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I find the current debate on Pinocchio very interesting. I am a postgrad at UCD and I am doing my PhD on fantastic metamorphosis as a political and social commentary in Italian children's literature. I have spent much time working on Pinocchio and I find Ann Lawson Lucas'introduction in her translation of Pinocchio provides a good basis for understanding how the text reflects the culture and society of its time. Other texts which touch on issues such as the political and historical context are Bertacchini - Collodi Narratore and Jack Zipes essay in Happily Ever After- Fairy-Tales and the Culture Industry. I would be interested to hear others views on the teaching of Italian children's literature to non Italians. I, personally think a very interesting course could be devised on Italian children's literature at a university level. Giorgio Cadorini has commented that Italian books for children often contain cultural references specific to Italy, but I do not think this is insurmountable. I think that comparing the way Collodi adapted and italianised the french fairy tales of Perrault with Perrault's tales is an illuminating project. Children's Literature in Italy has been closely connected with political and social developments, ever since Unification, when the need to educate Italy's young coincided with the need to build a united Italian people. For this reason it can open up debates on many cultural and historical questions specific to Italy. I feel that students also enjoy studying the children's literature of another country that is not their own. I would be interested to hear if anyone has tried to teach Pinocchio on a university course, Lindsay Myers MA %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%