Reviews: (by author)

Collodi, Carlo. Pinocchio. Illus. Sara Fenelli. Trans. Emma Rose. Cambridge: Candlewick, 2003. $18.99. ISBN 0-7636-2261-3.

Consider this a RAVE review. The incomparable artwork and the new translation revivify Collodi's 1880's story about the puppet who becomes a real boy. Candlewick has produced a hardback of stunning quality, using variously colored paper (as when Gepetto and Pinocchio are inside the whale), photographs (as when Pinocchio dives out to sea), cutouts, ingenious borders: each page is a work of art. Fenelli matches the boisterous, spontaneous atmosphere of commedia del arte (see p. 46-47)and fittingly—Collodi was much involved with theater, which he depicted in the book. The cat and fox are painted perfectly. Fenelli and the layout people at Candlewick have brought the humor in Pinocchio to the foreground. Rose translates Collodi's episodic story into swift-moving prose that flows effortlessly for the contemporary reader.

Highly recommended
A.A. 11/03

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