Pinocchio was published in 1–2-page instalments in “Giornale per i bambini”, a magazine for children.

I dont think you are correct. In many parts of Europe, dark folk tales told kids from early age were the norm till very recently. I read and heard such, and they were brutal.

Did they prepare me better for life? Nobody can answer that without time machine. For certain they didnt instill any trauma, you need real world for that and not fantasy. Dont treat kids like some fragile porcelaine dumb beings, they grok most of real world fast, see all the bad parts and can handle it way better than overprotective parents like to admit. They often cant express their thinking effectively but they see, hear and understand most of the adult world well.

I certainly read those stories too to my kids.

Don't be so naive. My parents in Spain are now 70's and lived through rough times in villages in the postwar/dictatorship Spain. Even under the National-Catholic regime these stories were published with the raw violence untouched for kids. You know, better if they were scared than misbehaving around and being shooted down from a farmer, eated alive from feral beasts in the mountains or something worse.

And I've read gorier stories from damn Catholic journals for late aged kids in the 50's -from my parents, as they had tons of distinct books- will full depiction of beheadings from God's will in Africal trives and whatnot that would set a straight +18 sign in the cover today.