The Adventures of King Midas

by Lynne Reid Banks, Jos. A. Smith (Illustrator)

King Midas loved gold so much he wished everything he touched would turn to gold. But what a terrible curse it became when his wish was granted and everything he touched -- his food, his dog. . . and his beloved daughter -- instantly changed into cold and lifeless matallic objects. Lynne Reid Banks has re-created the ever-popular legend of King Midas into an exciting story that brings to life the reality of having greedy and thoughtless wishes come true.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Family

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Lynne Reid Banks is a British author of books for children and adults. She has written forty books, including the best-selling children's novel The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 10 million copies and been made into a film.
Banks was born in London, the only child of James and Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II but returned after the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School in Surrey. Prior to becoming a writer Banks was an actress, and also worked as a television journalist in Britain, one of the first women to do so. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, was published in 1960.
In 1962 Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for eight years on an Israeli kibbutz Yasur. In 1965 she married Chaim Stephenson, with whom she had three sons. Although the family returned to England in 1971 and Banks now lives in Dorset, the influence of her time in Israel can be seen in some of her books which are set partially or mainly on kibbutzim.

Reviews

[_ophelia_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the book that made me a bookworm and i still love it :)

[cobwebbing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really liking this book as a little kid. There were both good and bad takeaways with rereading it a decade and a half later.

I don’t know that it all really holds up, especially with some weird implications towards the end. There was joking/but sort of not joking about a dragon eating King Midas’ daughter, said dragon consequently licking her, the same daughter being betrothed behind her back to someone who’s basically going to come marry her in seven years when she’s presumably an adult. That last thing is contingent upon her being cool with it when he comes a-knockin’ later but it’s done under weird pretenses where Midas is under the impression he’s an old man (he is, in fact, a cursed young magician physically, but also centuries old???? Sure, why not).

Furthermore, this book gets weirdly dark sometimes: Midas straight up kills someone on purpose at one point and a lot of the living beings that he inadvertently turns to gold are described in a horrifying, death-adjacent way, though they are eventually saved.

That being said, it’s a fun adventure story and a classic morality tale that has definitely had a long-lasting effect on my taste in stories in general, so that has to be worth something. The King Midas story has been stretched out and formed to have more in common with Germanic fairytales in its general mythology than its Greek origins (Dionysus is replaced by the aforementioned little old man wizard, there’s a dragon, there’s a witch). There are also just some fun/silly kiddish things like the existence of fruits called flandybakes as a plot device. The main characters, particularly Midas himself and definitely the dragon the Wumbo, are bizarrely nuanced, three-dimensional, and occasionally even morally gray.

Smith’s illustrations are nice and have a lot of personality. I saw that there was a different, newer edition with a different illustrator, and maybe it’s my nostalgia talking, but I much prefer this one.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book in probably second grade and have remembered it fondly since. This was a fun revisit, especially as I had only remembered the vaguest details. This is definitely geared towards younger children and is a short, quick read. But the characters are charming and the adventure is exciting for the age group. A good quest story for kids.

[Tenzom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember how much I liked the book cover when I read this! In fact, it probably was the cover that attracted me to it first. That's how I normally chose the books to read when I was younger. I'd look at a book cover, and if I particularly liked the picture, I'd see if the little snippet on the back was sufficiently interesting. Oh and I might've heard of the legend/story about the "Midas touch" from an English teacher around that time, I think I vaguely recall that. The story was amazing, although I don't remember half of it, but I remember loving it very much. Especially since it was the "this is the story and here's the moral behind it" type of book that kept you interested through and through.

[Cat Noe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gets a retrospective five, for being one of my favorite childhood books. This delightful, amusing fantasy lit my whole world, for a while. No doubt I would judge it more harshly today, but when we lose our childhood, we lose the unique perspective that childhood gives. And I stand by my inner child. Solid values, good storytelling, just plain fine fantasy... recommended for any kid. Or maybe, as a lark, for the young at heart

[Lillie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good for ages 7-14 I would say.It is a fantasy book,with a good story line.It has humor and adventure.It is exciting and fun and imaginative! A must read!

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to my kids (~6, 5, yo), as they were very interested in my adult themed fantasy novels (I was re-telling the story in a kid friendly manner), so I thought it would be good idea to introduce them to a kids fantasy book. I remember my older sister reading this book to me when I was little, and this is the author of The Indian in the Cupboard, so we just dove right in.

Things I appreciated
- Not too scary for little kids
- Some humor and silliness to help with suspense and dire nature of story (the king turns things into gold and essentially kills living things in doing so)
- The style/prose is good and challenging for the kids
- The greed/gold bad is not over played (preaching light)
- The kids were engaged and enjoyed it (most important part!)

Things not so great
- The plot is very weak after the story is setup (adventure portion)
- The ending is not quite resolved enough (kids didn't even realize I was reading the last paragraph)

Things you shouldn't worry too much about for the kids
- Some reviewers complain that the daughter is given away to marriage by the king, and it is barbaric. There is a clearly stated proviso that the daughter must want to get married in this arrangement. The agreement is that the king would allow the marriage (his current rule is essentially to never allow the girl to get married), not send her to a marriage. Arranged marriages are a thing in various cultures, new and old, and this book presumably takes place in some unknown, faraway land in times of kings and castles, so this can easily be explained to kids. Admittedly, it is a bit weird if you start to deep dive that some super old wizard, who we learn is also acting in some capacity as a guardian angel, is waiting for the girl to come of age to marry her.
- The dragon as a mystery. Will the dragon turn into a man eating monster? Admittedly, it isn't clearly stated the dragon will never eat people when it grows up, and there is joking by the dragon himself that he might. Oh well, get over it : ). My kids and I had a discussion on what they think based on the dragon's actions and words if he is fully good or bad. It was pretty clear to us he is good and just a jokester. To me, this moral/nature grayness is easier explained than the weird decision at the end of the novel to include an explicit reminder that the dragon will live in the conservatory where the daughter bathes, and the king says it’s fine to bathe there still, to which the daughter responds ~”it will just have to turn its back”. Perhaps that’s a joke.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Adventures of King Midas by Lynne Reid Banks, Illustrator- Jos. A. Smith- 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.

[J. T. K. Tobin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical tale of kings, a dopey dragon, a witch, a magician, and a talking mountain that follows and expands the much-known story of Midas and his greed.

This tale borrows concepts from what feels like every fairy tale of its era and mashes them into one story. A cat language, a Seuss-like tree that produces dragon food, and purple goo that rids people of curses. It may keep kids reading, but it's ultimately non-substantive in nature beyond that encouragement to read.

[Becky Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun adventures, but the princess is basically treated as an object (by the magician who wants her as a “reward” and her father, who wants to keep his “treasure” forever). It’s no worse than other fairy tales, but I wouldn’t rush to recommend this book in 2023.

[Farrah · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst things i've ever read. Was the Indian in the Cupboard this bad?

[Nelleke Plouffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my boys aged 11 down to 5. It’s not a must-read piece of literature, but It was fun and full of surprising twists.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good one. Quick and cute.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this as a kid. It's just as good revisiting now.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

b - 4.5

[Laura Gobbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never finished this book as a kid and I always just had love for it for some reason so I had to finish it. It was very fun and simple and a cute little adventure. Definitely like fifth grade reading level lol😂but recommended this for kids for sure.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book was almost a short-story, but then, it's been a while since I've read anything close to beginner level children's literature. I do know I got through it in a single day, in under two hours, though, and what surprised me most about that was that I was highly entertained and enjoyed the writing the entire way through the book.

That is the magic of Lynne Reid Banks, I think. She is able to tell a story well and succinctly, and she knows her craft to an extent I think a lot of authors wish they did. The Adventures of King Midas is written simply enough that younger readers shouldn't have too much of a problem with it, but there is enough meat to it that adults (whether they're helping children or reading aloud or are just like me and enjoy children's literature) shouldn't be bored.

I think probably the most unique thing about this version of the Midas legend is that the King is the point of view character despite it's being a children's book. Granted, most versions of the Midas legend tend to be told from the King's viewpoint, or centered around the King, but it's an unusual choice (or, it would be today) to have a middle-aged king be the protagonist in a children's story. However, Banks does this very well and the story maintains appeal to younger readers through secondary characters that are children or child-like. Delia and the Mumbo, for instance.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Quickie Review

Based on the ancient legend that I originally found out about from Wishbone, this easy-reader retelling is fun, but a bit simple for older/advanced readers such as myself.  It's diverting entertainment for a short while, but nothing terribly special; you might as well watch the PBS Kids version that stars a Jack Russell terrier.  Parents might be concerned with the fact that fairy-tale magic plays a prominent role.



Score: 3/5

[annapi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a young adult book, but it turned out to be more of a children's story. It's a retelling of the fairy tale of King Midas, whose touch turns things into gold. When he accidentally affects his beloved daughter, King Midas goes on a quest to find a way to reverse it. It was cute, great for reading aloud to kids, but young adults would find it lacking. Wish I'd read it as a child, I would have appreciated it more.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book for Christmas from one of my teachers at some point in elementary school. I want to say either third or fourth grade. I loved it so much then. I wasn't surprised to find that this fairy tale didn't hold up so well, but it is still a fun and interesting fantasy story with a good moral.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book as a child, this is one that i will cherish for always, i still own my original copy and its so messed up because i carried it everywhere with me. such a wonderful story that i will hold dear to me forever.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. It's about the adventures of King Midas who turns things to gold.

[Breanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book and listened to the audio book so many times I think I have most of it memorized. I love it!

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun take of from the story of King Midas.

[Juliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the story. I liked it when King Midas went out to save his daughter, I liked the obstacles he went through to save his daughter Delia.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Banks' take on this traditional story. She infuses it with new life, making it a delight to read.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book! I think this one would be great to read to the kids next year. I really liked the learning process the king had to go through in order to be rid of his curse.

[Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really liking this book back in the day

[Rebecca]

I loved this book as a kid!

[Dooz · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favorite stories as a kid. Witches and dragons and silliness. Fun stuff!