The Adventures of Pinocchio: A Retelling for Curious Readers

A look inside

The opening of The Adventures of Pinocchio: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   The Piece of Wood That Laughed

   Once upon a time there was… “A king!” my little readers will say. No, children, you are wrong. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood. “Please don’t strike me so hard!” it cried in a tiny voice. Mastro Cherry, an old carpenter whose nose was as red as a ripe cherry, froze with his ax in the air.

2. 

   Mastro Cherry sat on the floor, his red nose gone purple. He had searched under the bench and inside the cupboard and found no one. Then, as he smoothed the wood with his plane, the voice had giggled, “Stop! You’re tickling me!” In came his friend Geppetto. The neighborhood boys called him “Polendina,” because his yellow wig looked like cornmeal pudding. Geppetto hated that name.

3. 

   “I want to make a wonderful Marionette,” said Geppetto, “a puppet that can dance and turn somersaults. We’ll travel the world together.” “Bravo, Polendina!” squeaked the wood. Geppetto thought his friend had said it. The two old men tumbled about, and each came up holding the other’s wig. At last they made peace, and Mastro Cherry gladly gave Geppetto the strange wood.

4. 

   “You rascal!” cried Geppetto. His half-carved puppet was waving his yellow wig in the air! Everything had gone wrong from the start. Geppetto named him Pinocchio, and the new eyes stared. The nose grew and grew. The mouth laughed and stuck out its tongue. Then the new hands snatched the wig. “You aren’t even finished, and already you don’t respect your father!”