Once upon a time, there lived and old carpenter named Geppeto. One day, he carved a puppet in the shape of a little boy and named him Pinocchio. “How I wish this boy was real!” he said longingly.
A kind fairy who was passing by heard Gepato’s words. That night, she sprinkled some magic dust on the puppet and brought Pinocchio to life. “But remember,” she told the boy, “if you want to be a real boy, you must always be good and make your father, Gepato, proud.”
Geppeto loved Pinocchio dearly. He bought books for Pinocchio and sent him to school so that he would become a very clever boy.
But Pinocchio was quite naughty. He and his friends used to skip school to play and have fun all the time. When Gepatto found out, he was very angry. “Did you miss school?” he asked.
Naughty Pinocchio refused to tell the truth. “No father, I was in school all day!” he lied. Immediately, his wooden nose started to grow long! “Are you telling a lie?” Geppeto asked with a frown. “No father!” Geppeto asked with a frown. “No father!” He replied and his nose grew longer again.
In fact, every time Pinocchio told a lie, his nose became longer and longer. Every time, Geppeto’s friend, the woodpecker had to peck the boy’s nose to its actual size. And every time, Pinocchio used to promise to be a good boy next time.
But Pinocchio soon forgot his promise. He thought, “School is no fun at all. I don’t want to study anymore. I went to have grand adventures!” So, Pinocchio and his friends ran away from home and joined a circus.
However, Pinocchio soon realized that circus life was not fun at all. He worked all day and he missed Geppeto terribly. Plus, because he had stopped going to school, he had grown to large donkey ears. Poor Pinocchio!
Then one day, he heard terrible news. Geppeto, who had been searching everywhere for his son, had been swallowed up by a huge whale! Immediately, Pinocchio set off to try to save his father.
Finally, Pinocchio found the whale. But as soon as the whale saw him, it swallowed him up as well! Inside th e whale’s belly, who do you think he saw? It was Geppeto! How happy they were to see each other!
“I have a plan to get out,” said Pinocchio, and began tickling the whale’s stomach. As soon as the whale opened its mouth and gave a big sneeze, Pinocchio and Geppeto shot out!
Pinocchio and Geppeto finally reached home safety. The fairy was so pleased with Pinocchio’s bravery that she decided to make him into a real flesh and blood boy. From that day, he was a very good boy who never missed school again, and the father and son lived happily ever after.