1+1+1 for 365 day 5: Puppet on a string

TODAY'S QUOTE:
No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit. - Helen Keller

TODAY'S BOOK:

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Yes, it is time that I included a "children's book".

Please, please, ignore all the versions that tone it down to a Disney-ish cute story.  (Not that the 1940s Disney movie was bad - it was charming.  But the book is better.) When, as a youngster,  I read this in the original version (translated from the Italian), I cried because it was so sad in places. Yet I found it gripping, even though the original novel is long and the language is quite dense for a young kid reading it on her/his own.
Pinocchio - the animated puppet carved from a piece of pine wood by Geppetto, a woodcarver living in a small Tuscan town - dreams of becoming a real boy. When he lies, his nose grows. He makes friends with a cricket, a cat, a fox and other animals and he is swallowed by a fish but in the end his
dream comes true. That is about as much as many people know about the story because they never get around to reading the original. But there is much more to this allegory about honesty, education and hard work. There are stories-within-the story and many twists in the adventures.

Did you know that itt was originally published as a serialised version which was not aimed at children as such, and it had a very unhappy ending?Collodi's editor convinced him to add more chapters and indeed it became twice as long and did have the happy ending that made it more suitable for children.

It has been adapted many times and made into all kinds of films - both animated and live action. It inspired themes in many other authors' tales, including Tolstoy, who wrote a Russian version. It has been reworked into stage plays, musicals, an opera and more.  The character of Pinocchio has inspired Spielberg movies, (AI - Artificial Intelligence), sculptures, countless drawings and more. Pinocchio even pops up in the Shrek movies.

You could simply pick up one of the movies on DVD.  Or, you could do yourself - and your kids - the favour and get hold of the original. Not the 30-page supermarket-book reworked version that leaves out most of the book.  Then settle in and start reading it out loud to the kids.

Or simply curl up with it and get to know the original puppet with a dream and much to learn... Even without kids to read it to, it is a great bed-time story. 

TODAY'S PICTURE

 TODAY'S WEBSITE
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site.  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ counts among my very top favourites.  Breathtaking pictures,  wonderful information in the captions

Nothing says "Spring" like blossoms on a tree...

Picture & text: © Lee Labuschagne - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

TODAY'S WEBSITE

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/)  is one of my very top favourite places on the Internet.   Breathtaking pictures, excellent content in the captions.