Pinocchio: the story of "every child"?

Well, I don't think Pinocchio is a complex work, but rather was painted with a broad stroke. But, I do think that for whatever reason, Pinocchio has been developed to show real love and caring for Geppetto. I think this is important. He does care, he just can't seem to help himself. I think kids can identify with some of this. He is not an evil character. He is a sympathetic character. He makes bad decisions.

Actually, what Pinocchio needs to do is internalize the voices of all those "conscience characters" who admonish him along the way and whose advice Pinocchio disregards again and again. When this happens, he will be a real human boy.

This is not unlike what happens to kids around the time they begin school. In fact, I sometimes tell my students that when I see evidence that they follow important rules "even when no one is watching them" it is a sign to me that they are ready to become Upper Primary Students. In some ways it is a "rite of passage" and I think Pinocchio is the story of this "rite of passage."

How about that????

Mary Ann