This new edition of Pinocchio is the fruit of a collaboration between Wiseblood Books and Well-Read Mom. It brings us that very rarest of gems: an intellectually stimulating and spiritually insightful book that is also easy to read and entertaining. For those who may only be familiar with the story of Pinocchio from, say, the 1940 Disney animated musical, the first thing you need to know is that Pinocchio was originally published in 1880 Italy as a serial for a children’s newspaper. Carlo Collodi (pen name of Carlo Lorenzini) was a friend of the newspaper’s editor. He submitted the story with no premonition whatsoever that it would go around the world and be translated into nearly as many languages as the Bible. His original version ended after fifteen chapters with the death of the main character. But at that point, the newspaper received so many letters from dismayed Italian children that the editor demanded that Carlo bring Pinocchio back to life. 

And so, Carlo went back to work, and the story of Pinocchio grew another twenty one chapters.  The spunky wooden puppet becomes a real boy at the end, so fans of the Disney version need not fear disappointment, although they will find here many more twists and turns to his adventures than could be included in a feature film. Pinocchio’s resurrection marks a turning point in the narrative not only for the main character, but for the whole tone of the story. It’s clear that the author became conscious that he was not just composing a cute fairytale for the entertainment of young readers, but that real children were emotionally invested in the character’s life, travails and antics.

In 1977, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi published Against Master Cherry: a Theological Commentary on the Adventures of Pinocchio, in which he interprets the story, which by then had become an international classic, as a deposit of Catholic orthodoxy. Franco Nembrini was a high school religion teacher at the time. (He is now a member of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.) He started using Biffi’s interpretation of Pinocchio for his classes on Catholicism, and then he started writing about Pinocchio himself. This new edition features the original English translation of Pinocchio by Mary Alice Murray (London, 1892), as well as a new translation of Franco Nembrini’s commentary on the story (Mariangela Sullivan, 2024). In this volume, each chapter of Pinocchio is now followed by Nembrini’s commentary on it, along with its monochrome lithograph illustration by Gabriele Dell’Otto. Since the story was originally written as a serial, this format works very well. It’s especially opportune if you don’t have hours of free time available to immerse yourself in reading books. You can read a chapter of the story with the corresponding reflection in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Then you can put it down and pick it up the next time you have a free moment, without feeling that you’ve disrupted the intended experience. But–be careful–you may find the book so enjoyable that you start coming up with excuses to sneak off and read just one more section.

Nembrini is the high school religion teacher you wish you could have had. He renders Cardinal Biffi’s theological insights into ordinary language with verve and many pithy comments. He also contributes his own reflections on life in a country that used to be devout but is now overwhelmingly secular. So the book becomes a sort of literary spumoni of 19th century fairytale, Catholic theology, and contemporary reflections on the challenges of the life of faith in a materialistic environment. 

If you’ve been wanting to reinvigorate your spiritual life, but you’re weary of the usual devotional literature, this edition of Pinocchio may be exactly what you need. This irrepressible Italian scamp is the most charming little sinner you’ll ever be cajoled into identifying with. His adventures are so entertaining that he makes even repentance appealing. Cardinal Biffi saw in Pinocchio an allegory of man’s relationship with God. Nembrini sees in Biffi’s interpretation a further story of Italy’s struggle with the Catholic faith. Marcie Stokman, founder of Well-Read Mom sees in Nembrini’s reflections an illumination of the journey of life. All these layers of meaning make for a fascinating read, and the book would be an excellent choice for an adult’s private enjoyment, but it would also work well for reading out loud and discussing with children.