The Chocolate Touch

What do you think is the catalyst for John gaining his chocolate ability? Is it his love of candy, his finding the coin, the storekeeper’s offering him a box of candy, or something else? Why do you think it was this event, and how does it direct the events that follow John gaining his ability? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Choose three characters whom John’s chocolate ability affects. How did these characters not listening to John lead to undesirable effects on them? How might have listening to John sooner prevented these characters from experiencing negative outcomes? What lessons (if any) do you think these characters learned by the end of the book?

Where do you think the candy store and storekeeper came from? What gives the storekeeper his seemingly supernatural abilities, and how do you think he knew to find John when he did?

In Chapter 11, the storekeeper tells John that Susan, Dr. Cranium, and others will find that their things weren’t affected by chocolate after all. How do you think these characters reacted when they realized the chocolate was gone? How do you think their relationship with John will change going forward, if at all? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Based on how the strength of John’s ability grows throughout the book, how might it have gotten stronger if it hadn’t been resolved? Do you think other parts of John’s body would have eventually turned things to chocolate on impact? Might John himself have eventually turned to chocolate? Why do you think this?

How do you think John was able to find the candy store in the first place? Did the coin lead him there, or do you think he found it by chance? What does each of these options say about John and the message of The Chocolate Touch?

Did you find it believable that John’s anxiety about his trumpet solo or excitement at Susan’s birthday party could make him forget about his chocolate ability? Why or why not? If so, what details made it believable? If not, what could have made his forgetfulness more believable?

Do you agree that all the words on Miss Plimsole’s English assignment in Chapter 8 relate to John’s situation? If not, which words don’t and why? List three other words you’d add to this list, their meanings, and why you think those words are relevant to John’s situation.