PINOCCHIO.

PINOCCHIO by MICHAEL MORPURGO {With illustrations by EMMA CHICHESTER CLARK.}

BACK COVER BLURB: "My name is Pinocchio

I reckon I must be just about the most famous puppet the world has ever known.

But I'm more than just bits of wood and string.

I'm me. So it's about time that I, Pinocchio, told you my story ...."

FIRST SENTENCE {Introduction}: I used to think, on account of my somewhat strange start in life, I suppose, that I was unlike everyone else.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 126}: Every dog I saw was hairless, all the sheep were shaved of their wool and trembling with cold. The butterflies had no colour in their wings and couldn't fly. Peacocks and pheasants had lost their tales and all their bright feathers. It was a place where everyone and everything was so sad.

SOURCE: Purchased with a book token.

MY THOUGHTS: Alas, the jury is still out as to quite what I think about the re-telling/re-imagining of books. Simply lazy, unoriginal story telling or a great way to introduce stories to a whole new generation of readers?

Told largely in the style of the original but from the point of view of an older (though not necessarily wiser) Pinocchio. I felt the first person narrative worked exceptionally well in bringing to life (if you'll excuse the pun) the wooden anti-hero of the title but it was the exquisite black and white illustrations that really made this latest offering from Michael Morpurgo such a hit with me.