What you need to know about The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi:
When a carpenter is confronted by a talking log, he gladly gives it up to Gepetto the woodcarver to carve into a puppet. From the very beginning the puppet is mischievous with a nose that refuses to stop growing as Gepetto tries to carve it. As soon as Gepetto has carved the legs, the puppet runs away, and when Gepetto finally catches up to him, he is arrested for appearing to abuse the puppet. At home alone Pinocchio throws a hammer at a talking cricket who tries to tell him he is on the path to destruction, killing the helpful cricket instantly. Gepetto sells his coat to buy Pinocchio an ABC book. On the way to school Pinocchio is persuaded to sell his book for money to go to a puppet show. When the puppeteer tries to burn Pinocchio to cook his lamb, Pinocchio begs him not to. The puppeteer takes pity on Pinocchio and lets him go with five gold coins. On the way home Pinocchio is confronted by a blind cat and a fox. They convince him they are his friends, but then try to steal his money by disguising themselves in black sacks and ambushing him in the night. Pinocchio runs to a cottage in a nearby field, but the only occupant, a fairy with azure hair, claims she cannot help him because she is dead. The murderers catch Pinocchio and hang him from a tree, hoping that when he is dead he will open his mouth and release the coins he has hidden under his tongue. When Pinocchio is about to die, the blue fairy sends her animal friends to cut him down. She threatens him with four black rabbits carrying a coffin when he tries to refuse the medicine she gives him. Pinocchio, now loyal to the fairy, tries again to go to school, but is persuaded by one of his school friends to go to the Land of Toys instead. After months of being lazy, the boys turn into donkeys and Pinocchio is sold to a circus where he is forced to perform tricks until he breaks his legs and is sold to a musician. The musician tries to drown Pinocchio, but the Blue Fairy sends a pack of fish that eat away his donkey body. Pinocchio goes looking for his father and finds him in the belly of an asthmatic shark, living off a shipwreck. After escaping the shark, Pinocchio attempts to nurse his father back to health and eventually begins to work in return for milk to revive his father. When the Blue Fairy learns of this, she turns Pinocchio into a real boy, and his puppet self is left to gather dust in the corner.
