Pinocchio of C.Collodi

by Carlo Collodi and James T. Teahan

A wooden puppet full of tricks and mischief, with a talent for getting into and out of trouble, wants more than anything else to become a real boy. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080523912X
• ISBN13: 9780805239126
• Release Date: June 1985
• Publisher: Schocken Books Inc
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Age Range: 15 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 10 and higher

Customer Reviews

it's about time

I came across this book recently at a used book sale and was delighted with my find. As the daughter of an Italian mother, I was reared with the original Collodi work of Pinocchio. In this translation, the author has explained some of the mysteries of this wonderful children's tale that befuddled me for most of my childhood. The footnotes, though wordy, can be ignored and the story just sails on. Reading the footnotes, however, sheds light on many of the trials of Pinocchio that have heretofore been cause for wonder.

A fresh look at a fun classic

I had the extreme good fortune to find this book in a used bookstore about 10 years ago. If you already love Pinocchio, you`ll definitely want this: if you`ve never read it, Teahan`s annotated version is a great place to start. He has done his own translation of the story, endeavoring to make it accessible while also retaining its distinct Italian/Tuscan flavor. The detailed notes he provides really do enhance one`s enjoyment of the story. If you are reading the book to a child, you can skip the notes, but it would be easy to simply adapt some of them into explanations for the child`s questions. For example, a young reader will not be interested in the political satire that Collodi has inserted into parts of Pinocchio, but he/she might be quite interested in the games played by the kids in the Land of Toys, or want to know about the very different foods {cornmeal pudding and chickpeas, to name a few} eaten by the book`s characters. Teahan`s wealth of information enhanced the original story enormously for me. Did you know that it`s always Thursday or Sunday in the Land of Toys because Tuscan children used to get those days off school? That Collodi uses predatory animals like foxes and magpies to symbolize the corrupt, power-loving upper classes of 19th century Italy? That the Cat in the famous Cat/Fox duo is male in some translations, female in others? Maybe I`m just a hopeless completist, but info of this nature makes Teahan`s fresh look at an already entertaining classic even better! Let`s hope this one gets into print again.