(3) 4-6 Out of Abaton series. Pinocchio was a mindless wooden "automa," but ever since a mysterious prisoner fiddled with his gears, he's started transforming into a human boy. He joins Princess Lazuli, a fairy, on a quest across the Venetian Empire, into the air, and beneath the sea. The plot rockets along in this steampunk alternate-history retelling, entrancingly packed with Italian Renaissance details and alchemical magic.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(4) K-3 Translated by Michael Reynolds. In this almost wordless origin story, a literal stick figure is born from the world's first tree. Journeying past many dangers, the figure grows into another tree that will supply the wood that will become Pinocchio. Sanna's gorgeous watercolor paintings of varying sizes bleed from color to color, sometimes gently, sometimes violently. A unique book in search of an audience.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Erin McGuire. Misfit orphan Oscar is content to be his magician master's menial "hand." Then Master Caleb disappears, and children in the magically protected City suddenly begin to sicken. Using Pinocchio as her point of departure, Ursu creates a highly rewarding and involving adventure, with a tight plot, resonant themes, a clearly limned fantasy landscape, and a sympathetic main character.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Graham Philpot & Graham Philpot. This version of Carlo Collodi's classic work is printed in a large typeface on oversize pages, giving the volume a reader-friendly appearance. The retold prose satisfactorily relates the adventures of the puppet who wanted to be a boy but serves mainly as a showcase for Philpot's charming, impressively detailed illustrations.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta