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    Pinocchio
    Pinocchio
    Pinocchio
    Audiobook4 hours

    Pinocchio

    Written by Carlo Collodi

    Narrated by Laurie Klein

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Pinocchio is a naughty, disobedient wooden puppet that longs to grow up and become a real boy, but as long as he misbehaves and disappoints his father, old Gepetto, he is doomed and his dream will never be realized.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBooks in Motion
    Release dateDec 15, 2006
    ISBN9781596078239
    Author

    Carlo Collodi

    Carlo Corenzini was both in Florence, Italy, in 1826 and worked as a writer and journalist under the pseudonym Carlo Collodi. In addition to being celebrated for his writing he was also known for his active interest in political life and ideas. He first began to engage with a young audience of readers when he published a translation of the French Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault in 1876, and then began work on his most celebrated book, Pinocchio, in 1881. His story of a puppet began life as a series of instalments published in The Children's Magazine before being published as a complete book - with a new ending - in 1883. Corenzini died some seven years later, in 1890, in his home city of Florence.

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    Reviews for Pinocchio

    3.5/5

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    • 5/5
      Wondeeful to encounter this story in its fullness as an adult. the pauses between chapters in this particular audio recording are unnecessary and ahould be removed.
    • 5/5
      Reason for Reading: Read aloud to the ds. This is actually my third attempt at reading this book to him. Pinocchio is one of my favourite children's classics. The first time was when he was five and was my edition that I had read, an old Rainbow Classics, but I think he was just too young. The second time, he was older and at that time I had a different edition, don't remember which, but it was an awful translation and we gave that up as well. So my hopes of reading him Pinocchio were put on the shelf until I saw this edition, which noted it was a brand new translation and I was taken right away with the collaged/mixed media artwork which I used to dabble in myself.Starting with the art, the book is beautiful. I love this collage, mixed media art style and each page was a visual delight to me and my son, who has seen me dabbling in the art myself. An extremely gorgeous book. A square, softcover with french flaps make for easy handling and browsing. Ds would often pick the book up between reads and just look at the pictures. There's no need to give a summary, I think everyone is acquainted with the story of the wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy. But if you've only been exposed to the Disney version, then just let me tell you that you do not really know the true story of Pinocchio, which is rather moralistic in teaching boys to be good boys and quite violent along way. One part that always makes me smile (because I hate Disney's Jiminy Cricket character) is that in the book when Pinocchio meets the cricket (no name, btw) who moralizes with him to annoyance is that Pinocchio's final response is to pick up a mallet and throw it at him, squashing the irritating bug against the wall. LOL. The cricket's ghost does return to annoy Pinocchio some more. DS thoroughly enjoyed the story as he wasn't familiar with it. He saw the Disney movie as a little kid but it had too much slow singing in it so he didn't like it, or pay much attention to it. He loved when anyone got what they deserved, even Pinocchio, and he found it fun when he could see it coming. The whole story is a lot of fun. With the modern translation and the new illustrations, this edition is entirely whimsical and doesn't come off as moralistic as earlier translations I've read do. Oh, it hasn't been left out, but Pinocchio is such a rude, naughty boy that he needs to be taught a lesson and eventually even he knows when he is doing the wrong thing. I highly recommend this translation, especially for reading aloud.
    • 3/5
      I don't think I even meant to download the ebook for Pinocchio -- it's not something I had on my mental list of books I intended to read. I don't know who translated the version I read, but it was easy enough to read. It reads like quite a light story, but Pinocchio isn't a terribly nice character. He's, well. A boy. A little boy, selfish and without much of a moral compass to call his own. I couldn't really root for him, to be honest, and his moments of compassion and caring for other people seemed just that... moments. I guess he reminded me of Peter Pan a little, in his selfishness and his boyishness. I can imagine a little boy really being somewhat like Pinocchio, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. If the book had been longer or less lightly written, I daresay I wouldn't have liked it at all.

      I was glad for the lack of constant overt moralising, like Jiminy in the Disney adaptation. There is a little, of course, but it doesn't really seem to sink into Pinocchio's head... the ending is a little saccharine-sweet, with Gepetto being made young again and Pinocchio turning into a real boy through reforming and so on, but it isn't too irritating.

      It was enjoyable as a quick read, as a break from doing essays, and I wonder if I'd have liked it more if I'd read it as a kid, but it didn't really arouse strong feelings either way.
    • 5/5
      It is an excellent opportunity for anyone to get reacquainted with this talking marionette, and an even better chance for all those who have never read or seen the story in the first place. The original story is much more colorful, but also darker, than the more recent adaptations. Pinocchio, Geppetto and other characters often get into physical confrontations. For the most part these incidents are amusing, but they oftentimes quite literary result in a loss of life or limb. Reading the original story also brings forth the fact that "Adventures of Pinocchio" was very consciously written as a morality tale. Its aim is to teach children (and especially boys) some of the basic character-building lessons: it's important to obey your parents or other authority figures, it's important to study and work hard, chasing after easy life and cheap thrills inevitably ends in a disaster.
    • 5/5
      This is a story that all children should read as it is a story of obeying and honoring your parents. It is a story of acting maturely and responsibly, listening and acting on the advice of others, going to school and learning a trade, instead of wasting your life away irresponsibly. These are all lessons that Carlo Collodi tries to teach his young readers in the form of his puppet character Pinnochio.The story starts with Geppetto carving a piece of wood into a puppet and calling him Pinnochio. Pinnochio runs off and causes no end of problems and despite promising Geppetto that he will behave, Pinnochio continues to misbehave and break every promise that he makes. As the story proceeds, Pinnochio realises that by leading a bad life and by breaking every promise, he is hurting the people that care for him and eventually he will walk down a self-destructive path. But he is unable (no matter how hard he tries) to reverse his life to goodness as everyone seems to be determined to stray him down the road of temptation and Pinnochio doesn't have the willpower to resist.Can Pinnochio stop lying to everyone, stop breaking his promises and start leading a good honest life, honoring his father?
    • 5/5
      Great translation of a wonderful story that is as bleak as it is amazing! Who says fairy tales cannot be brutal? Grimm right...
    • 2/5
      What a bratty whiner. I might be glad to have read it. But right now I'm just disappointed that Pinocchio was such a whiner.
    • 3/5
      There was mention somewhere of the original Italian story of Pinocchio here on LT, probably in conjunction with discussion of the del Toro movie version, and I realized I had never read it, so I checked this lavish volume out of the library. As a physical object, it's gorgeous. Large format, exquisitely illustrated by Robert Ingpen, pages so thick you never believe you're turning just one at a time, bright red ribbon place marker... If only I could have enjoyed the story. It's not just that it doesn't jive with the Disney version; that on its own is a positive. It's just too choppy, with no internal logic to it except for the over-explicated lesson about what happens to naughty children who don't obey their parents and pay attention to their teachers, which even a WOODEN HEADED PUPPET should have taken to heart long about the half-way point. There's very little charm to it that doesn't come from Ingpen's imagination, no real suspense, artificial cliff-hanger chapter breaks. Translation issues? Possibly. I understand it was written in segments, for serial publication. It shows. I don't see it appealing to any of the young'uns, past or present, that I know well.
    • 3/5
      This was not what I expected. I'm not sure what I did expect but it wasn't this. It was better than I had thought it might be though. It reads like a fable or folktale, with morals and lessons. Or maybe an echo of Candide, albeit a less traumatic tale. It was darker and funnier than the Disney version - and the whole nose growing thing and the Talking Cricket play much smaller parts than I realised. Easy enough read.
    • 5/5
      I honestly didn't think I was going to like this very much. Mainly because I really like the Disney movie. However, I like this version a lot better. It has more meaning to it then the Disney movie.

      To start with, if you think ths story is anything like the Disney version then move along. Yes Disney is known to making changes, but this book has too many changes; not much with the plot, but more with the characters. Geppetto is miserable, the "cricket" dies the first chapter he is mentioned, the Blue Fairy is a character who dies more then once, an there is no big whale, but instead there is a shark. The biggest change is Pinocchio. In the book he is selfish, bratty, winy, dimwitted, and likes getting into trouble.

      Fans of Fables I recommend actually reading the original book. You'll see were Bill Willingham got his idea more from this then Disney. To me at least, it makes a lot more sense why Geppetto in the comic cold and evil, why Pinocchio is stuck as a boy with a mouth, why the Blue Fairy is kind of a bitch to them, and why there is no cricket.

      I still like the Disney movie in it's own write, but they did take a lot of libraries making it there own movie. Yet I really liked this story better. It basically tells you to makes something of your life instead of just not doing anything. Now I wouldn't give this book to a kid today unless they get what's going on, but as an adult I liked it.

      Would love to see a movie made of the actual book and doesn't cut out the parts you never hear about like the lynching scene (which is were we first meet the Blue Fairy to bring Pinocchio back to life). Like I said kids today might not like it or get what's going on, but people like me who love fairy tales appreciate the original stuff.
    • 5/5
      Hmm, I was pretty sure that I had multiple versions of Pinocchio in my collection but when I just did a search, I only found this version. I suspect that I have other (probably abbreviated versions) in anthologies of other books. (Also, my son probably has versions in his own collection , which I've read to him). But this version is really superb. I'm familiar with the Walt Disney version with Jimminy Cricket but the cricket in this version is not quite so "upbeat" as the Walt Disney version. In fact Pinocchio kills him in the opening scenes and he comes back as a ghost figure. So the story is beautifully told and full of moral messages for young boys ready to run off the rails. But it was really the illustrations that attracted me to it in the first place and they are wonderful. I don't know if it was coincidental but the book was alongside "The Bremen Town Musicians" , illustrated by Lizbeth Zwerger .....one of my favourite illustrators and there is a similarity of styles. So similar that I think there must be some influence. (Though I think Lizbeth has also been influenced by some of the classical illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac). Anyway, I love their work....all of these illustrators and I've often pondered why that is. Why do I like their style of semi realistic but often with radically distorted perspectives and old fashioned costumes. I guess it's because I was exposed to some of these as a child when my mother would read to us from a huge book of Hans Anderson and Grimm's fairy tales.....though I've just checked and this book was illustrated by Anne Anderson. But I was certainly exposed to the illustrations of Dulac and Rackham very early in life.....probably from a book owned by my sister. Anyway, I think this is probably why I like this type of illustration so much. I tried asking my children what sort of illustrations they preferred ...but really got nowhere. With them, I think it was a combination of the story plus the illustration ..and they certainly had masses more books than I had as a child. So I tended to study the few illustrations avidly to suck the maximum detail from them ...whereas, my children probably had an overload of visual materials....including TV and videos. Anyway, this is a lovely book. The version of the story is great...nicely translated from the Italian and the illustrations are beautiful. I give it five stars.
    • 4/5
      This Pinocchio is much darker than Disney's version. Pinocchio is much less attractive at the start -- clearly self-centered, unthinking and dumb. It is fascinating to watch the transformation from irresponsibility to responsibility. Along the way, Pinocchio loses his money, believes he has contributed to killing a playmate, betrays the blue fairy's trust, lies, etc. My sister said she has read a C.S. Lewis commentary on Pinocchio which claims the story is a metaphor for the creation of man and his attempt to be good. I think that probably there is also an allegory about Italian nationalism there too that I could understand if I knew more about the subject. There is a new scholarly edition of the text in English, annotated by an Italian professor from the University of California. Both children loved the story and actually thought about how their behavior compared with Pinocchio's (mostly favorably, thank goodness). We discussed whether Pinocchio deserved what he got or not in each instance. They felt that the ending happened too quickly -- that it wasn't paced right. Perhaps this was a consequence of the original serial presentation. The kids also enjoyed figuring out when Pinocchio was being tricked and being wiser than he was.
    • 5/5
      The Disney Movie, Pinocchio, was my first exposure to the character and the story when I was a child. It terrified me. I acquired this edition in Florence some years back and hadn't read it until now. To put it mildly, it makes the Disney version look like Toy Story. Granted, it is well-written (even in translation) and beautifully illustrated. And I do appreciate its allegorical themes and hero's quest motifs. That being said, Pinocchio kills the cricket (aka Jiminy in my childhood memory) with a hammer; the marioneteer wants to burn him alive; Pinocchio falls asleep by the fire and burns his feet off; the fox and the cat hang him from a tree to die. Bad boys turning into Donkeys is hardly the worst of it.Seriously, I think it is one of the best (still terrifying) examples of episodic literature ever written, with timeless characters and a strong moral compass. I am sorry I waited so long to read this version, and I plan to seek out others.
    • 3/5
      (Original Review, 1981-05-20)I am reading the English version of Pinocchio; I read it, obviously many times in my language and the other day I found a small book with this title and I was curious to see how it was in a different language from mine. I also want to "invite him for dinner" as it is the title of a context of a famous Italian newspaper (writing an invitation for a character of a book at your choice) but I have not yet written a word. I am not too keen on inviting to meals, it means extra work and I did it enough. But maybe by reading it I’ll get inspired.I read Pinocchio in a dual English/Italian text. My Italian is pretty much limited to what I have gleaned from endless listening to the Mozart/da Ponte operas, so I only occasionally referred to the original language. I did come away with the word (and concept) “tornagusto”, a kind of appetizer taken mid-meal, between courses. The word occurs in the scene in which the Fox buys an elaborate meal with Pinocchio’s gold. I’ve since learned that it isn’t a common word in Italian and may be a Collodi coinage. It’s likely that a tornagusto is only needed for overindulged appetites, which definitely happens in my reading from time to time. That’s proven a useful concept in my reading life – having temporarily exhausted my interest in a particular branch of reading, I turn to a short work or essay collection as a kind of mental “tornagusto.”The peculiarity of Pinocchio is that his nose grows when he tells lies (I bet you didn’t know this…); imagine what would happen if it was so also for us? Particularly politicians...there would be real fun, I suppose.[2018 EDIT: Tornagusto is a sort of" feel the taste again", the flavour and the pleasure of life, of reading and of many things, in the end. Nice, I think that from time to time we all need a tornagusto. But the pleasure of music do not need one : it is all over, I can hear the chirping chirping sound of a bird conversation in the garden through my open window and I do not need tornagusto to appreciate the beauty of spring, here again after a long period of cold and rain. And Mozart...I love, I adore him. Since I was a little boy, I always found him absolutely marvellous, and it helped me in several life instances...tornagusto listening to the serenata in sol magggiore opera etc., and it’ll all melt into that fascinating air.]
    • 5/5
      This story conceals an exceptional spíritual allegory, that is based on esoteric teachings, and contains plenty of metaphysical aspects. The 'universal' character of Pinocchio beautifully represents the fundamental human motifs of our experience as we evolve; it captures archetypal patterns and really complex themes of conscience, valour, and the search for identity, in an outstanding and yet simple narrative. Not many people are aware of the underlying meaning of this story of a wooden puppet, who is trying to become a good boy. This is a deeply spiritual story that is rooted from the Mystery schools of occultism.
      This Children's book of wisdom that teaches children to 'Not lie', finds a route and becomes a man’s quest for wisdom and spiritual enlightenment. It takes a little more work to understand the hidden gnostic meaning behind this, and going through Collodi's background and literary references, helps a lot.

      Giovanni Malevolti once said:
      "There are two ways to read Pinocchio. The first is what I would call “profane” where the reader, most probably a child, learns about the mishaps of the wooden puppet. The second is a reading from a Masonic point of view, where heavy symbolism will complete, without replacing, the simple and linearly narration of events."

      About the movie, there are many differences between the Disney movie and the original text. The movie was obviously over-simplified, and Pinocchio is an innocent and jolly character, instead of a little more grim depiction (of a stubborn and ungrateful misfit) from the book. Disney has an old habit of turning originally dark, grim, and twisted children’s fables into sickeningly sweet happily ever afters. I mean like as some people say for the Sleeping Beauty , that it is based on a story where a married king finds a girl asleep, and can’t wake her, so rapes her instead. Heard this one? Me neither.

      Anyways, I strongly recommend going with this particular version (ISBN: 0520246861), as it has the complete text in both Italian and English, with the original Black & White illustrations by Enrico Mazzanti.





      A famous literary critic once said:
      “Pinocchio is the testing ground for foreigners; whoever understands the beauty of Pinocchio, understands Italy.”
      —
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed reading this to my daughter, it was the first time for both of us. Yes, there is a talking cricket, but thankfully his name is not Jiminy. The Blue Fairy has a very prominent role in the original story, she is whimsical, complex character.

      This edition, in particular, is utterly enchanting. The illustrations by Italian illustrator Roberto Innocenti are beautiful.

      I personally believe that children should not only be exposed to sugar-coated stories, so we always aim to read fairy tales in their original form. Pinocchio was no exception, and this was a delightful read.
    • 4/5
      As everyone knows, Pinocchio is a Liar who is penalized (or possibly rewarded in length of nose) every time he lies, very like the current US President, whose silk tie grows longer with every lie.Here's another, my second comparison to our President Pinocchio, Liar-in-Chief. The carpenter who fashioned Pinocchio, Gepetto, forgot to give him ears; nor does the President listen to anyone. Comparison three: neither the President nor Pinocchio reads, but Pinocchio sacrifices to purchase an Abecedario in order to learn to read. And in fact, Pinocchio admires books, later becomes the best student in his class, so good that he will be turned into a real human boy in one day, but a friend leads him away to where there are no books or schools, and Pinocchio and his friend first grow donkey's ears, and eventually get all grey skins, asses. Pinocchio becomes a donkey in a circus.(Ch.11)Comparison four: both Pin and Prez are puppets, who have torn away from their puppeteers, Gepetto and Putin. Or maybe only Pinocchio has left his puppeteer.Comparison five: at one point, Pinocchio limps, and of course the Trumpster has trouble with steps, tries grabbing his wife's hand, who doesn't want to support a 300 lb man going down steps.For comparison six, see my penulitimate paragraph below.The first carpenter who started carving the wood into the puppet was called Maestro Ciliegia/ Cherry because his nose was red as one. As in Dr Seuss, several characters share nasal distinctions.Pinocchio is convinced to bury his five pieces of gold into the Campo dei miracoli, to result in thousands the next day according to a Limping Wolf and a Blind Cat (both faked, though later in the story they become what they faked). When he tries to dig up his treasure, thieves approach and he runs and runs. Several references to thieves, "ceffi" or "ladri."Towards the end Pinocchio turns back from an over-worked donkey to himself, when he swims in the sea and is swallowed by a (whale?) shark, where he finds his Gepetto, old and frail. He escapes with his babbo, who cannot swim, and carries him on his back to shore. When he needs money in Ch 9 (2/3 the way through), he doesn't dare ask for charity, because his Dad Gepetto always said only two kinds of people have the right to beg charity: "i vecchi e i malatti," the old and the sick (p. 61, Aschehoug, 1972). So Collodi in the 19C moralizes directly, didactically.His book ends with Pinocchio turning from a wooden puppet into a real boy, and his babbo is healed, through Pinocchio's reform: Babbo tells him, "When bad boys become good, they give an entirely new and joyful aspect to their house, their entire family." (p.96) Would that the Prez had learned this from his Dad.I recall thinking it has fairly small vocabulary, but it's much longer than Seuss. Theodor Seuss Geisel lived in my hometown of Springfield, MA, on Mulberry St, and set a goal of books with 225-240 different words. Turns out, Easy Reader (Mondadori) edition sorts Pinocchio under 1200 word vocabulary as Collodi (Carlo Lorenzini) wrote it.
    • 5/5
      Good edition, good artwork, good story. The stories in this Classic Collection are well-done. The story is told in clear but lively language meant to ensure children stay captivated. On every facing page is good artwork.
    • 3/5
       I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I enjoyed the description used throughout the chapters however in the beginning of the book some details seemed too straight forward. Depending on the student's maturity level and ability to handle such concepts as death and greed this book could be tough for some readers. Although the ending is a pleasant one with Pinocchio and his father being reunited once more, the many adventures Pinocchio endures are scary at times. In addition there is a scene depicted in the text describing the burning off of Pinocchio's feet, the attempted murder of a marionette because of lack of obedience, and the trickery of the fox and cat. These scenes show some very cruel aspects of the world we live in although not many readers would pick up on this at first glance. Overall the message of this story is to follow your inner voice when deciding to do something which may be good or bad. In the end telling the truth is the best policy even if feelings get hurt.
    • 4/5
      I read this aloud to my girls and we all loved it! A great book with so many great lessons. :) Much better than the movie. Like usual. ;)
    • 3/5
      I've read the Collodi novel once before when I was a teenager and I remember being put off by both by Pinocchio's arrogance and the surrealism of the world in which the marionette lives. Were it not for Roberto Innocenti's gorgeous illustrations I would have set Collodi's story aside without finishing it.Like so many of the classics from the late 1800s, Pinocchio was serialized in Il Giornale dei Bambini (Children's Journal), starting in 1880. Each installment was a short allegory to teach children how to be independent thinkers (Wiki). Keeping in mind the method of publication and the reason behind it helps to put the disjointed nature of the chapters and the surreal world into perspective. Innocenti's illustrations then bring this world to life.
    • 3/5
      Ok, longer than others by Powell and it has chapters. Like illustrator Alfonso Ruiz. Good for ESL.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable, if a little repetitive. It's hard to read it through anything other than the Disney version, but it is reasonably different--including a Pinocchio who is meaner and more problem ridden (e.g., within the first few pages he hits the cricket with a hammer), a cat/wolf that are more persistent and interesting than the Disney ones, and an even more moving ending about how Pinocchio finally becomes a boy.
    • 5/5
      I love to read the stories as they are written not as Disney has envisioned them. Pinocchio had no real conscious, he killed the cricket with a hammer... I love literature but hate to see what mainstream media has done to it.
    • 2/5
      This is book is awesome. In the first 13 pages, Gepetto gets into a fist fight, Pinocchio gets Gepetto sent to prison, then he kills Jiminy Cricket with a hammer. This is great!As you can tell this book is far removed from the Disney version. Everybody's a jerk. Must be an Italian thing. I'm not sure who this book was audienced to -- little boys maybe? -- but the language still holds up. The culture does not. It's super easy to read, but the plot is not terribly coherent, and there's no unifying force. It seems like 65% of the book is just Pinocchio being bad, then, when he realizes he's about to get burnt or hanged or shot, he suddenly cries, "oh no, I'll never be bad again", and he is saved. Then he goes and does it again. Reminds me of the American prison system. Must be required reading for lawyers. The storytelling is terribly unpolished and jagged. There's no unifying story, just Pinocchio running around getting into trouble. After about halfway, it starts getting obnoxious, because he has no real goal. He has nothing he wants.I'm really on the fence about the value of this book in terms of today. Would I recommend it for anyone? Would they get anything out of it? Maybe, since the chapters are short and the characters dynamic, they'd get more out of it than I did.
    • 5/5
      PINOCCHIO. THE ADVENTURES OF A MARIONETTE (2013 : 220 PAGES. LARGE PRINT FOR EASY READING - Original edition)Anyone interested in the role of education and a child’s place in society will be well-served to read or reread this timeless classic. As Umberto Eco has argued, although it is written in simple language, Pinocchio is not a simple book. It doesn’t limit itself to one simple, basic moral, but rather deals with many meanings and it is, thus, not only moving and beautiful, but profoundly educational.WHO IS PINOCCHIO?Pinocchio is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi. Carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village, he was created as a wooden puppet, but dreamed of becoming a real boy. Pinocchio refers to a character who is prone to telling lies and fabricating stories for various reasons. Pinocchio learns to control his impulsive personality and shows moral and intellectual growth. Collodi's "Pinocchio", as a fable, doesn’t impose answers on the readers, but rather poses stimulating questions. Non simply a children’s book, "Pinocchio" helps readers to reflect on issues of freedom vs. authoritarianism, what system of education is most effective, how young people can be helped to develop their vocations, and how should we approach adolescent development. Pinocchio has become an icon of modern culture, and one of the most re-imagined characters in the pantheon of children's literature. Pinocchio is known for having a nose that becomes longer when he tells lies (chapter 3). His clothes are made of flowered paper, his shoes are made of wood and his hat is made of bread. Aspects of Pinocchio's character vary, depending on the interpretation, although basic aspects such as his creation as a puppet by Geppetto and the size of his nose changing due to his lies or stress remain present across the various formats. In Collodi's original tale, "Le Avventure di Pinocchio" (1883), Pinocchio, as a child, exhibits obnoxious, bratty, and selfish traits, which will eventually change after being exposed to his father Geppetto's love, the Blue Fairy's benevolent guidance, public education and, most of all, to his direct experience of good and evil.“It must be said that, though written in the nineteenth century, the original children's novel, "Pinocchio", remains as readable as if it had been written in our century, so limpid and simple in its prose, and so musical in its simplicity.” (Umberto Eco)
    • 1/5
      It is always a dicey affair to criticise a popular book: and when it is an acknowledged classic for children, it is even more dangerous. So I agonised a lot over my impressions of Pinocchio: Is it only a matter of personal taste? Am I missing something? Should I rethink my rating based on learned opinions spanning more than a century? In the end, I decided to go with my original evaluation.

      This is one of those stories you read and love in comics format or abridged versions before you come into contact with the original. What usually happens is that, those adaptations modify and trim the original tale to suit the sensibilities of the current generation. I also read Pinocchio as a comic book and loved it; however, on reading the original, I find that many of the "creepier" elements had been edited out of that version.

      I do not love moral fables for children. The type of story where, for example, the disobedient little lamb is gobbled up by the big, bad wolf, crying with his last breath: "Oh! If I had only listened to my mother!" is terrifying to kids (I speak from personal experience). They are equivalent to the posters of hell which some people were fond of hanging in their drawing rooms during my childhood. In the nineteenth century, when Collodi wrote his story, one can easily understand that this must have been an accepted method of keeping children in line: by frightening them out of their wits. I do not think the modern world will look kindly on that method.

      It is not that creepiness by itself is bad. Many fairy tales are frightening, with their suggestions of cannibalism, patricide, incest, torture etc. The difference between the fairy tale and the moral fable is that the fairy tale is a live entity, growing, shrinking and changing shape while travelling from mouth to mouth; the messages are subliminal, interacting with the child's subconscious. The moral fable on the other hand, is "purposeful" - there is a message ("if you do this, then this will happen!") which the author wants to drum into the child's head, usually by using fear as a tool. It is the narrative equivalent of the schoolmaster's swishing cane.

      Collodi's story, taken by itself, has many wonderful elements of dark fantasy (the huge Dogfish which swallows ships whole, the snake with a tail which smokes like a chimney, the little white man who converts boys to donkeys and sells them...) and could have made a wonderful fairy tale. However, the moralising on almost every page of what happens to bad boys who do not obey their parents, do not study and tell lies takes all the fun out of it: the voice of the narrator, coming out through various parental figures, becomes sickening. What crowned the whole thing for me was the death of poor Candlewick, Pinocchio's friend, after short life of back-breaking labour as a donkey. Yuck!. I was happy when the story ended.

      I would recommend reading it to children with the morality edited out: but why bother? There are better books out there. Or let them read it as a comic book, or watch the Disney movie.
    • 5/5
      Greg Hildebrandt's tremendous illustrations accompany this edition of the children's classic, and the art brings the wooden boy to life on its own. There are twenty-one full color paintings with colors that simply dash out at you. This volume is the Little Unicorn edition, which means the original story is abridged so the illustrations can take center stage. Simply wonderful. This book begs for a cold cloudless night and a hot steaming mug of hot cocoa.

      Sized for small hands

      Book Season = Winter
    • 2/5
      On the whole, this has to be the least satisfying classic I've read over the past couple of months. I genuinely disliked nearly every character in the book, with special emphasis on Pinocchio. I was rooting for the fireplace rather than the real boy angle.
    • 4/5
      The book is better than the Disney movie -- which was still a good movie. I've also seen a wonderful theatrical production at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. Another one I ought to reread.