PINOCCHIO

PINOCCHIO by Carlo Collodi

How many of you were thrilled when you saw that Disney had done a live action version of Pinocchio? I was so excited...until I watched it. (Major bummer in my opinion.) Anyway...when I saw that it was coming out, I called my local bookstore and asked them if they would help find me a complete version with good illustrations for reading aloud (since we all know that Disney's versions typically are quite a stretch from the original). What they suggested was a copy with illustrations done by Robert Ingpen. I immediately knew that was the one to get, because I have some of his other works and they are wonderful! A side note about Ingpen is that he has been steadily going through and illustrating children's classics. If you are doing a classic read aloud I would highly suggest seeing if it's one he has completed.

Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio is a very frustrating book, but don't write it off quickly. It is true that I read about 5 chapters and turned to the kids and asked if they wanted to quit. I may or may not have been dangling it out my car window as we were flying down the interstate when I asked. Suprisingly, they said no, so we kept going with it. The original is very different than the Disney version, but what makes it SO VALUABLE is the frustration that Pinocchio gives to his readers. He makes the dumbest mistakes over and over again, chapter after chapter. You get to the point that you want to reach through the book, grab him by the neck, and shake him until his little wooden teeth rattle. As soon as we would start down the path of destruction again for the hundredth time, the kids would just start yelling,"No, Pinocchio! Don't do it! Make the right choice this time!" It was a valuable lesson over and over and over and over (did I say over?) again about the consequences of bad decisions. What a terrific lesson to kids as time and time again they stand at the crossroads were Pinocchio stood looking to the left, looking to the right. Mom, Dad, and/or God have clearly laid out the choice to make, but now it is in their hands. To be on the outside looking in on a person who continues making bad choices and the results of those choices is such a valuable thing!

So Pinocchio is safely tucked up on my shelf waiting the next time it is read.

ALONGSIDE ACTIVITY- Are you trying to teach your kids how to summarize a reading? Pinocchio is a perfect teaching tool. I quit reading the chapter names to the kids until after I read the chapter, because it basically summed the entire chapter up.