A revelatory new annotated edition of the most translated Italian book in the world--the basis
for two new major motion pictures: a Netflix animated version co-directed and co-written by
Guillermo del Toro and voiced by Ewan McGregor Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton and a Disney
Plus live-action version directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks Cynthia Erivo
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Lorraine Bracco and Keegan-Michael KeyA Penguin Classic Carved from a
piece of wood by the old carpenter Geppetto the puppet Pinocchio comes to life and immediately
starts to misbehave. But while this beloved character has achieved literary immortality the
novel has been widely misunderstood. Pinocchio has a penchant for lying to be sure but it s
when he avoids going to school that he repeatedly gets into trouble. The Adventures of
Pinocchio is thus not a cautionary tale about lying but an unusually timely fable for our
increasingly authoritarian times--a story about the importance of education and of preventing
others from pulling our strings. This effervescent new translation captures the antic spirit
that makes the mischievous egotistical and easily distracted Pinocchio a late
nineteenth-century prototype for the likes of Bart Simpson. Featuring copious annotations
informed by the translators deep knowledge of Italy it reveals the novel to be not only a
subversively entertaining children s book but also a sophisticated satire reflecting the author
s concern for the social inequality of his time and his belief that duty to others is at the
core of our humanity. For more than seventy-five years Penguin has been the leading publisher
of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2 000 titles Penguin
Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres
and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by
introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors as well as
up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
