As Lucy fears in C. S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian, “Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here [in Narnia], so that you’d never know which was which?”15 Comically, tragically, and, sometimes, ruthlessly, Collodi explores this mystery. In spite of that, his book is not so dark as Sendak would have us believe. We all must experience some darkness, otherwise how can we appreciate the light? We all must experience the nearness of despair, otherwise how can we know when to celebrate the triumph of hope? We all must at some time or
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