The classic story of the little wooden boy whose nose grows with every lie he tells is beautifully presented in this handsome edition. Geppetto, Pinocchio’s creator loves the little boy dearly but somehow Pinocchio can never live up to his father’s hopes. He can’t keep out of trouble mostly, for the likeable reason, that he longs to have fun. Roberto Innocenti has added some illustrations to the original set he provided for this book adding to the rich background world of the unlikely hero.
Philip Pullman: "What effortless invention looks like."
The story of the wooden puppet who learns goodness and becomes a real boy is famous the world over, and has been familiar in English for over a century. From the moment Joseph the carpenter carves a puppet that can walk and talk, this wildly inventive fantasy takes Pinocchio through countless adventures, in the course of which his nose grows whenever he tells a lie, he is turned into a donkey, and is swallowed by a dogfish, before he gains real happiness.
This new translation does full justice to the vibrancy and wit of Collodi's original. Far more sophisticated, funny, and hard-hitting than the many abridged versions (and the sentimentalized film) of the story would suggest, Ann Lawson Lucas's translation captures the complexity of Collodi's word-play, slapstick humour, and immediacy of dialogue. An adult reader will recognize social and political satire, and the invaluable introduction and notes illuminate the cultural traditions on which Collodi drew.
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Carlo Lorenzini was born in Florence in 1826, the eldest son of a cook and a servant, and was brought up in the hillside village of Collodi. He began his writing career as a journalist, writing under the pseudonym Carlo Collodi. In 1875 he began writing for children, adapting traditional tales and creating his own stories. When the first chapter of Pinocchio appeared in an Italian newspaper in July 1881 it was an immediate success. Carlo Collodi died in Florence in 1890.
