卡洛·科洛迪（Carlo Collodi）原名卡尔洛·洛伦齐尼，1826年11月24日出生在意大利托斯坎纳地区一个叫科洛迪的小镇。他的笔名便是由这个小镇的名称而来。科洛迪精通法文，曾翻译过法国贝罗的童话，为广大小读者所喜爱。

科洛迪一生中，曾写过许多短篇小说、随笔、评论，然而最著名的要数他写给孩子们看的童话故事，这些童话想像力丰富，人物形象栩栩如生，情节曲折动人，为他赢得了巨大的声誉。

主要作品有：《小手杖》（1876）、《小木片》（1878）、《小手杖漫游意大利》、《小手杖地理》、《小手杖文法》、《木偶奇遇记》、《眼睛和鼻子》（1881）、《快乐的故事》（1887），最后两部作品是《愉快的符号》和《讽刺杂谈》（1892）。

Winner of the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Award for Juvenile/Young Adult fiction (presented at BookExpo America), this book signifies a modern link to the Pinocchio tradition with a complete and unabridged, newly translated text by Carol della Chiesa and more than 100 extraordinary illustrations in color and black and white.

New illustrations by Iassen Ghiuselev accompany his 1994 award-winning originals and are distinguished by their museum quality. The artwork meets the finest standards in book production and reclaims this time-honored story for children and adults alike. A modern classic for all ages, printed on acid-free paper, and bound in Italy, it is a treasure of a book and a gift to be remembered.

This book has also been chosen as an outstanding example of book design in the American Institute of Graphic Arts Award annual competition, and received an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Book Design in Canada by the ALCUIN Society. Illustrator Iassen Ghiuselev was the winner of the Illustrator of the Year Award at the Bologna Book Fair in 1994.