The Adventures of Pinnochio

Carl Collodi is the pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini (1826-1890), an Italian journalist whose translations of French fairy tales in the late 1870s became so popular that he wrote his own, "Le Avventure di Pinocchio" (The Adventures of Pinocchio) in 1881 which went on to become a children's classic around the world and in 1940 was the basis for the animated film by Walt Disney. This is the original story that includes all of Pinocchio's travels including getting ambushed by vile assassins, strung up in a tree, drowned in the sea, nursed back to health by a beautiful blue-haired fairy, slaying a large serpent through laughter, chained up as a dog to catch thieving weasels, arrested for fighting with classmates, almost eaten by a ravenous fisherman, saving a great mastiff and being saved by the mastiff in return, morphing into a performing donkey, flying on the back of a pigeon, getting swallowed by a gigantic shark, saving Geppetto's life, and so much more that most readers will be completely unaware of if the only contact they've had with this sophisticated story is the Disney movie and the abbreviated children's picture book versions. This simply outstanding and enthusiastically recommended edition of The Adventures of Pinocchio does full and complete justice to the wonder and storytelling skills that originally made the life and travails of a wooden puppet brought to life so universally beloved.