Everyone talks about me! My adventures have been translated into almost every language in the world, and after the Bible, I am the most known book. Why? After all, I'm just a child, or rather, no, I'm just a puppet. I have a putative father because he built me unintentionally while cutting a piece of wood which, as soon as it was finished—as soon as I was born!—I ran away to escape from him and discover the world." In Pinocchio's journey, he experiences everything in his exploration of the world and life: he meets the good and the bad, the humble and the noble, justice and deceit. He dives into the multi-individual nature, until he enters the stomach of a dogfish. It is a coming-of-age story that, through the rebellion against standardization, achieves a balance and becomes part of the community: the family, the environment, the school, the peer group, learning that solidarity, respect for others, inclusion beyond appearances, gender, and orientation, and the acceptance of environmental respect are rules of common sense.

Everyone talks about me! My adventures have been translated into almost every language in the world and, after the Bible, I am the most known book. Why? After all, I'm just a child, or rather, no, I'm just a puppet. I have a putative father because he built me unintentionally while cutting a piece of wood which, as soon as it was finished—as soon as I was born!—I ran away to escape from him and discover the world. The problem is that I wasn't normal, I mean like everyone else, and I was born in an era where those who were different were not welcomed. I came into the world from a piece of wood, worse, from firewood, you know, the kind that is put in stoves, in fireplaces to heat rooms, and Master Cherry, as he was about to split the log, heard my voice and was so frightened that he gave me to his friend Geppetto, my future and only parent, who decided to make me a puppet, calling me Pinocchio. Who knows if he did it thinking of a small pine nut or the pineal gland that seems to manage our entire being! It's certain that as soon as my face, arms, and legs were created, I ran away. My first journey to discover the world was short because I was brought back home by the Carabinieri: my first but not last encounter with them. From there on, there were joys and sorrows because I am the first identity in the world that had the mobile features of a child made entirely of wood but also, unfortunately, of conscience. Not even that much elaborated and sought-after Artificial Intelligence! Mine, in 1883, was called the Talking Cricket, knew everything, was always right, made me evolve on my own, with myself but also reflecting on the surrounding world, giving me advice and judgments and, above all, made me afraid because it made the consequences of my actions apocalyptic. I could only kill it to enter the hedonistic society everyone talked about and seemed to be a part of! But it was not a good solution. I was not an android, I was a child, rather a rebellious boy: it is not easy to become a person because this happens by overcoming difficulties, reflecting on one's mistakes, choosing the individuals you want by your side, understanding that there are no differences in the material you are made of and what you like.

I went looking for many adventures: I was about to be eaten alive, fried in a pan; I was about to go to jail; I went to jail unjustly; I made promises but did not keep them; I cried and felt alone; I felt and overcame the pain of death, I understood that only with respect for others and the environment can you find your own balance, only by identifying a good and collective purpose can you achieve your well-being, only with solidarity, inclusion, and recognition of diversity can you live happily.

It took me thirty-six life events to understand that I shouldn't be an object at the mercy of others and become the person I am today.

Marina D'Amato, info@europeanfairytaleroute.eu

In the belief that fairy tales are the expression of the myths, values, and behavior models of every community, and that together at the European level they express an absolute universal value derived from the research that led to the book titled “Once Upon a Time in Europe…” by Marina D’Amato, commissioned by the European Union and published by the Universidad de Guadalajara for the Guadalajara International Book Fair 2023. Pinocchio has been chosen as the most evident example of a narrative model of formation in which the transition from childhood to adolescence also represents the cultural and value journey of every individual in Europe, and the world. Solidarity, the role of women, respect for nature, the importance of law as equality, the multiplicity of identities and orientations are the only true possibility of coexistence, are motivational elements for the structuring and understanding of the sense of common life. The purpose of this proposal is to highlight not only the story of Pinocchio but that of all the protagonists of European fairy tales that underscore the root of our common cultural heritage.