I became interested in this because I read a blurb that talked about how in the first portion of the book, when the cricket appears to Pinocchio and tells him to be good, he smashes it with a hammer.

Now, it’s not that I have a morbid thing going, I am merely interested in fairy tales and their original versions so when I heard this was coming out I was more than excited.

The original tale is quite interesting and VERY different than the version most are familiar with, the Disney film. While I enjoy the Disney movie I was really taken by the things in the original version that I never knew. Like, the Blue Fairy being a little girl with sky blue hair, or Pinocchio speaking while he was being carved.

Also, some central characters are different. Like I said, The cricket, who has no name, is a ghost after the hammer incident, The infamous whale is a shark and there is even a gorilla judge.

As for plot, well, a lot of the familiar things are there but it is apparent that this was a tale written as many fairy tales are, as a cautionary tale to children. Pinocchio finds himself in many a situation. He never learns, until the end of course.

The book clocks in at 160 pages. It’s like a full fledged novel. This version also comes with a great informative introduction by Umberto Eco and an incredible afterward by Rebecca West regarding Pinocchio and the way the story has affected our culture. The new English translation is by Geoffrey Brock. Eco in his forward, sings his praises regarding his translation.

I recommend this to everyone. It’s a super fun read and you’ll feel like you know more about the story than anyone else.

Also, afterward, I drew this.

The Book Pirate welcomes a new shipmate to the crew, the Book Parrot! He is currently reading five books…updates to come.

Bust out your Crayola 120ct Crayons! It’s time for a coloring contest.

Patrick Wensink, author of Sex Dungeon For Sale!, is hosting a coloring contest where you can win fabulous prizes. And by fabulous prizes I mean a selection of Wensink’s favorite books of 2009. You can win signed copies of 4 books (Help! A Bear is Eating Me! [my review] and Fool are included, autographed BW). Oddly enough, he does not include a copy of his own book, Sex Dungeon For Sale. Perhaps Patrick does not think that highly of himself or maybe he is simply trying to save on postage. Regardless, you should totally enter.

Here’s how it works. Download and print the coloring page that you fancy. Each page is based off of a story from SD4S (My Son Thinks He’s French, Jesus Toast, Chicken Soup for the Kidnapper’s Soul). Color it in either by hand or digitally, then e-mail it to patrickwensink@gmail.com with your name, address and phone number. The deadline is December 14th. You can check out his rather random web site for more details if you still feel ill informed about this contest.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is still sitting on the NY Times bestseller list (currently at #5). I worry about what the popularity of this book will do to the book industry. In particular, I think that this book will spawn a number or “me too” books similar to what happened after The Da Vinci Code and every book seemed to be about a hidden code.

To beat people to the punch, I have come up with some ideas:

First, Pirates make everything better.

The Old Man and the Sea and Pirates would be the perfect pop culture/classic literature crossover. I haven’t read The Old Man and the Sea but judging from the title it’s about an old man and the sea. I imagine that the the old man could run in to pirates while on the sea and, I dunno, join them while learning valuable life lessons.

Second, Ninjas make an excellient additions to novels.

Again, haven’t read War and Peace. But War and Peace and Ninjas could depic the invasion of Russia by France who hire a ninja army who get fought off by the Russians while learning valuable life lessons.

Yes, this may be a good idea.

(click for larger)

As drawn by Terry Blas.

Friend and co-worker Nathalie drew her rendition of a Book Pirate.

Nathalie has a art blog here which you can check out and she is also part of the Robopocalypse Comics Collective.