The Adventures of Pinocchio, commonly shortened to Pinocchio, is an 1883 children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pinocchio. He faces many perils and temptations, meets characters who teach him about life, and learns goodness before he achieves his heart's desire to become a real boy. The story was originally published in serial form as The Story of a Puppet (Italian: La storia di un burattino) in the Giornale per i bambini, one of the earliest Italian weekly magazines for children, starting from 7 July 1881. The story stopped after nearly 4 months and 8 episodes in Chapter 15, but by popular demand from readers, the episodes were resumed on 16 February 1882. In February 1883, the story was published in a single book. Since then, Pinocchio has been one of the most popular children's books and has been critically acclaimed. A universal icon and a metaphor for the human condition, the book is considered a canonical piece of children's literature and has had a great impact on world culture. Philosopher Benedetto Croce considered it one of the greatest works of Italian literature.