World Famous Comics: The Adventures of Pinocchio (Creative Editions)
The Adventures of Pinocchio (Creative Editions)
By: Carlo Collodi Publisher: Creative Education Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Creative Education Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 192 Publication Date: July 30, 2005 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Like many little boys, Pinocchio likes to dabble in mischief, disobey his parents, and shirk his studies and chores. Like many ordinary boys, Pinocchio does what he pleases, with scant regard for the consequences. But the star of this tale isn't just any little boy. And he's certainly not ordinary. In fact, he's not a boy at all. With a head made of wood and his body carved from an enchanted tree limb, Pinocchio is a puppet. And a naughty one at that!
Author Carlo Collodi and illustrator Roberto Innocenti treat readers to a wildly imaginative ride in this delightful story of an egoistic wooden puppet whose bad behavior leads him from one misfortune to another. In the end, lured by the promise of becoming a "real" boy should he change his wicked ways, Pinocchio tries to make amends. But will his good deeds come too late?
Carlo Collodi is the pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini (1826-1890), an accomplished Italian journalist whose translations of French fairy tales in the late 1870s earned such praise that he was encouraged to write his own. Le Avventure di Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio), his most famous and beloved work, debuted in 1881 and is today considered a children's classic.
Italian Roberto Innocenti taught himself the craft of illustration as a young man and has since become one of the world's most recognizable children's book illustrators. His work in such acclaimed picture books as Rose Blanche, Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, The Last Resort, and Erika's Story has garnered wide critical acclaim and such honors as the Bratislava Golden Apple Award and a 2004 nomination for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
Heavy, allegorical morality tale My children and I have just completed this book, with beautiful illustrations by Innocenti, as a read-aloud. I have never been acquainted with any Pinocchio other than the anemic, sanitized Disney versions reflected also in the Little Golden Books. The cautions by others to be careful with young children are worthy of consideration, for this book has terrors aplenty, both in words and illustrations, but I find both words and illustrations to be marvelous.
I am beginning to "open the door" to the difficult realities of the world for my children, and find beautiful allegorical literature to be just the ticket. The illustrations are beautifully rendered, but some are also quite scarey. Frequently, a following page will have a small cameo of a detail from the full illustration of a preceding page which draws the attention to that moral heart of a complex picture. I prefer this introduction to the reality of wickedness in the world (in words and illustrations) to the soul-numbing introductions to wickedness rampant in television and movies which give no time for concern for reflection.
Some of my favorite themes are emphasized also - the redeeming power of love and forgiveness, the association of both forgiveness AND repentance prior to the resolution of relationship, the surpassing value of wisdom and the often difficult trials that must come before the heart is ready to embrace it.
I am especially struck by Pinocchio's occasional recounting of his adventures as the tale unfolds. In the beginning of the tale, his recounting is filled with blaring examples of falsehood and complete lack of self-examination or evaluation. Everything that happens to him is someone else's fault and there is little association of cause and event. As the tale unfolds, however, Pinocchio's self-examination increases in accuracy, and his self-examination also becomes more accurate.
I think this allegorical tale has much value for young children, as does Hinds' Feet on High Places and The Pilgrim's Progress.
Good size, well printed, looks good. A gift for my grand daughter, it seems to be a good book. I haven't heard her comments yet (it was a Xmas gift and she's still working through the rest of the gift pile)
2005 revised unabridged edition illustrated by Innocenti First off, to clear things up, this page contains a few reviews of other editions of Pinocchio, which should be seperated out by their proper ISBN numbers. This review refers to the 2005 hardcover from Creative Editions. This is a revised version, first published in 1998, this edition features a new translation of the full, unabridged text, more lyrical than some older translations, and quite faithful to the original Italian text. Also, this edition has several additional illustrations, and has been handsomely re-designed. Altogether, I find this to be my absolute favorite edition of Pinnocchio, and I even bought it again, to replace my much-loved earlier edition. I prefer the new translation to the older translation used before, and the addition of more illustrations and the re-design make this a superior edition.
I first found this book in a thrift store, and the inscription indicated it was a misguided gift to a young child from his grand-parents... Don't make this mistake, this version of Pinocchio is definitely not intended for young children. Parents may want to look elsewhere if they are expecting a tame children's book. This is a sophisticated and somewhat graphically illustrated edition, and it is not the Disney-fied version of Pinocchio that many people expect. If you are unfamiliar with the differences between the original story, and the popular sanitized versions, you might be shocked at first. The story is actually very dark, brutal, & surreal, and the illustrations of, say, Pinocchio getting hung in a tree, are really too dark for very young children.
That being said, I still whole-heartedly recommend this edition for older readers wanting an artistic and unexpurgated version of this incredible tale. This is one of the best modern translations of the text I've read, so I would recommend it to literature students and people interested in Italian folklore over most of the other versions available.
The artwork is what drew me to this book when I first saw it. You simply must see these illustrations to appreciate them. The detailed, large-scale, and subtlely colored drawings are a moody and perfect accompaniment to this version of the text. I pick this book up often, just to look at the amazing pictures and re-read some of my favorite parts.
Overall, I am thrilled with this revised edition of a book I already considered a classic among illustrated books. I recommend it to scholars of folklore, lovers of sophisticated illustrated books, and curious readers looking for a dark, surreal and wondrous book.
This is NOT an abridgement, this is a great translation of the full text! I own several copies of Pinocchio both English and Italian texts, and this is one of my favorite translations as Ms. Lucas takes great care with conveying the original intent of Collodi's story and characters -- (even down to the translated names used for the characters). I'm not sure what the previous reviewer was referencing, (it may be the review from the library school journal--which may have been an abridgement for grade-schoolers, no longer in print)(???). If you find a copy of this book, I'd recommend buying it. It has the full 36 chapters, the original illustrations by Mazzanti, and extensive notes at the end. A lot of care went into this project, better than most other unabridged translations currnently available.
This is the real Book. I understand that for people who only see the Disney's movie this book can seem dangerous, but this is the REAL STORY of Pinocchio. For me (I live in Italy) the story is familiar and I remember to have read it when I was 6 or 7, without any danger of my "child psicology". Unfortunately, English speaking people haven't seen the wonderful Italian film of Pinocchio of the 70s (directed for the Italian TV by Comencini with Nino Manfredi, Gina Lollobrigida, Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia and others), that could help people who haven'e read the original book to have another perspective of the story...
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