Once upon a time there was a carpenter called Geppetto who felt very lonely. He decided to make himself a wooden puppet which he would call Pinocchio.
Geppetto carved the wood lovingly but got a surprise when he finished! The puppet winked at him!
As soon as Geppetto finished carving Pinocchio, the puppet got to his feet, laughed then ran away! Geppetto chased him through the streets of the town and only caught up with the puppet when he’d been stopped by two policemen who were very angry about all the trouble he’d caused!
“This puppet is a brat, you must do something about him!” the policemen said to poor Geppetto, who promised to send Pinocchio to school like the other children.
But Pinocchio didn’t go to school the next day. He went to the marionette theater instead.
There he met Fire Eater, the puppet master, who looked ferocious but had a heart of gold. Indeed, he gave Pinocchio five gold pieces!
Very soon after, Pinocchio met two crafty characters—the cat and the fox—who were not quite so kind. They pretended to be his friends then stole all his money!
When Pinocchio told people what had happened, no one believed him because he often told terrible The Fairy with Turquoise Hair was the only one to help him. She freed him and promised to turn him into a real boy if he learned to behave himself.
A few days later, the puppet met his friend Candlewick, an unruly boy, who invited Pinocchio to climb aboard a carriage drawn by donkeys and full of children in festive spirits. “It will take us to the Land of Toys,” Candlewick explained, “an amazing place where we can play all day.” Pinocchio didn’t need to be asked twice. He leapt onto the carriage with Candlewick and off they went.
The Land of Toys was a veritable haven of fun. Children could eat sweets all day, there was no school and they never had to study!
But a few days into their time there, Pinocchio, Candlewick and all the others began to turn into donkeys!
Poor Pinocchio!
He was sent to work in a circus and had to run, dance and leap around. It was dangerous work and he hurt his leg. The circus director flew into a terrible rage and hurled the injured donkey into the sea since he could no longer perform in the show.
As soon as Pinocchio touched the water, he transformed into a puppet again. It was a great relief, but it didn’t last long because a gigantic whale arrived at that moment behind him and in an instant the poor puppet found himself in its belly. What a surprise when he saw Geppetto next to him, who had left days before to look for him.
The puppet ran to embrace the old man who could hardly believe his eyes. They had finally found each other again!
Pinocchio and Geppetto made their way, hand�in�hand, to the whale’s mouth and leapt out into the sea. They swam for a long time and were almost out of breath when a tuna fish found them. It let them climb onto its back and carried them ashore so they could finally go home.