#299 Italy...Thanks Fabio!

This 2010 EUROPA:Children's Book FDC (without first day postmarks though) was issued in May,2010 illustrating the € 0.60 stamp, Jacovitti’s version of Pinocchio and the € 0.65 stamp, Geronimo Stilton, the reporter mouse created by Elisabetta Dami, on a background depicting ‘Topazia’, the city where the adventures are set.

Pinocchio is a fictional character that first appeared in 1883, in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and has since appeared in many adaptations of that story and others. Carved from a piece of pine by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village, he was created as a wooden puppet, but dreamt of becoming a real boy. The name Pinocchio is a Tuscan word meaning "pine nut".

Geronimo Stilton is a best-selling children's book series since 2000 in Italy and worldwide.
In the series, the title character is a talking mouse who lives in New Mouse City on Mouse Island. A best-selling author, Geronimo Stilton works as a journalist for the fictional newspaper The Rodent's Gazette.

He has a younger sister named Thea Stilton, a cousin named Trap Stilton, and a favorite little nephew, nine-year-old Benjamin Stilton.Geronimo is a nervous, mild-mannered mouse who would like nothing better than to live a quiet life, but he keeps getting involved in far-away adventures with Thea, Trap, and Benjamin. The books are written as though they are autobiographical adventure stories.

The series originated in Italy and has become the most popular children's book series in that country. The books have been translated into 35 languages.