Geppetto, a poor lonely wood carver, carved a puppet and called him Pinocchio. As he carved, the puppet came to life. Just as Geppetto finished carving the legs, the puppet stood up and ran away. Later, when Pinocchio returned home, he met Jiminy Cricket. He told the cricket he did not want to be a puppet. He wanted to be a real boy.
     Jiminy Cricket told Pinocchio that he must go to school and be good. So Pinocchio asked Geppetto to buy him an ABC so that he could learn the alphabet. Geppetto used his last piece of gold to buy it. But temptation led Pinocchio to trade his ABC for a ticket to a puppet show. After getting into some trouble there, the owner of the puppet theatre gave Pinocchio five pieces of gold to take home to his father. Before he got back home, Pinocchio met a fox and a cat. They told him that he could turn his five pieces of gold into a hundred pieces. They told him if he planted his gold coins in the Field of Gold, they would grow into a money tree.

     Pinocchio set off with the fox and the cat to the Field of Gold. They walked all day and stopped for the night in a small hotel. The next morning, the fox and the cat were gone and Pinocchio had to pay for their hotel bill with one of his pieces of gold. However, he continued walking to the Field of Gold. Along the way he met Jiminy Cricket. The cricket told Pinocchio not to listen to the fox and the cat. He told the puppet to go home to his father. But Pinocchio wanted his money to grow on the money tree. He didn’t listen to the cricket’s advice. That night, two robbers tried to steal Pinocchio’s gold. A good fairy, seeing this, sent her dog and falcon to chase the robbers away and to bring Pinocchio to her house. Pinocchio was so upset that the fairy called for three doctors: an owl, a crow and a cricket. Jiminy Cricket recognised Pinocchio and told the fairy about him and Geppetto. Pinocchio told the fairy about his gold pieces. When she asked him where they were, he didn’t like to say. He was afraid to tell anyone. So Pinocchio lied, three times, and each time his nose grew longer and longer. The fairy laughed and told him not to tell lies. She told Pinocchio that Geppetto was on his way to her house to see him. So Pinocchio decided to go to meet him.

     He set off, but soon he met the fox and cat. Again, they convinced Pinocchio to go with them to the Field of Gold There, they watched as Pinocchio planted his gold coins. The fox told Pinocchio to return in the morning. When Pinocchio returned there was no money tree. The fox and cat had come in the night and had taken his gold coins. Sad and upset, Pinocchio decided to go back to the good fairy’s house to see his father. On the long walk back, Pinocchio managed to help a chicken farmer by tricking some weasels. Then he met a pigeon who told him that Geppetto had made a boat and was going to sail round the world to look for Pinocchio.

     The pigeon took Pinocchio to the seashore on her back. There he saw Geppetto out at sea. Just as they waved to each other a big wave sank the boat. Sad and alone, Pinocchio again met the good fairy, who was now an old woman. She told him to go to school because that was what his father had wanted. At school, the naughty boys made fun of Pinocchio and bullied him. But still Pinocchio wanted to be a real boy. One of the boys, Lampwick, convinced Pinocchio not to go to school but to go with him to the Land of Play. Pinocchio stayed there for a very long time. There, both boys turned into donkeys. One day, the man who bought Pinocchio threw him into the sea. Pinocchio was eaten by a shark. Inside the shark, Pinocchio met his father, who also had been eaten by the shark. They escaped and returned home. Pinocchio had finally learned his lesson. He went to work for a farmer, and made baskets to sell in the market.

     He worked hard and studied every night. One day he met the snail who told him that the fairy was ill and had no money. Pinocchio gave all his money to the snail to give to the fairy. That night the fairy came to Pinocchio in his dream and told him he was a good boy. The next morning, Pinocchio woke up a real boy.