideas; the stranger (never named in the text as Dionysus/Bacchus, but given an outfit with a grapevine motif as a clever indication of his true identity) is old when Midas first sees him, but young when he grants the King's wish, the golden touch washing over everything in sight is beautiful, but also vaguely sinister as it covers all the vibrant colours of the picture, and the angelic-looking Aurelia is flanked everywhere she goes by two huge German Shepherds.

One slightly odd thing about the pictures is that they seem to meld the landscape of ancient Greece with the architecture and fashion of the Middle Ages, resulting in a depiction of a time period that never truly existed. This certainly does not deplete the beauty of the book, but if you are looking for a version of the Midas story that is portrayed in mythological Greece, I recommend John Warren Stewig and Omar Rayyan's collaboration, which (as much as I love Craft's books) I believe is the best retelling of the Midas myth.

Of course, there's nothing stopping you from getting both!