Pinocchio The Tale Of A Puppet

An abridged retelling of the adventures of the puppet boy whose nose grows whenever he tells a lie. Includes discussion questions.

Pinocchio, The Tale of a Puppet follows the adventures of a talking wooden puppet whose nose grew longer whenever he told a lie and who wanted more than anything else to become a real boy.As carpenter Master Antonio begins to carve a block of pinewood into a leg for his table the log shouts out, "Don't strike me too hard!" Frightened by the talking log, Master Cherry does not know what to do until his neighbor Geppetto drops by looking for a piece of wood to build a marionette. Antonio gives the block to Geppetto. And thus begins the life of Pinocchio, the puppet that turns into a boy.Pinocchio, The Tale of a Puppet is a novel for children by Carlo Collodi is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio, an animated marionette, and his poor father and woodcarver Geppetto. It is considered a classic of children's literature and has spawned many derivative works of art. But this is not the story we've seen in film but the original version full of harrowing adventures faced by Pinnocchio. It includes 40 illustrations.

Though one of the best-known books in the world, Pinocchio at the same time remains unknown—linked in many minds to the Walt Disney movie that bears little relation to Carlo Collodi’s splendid original. That story is of course about a puppet who, after many trials, succeeds in becoming a “real boy.” Yet it is hardly a sentimental or morally improving tale. To the contrary, Pinocchio is one of the great subversives of the written page, a madcap genius hurtled along at the pleasure and mercy of his desires, a renegade who in many ways resembles his near contemporary Huck Finn. Pinocchio the novel, no less than Pinocchio the character, is one of the great inventions of modern literature. A sublime anomaly, the book merges the traditions of the picaresque, of street theater, and of folk and fairy tales into a work that is at once adventure, satire, and a powerful enchantment that anticipates surrealism and magical realism. Thronged with memorable characters and composed with the fluid but inevitable logic of a dream, Pinocchio is an endlessly fascinating work that is essential equipment for life.

The classic tale of literature's most beloved puppet is retold in this lively, easy-to-read adaptation ideal for young and reluctant readers. Pinocchio, a lonely woodcarver's puppet, magically comes to life, runs away, and gets into a lot of trouble. The wooden hero tells lies, gets robbed by a sly cat and fox, and is swallowed by a hungry shark before he learns that good deeds, not bad, will help him to fulfill his dream of becoming a real boy.

Pinocchio, a puppet with a talent for getting into trouble, wants to become a real boy, but he must earn that by learning to be good.

Readers familiar only with the Disney adaptations of Collodi’s classic will be surprised by this dark masterpiece, a central work in the Italian literary canon. First published in serial form in 1881 in the Italian periodical Giornale dei Bambini,The Adventures of Pinocchiogarnered immediate acclaim as a children’s story. Today Italians consider Pinocchio, along withThe Divine ComedyandThe Decameron, one of their most important works of literature. Collodi did more than merely weave a captivating tale. Through metaphor and allusion he summed up the national character of Italy and made biting commentary on many of the prominent social concerns of the nineteenth century, among them the despair and hunger of poverty, the importance of an education, and the hypocrisy of the judicial and medical establishments. Indeed, the universality of Collodi’s themes led Benedetto Croce to remark, “The wood from which Pinocchio is carved is humanity itself.” This vibrant new translation fully renders Collodi’s subtle and sarcastic wit, reclaiming the book for adult readers. The evocative illustrations by Carmelo Lettere are as delightfully refreshing and timeless as the story itself.