Carlo Collodi’s voice is one of those special ones you hear or read as a child and you then carry with you all your life. His story of a wooden puppet that dreams of being a real boy – and has a reputation for telling a few fibs – is imprinted in the soul of every Italian. Thanks to the work of Walt Disney in bringing Collodi’s story to the big screen, Pinocchio is also known around the world, and has entered every child’s fairy-tale universe.



Everybody knows his name even if they don’t know how to spell it: Pinocchio. Illustration: Axel Scheffler

I loved Collodi’s stories as a child, and I still love them now. Though he died in 1890, he is still Italy’s best and most popular children’s writer – even today. His style is unmistakable – a blend of everyday speech, inventiveness, playfulness and weirdness, with a lot of humour thrown in. It is very difficult to recreate that style in any other language – so much of what’s great about it gets lost in translation. That’s why rather than simply translating Collodi, I decided to reinvent and expand his delightful, lesser-known story of a mischievous pink monkey named Pipì.

Collodi wasn’t the most cheerful of writers, and even after the success of Pinocchio he hated being considered a children’s author. He saw himself as an Italian Dickens or Shakespeare, and wanted to write grand, important works for adults. He felt his talent was wasted as a children’s writer, despite the very obvious fact that he was so good at it. His frustration can clearly be seen as he published Pinocchio in instalments in his Giornale per i bambini (newspaper for children), since he tried to kill off the character many times in the most extraordinary ways! But Pinocchio’s success meant that Collodi couldn’t let him go, and he and the wooden boy were tied together for life. He was forced to continue to write about him in the Giornale and to create children’s stories throughout his life.

Pipì the pink monkey is in many ways very similar to Pinocchio, good at lying, disobedience and generally naughty. Which is what makes his adventures great fun! Illustration: Axel Scheffler

Collodi had similar problems when writing Pipì’s adventures in the forest of Hullabaloo. He started to serialize the story but – much too the annoyance of his loyal readers – worked on it only in fits and starts, as it took his fancy. He published a few chapters in 1883, then there was a long break. He dragged on as he kept promising more, and concluded in a hasty, chaotic way only in 1885! The end result of all that struggle was The Adventures of Pipì the Pink Monkey. Pipì’s tale, which was written straight after Pinocchio, shares many similarities with it. Incredibly, they also share some characters, including a 10-year-old boy named Alfred who was once a wooden puppet. Pipì himself is very similar to Pinocchio: both of them show a penchant for lying, disobedience and general naughtiness. Which is what makes their stories so fun.

When translating and expanding Collodi’s original tale I’ve tried to rediscover its joyfulness and to find ways to replicate the original’s humour, which would otherwise have been lost in translation. I was delighted when I sent a draft to Axel Scheffler and he agreed to illustrate the book. Axel, who you may know as the illustrator of a certain scary monster named the Gruffalo, brought Pipì vibrantly to life. He added even more joyfulness to what is undoubtedly a rediscovered gem of Italian literature – which shows that, despite himself, Carlo Collodi was one of the best children’s writers of all time.

The Adventures of Pipì the Pink Monkey, written by Carlo Collodi, adapted and expanded by Alessandro Gallenzi and illustrated by Axel Scheffler (and published by Alma books) is available to buy at the Guardian bookshop. Don’t forget to enter our prize giveaway to have the chance of winning a copy of the book most beautifully signed by Axel Scheffler.