On the International Books' Day the 9.23 was visited by a 9th grade from Tuusula, Finland. They worked together on the topic of fairy tales and in mixed groups they created their own fairy tales. Here they are. Enjoy!
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The Magical Brush
by group 1
Once upon a time there was a boy with very ugly and short hair. He was so sad about his hair, because he had always wanted to have long, beuatiful hair. But then he met a witch, who gave him a brush which while combing made his hair longer and longer.
Anyway this brush would work only if he did the following three things: he had to help people with his magical brush, not to brush his own hair very often because he could get addicted to it and selfish and we could never ever cut his hair again.
He was very happy to have received that brush and on the following day he started brushing his hair. Like a miracle, his hair grew much longer.He started helping people with his hairbrush and did't cut his hair.
After a while he stopped helping people as he started admiring himself more and more in his mirror, so that he slowly became addicted to combing his hair. Suddenly his brush broke and his long hair fell down, so he had short hair again.
The boy got really sad and a girl who passed by saw him and when she asked him what was going on, he told his story. Then the girl told him that he was beautiful with short hair too and that he did not need to look beautifully on the outside anyway. What matters is that you are nice to others and a good person.
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Little Red Riding Hood and Moomintroll
by group 2
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Once upon a time Little Red Riding Hood was on her way to her grandmas' house to bring her some cake, chocolate and wine. Her motrher told her to go visit her because her grandma was sick. Around the same time, Moomintroll was leaving the house to go buy some groceries.
On the way, Little Red Riding Hood came across a field of flowers and she wanted to pick one for her grandmother. She put the basket with the food down and started picking flowers. Moomintroll was on his way to the store, when he saw a basket full of food laying on the ground. He looked inside and as he saw nobody who could possibly own the basket, he switched it with his own empty one. He then started making his way back home.
When Little Red Hiding Hood came back to get her basket, it was empty. She looked around but saw nobody. Then behind the trees she could see a house. Maybe the owners saw something...She knopcked at the door and Moomintroll opened it. Little Red Riding Hood noticed he had some chocolate around his mouth but didn't suspect anything.
'Have you seen anybody stealing my basket?' Little Red Riding Hood was about to ask, but she got interrupted by Little My. 'The cake was really good, trhanks Mommintroll!'
Then Little Red Riding Hood got suspicious.
'Have you stolen my basket?' she asked.
'I stole no basket' answered Moomintroll, 'but found one in the woods earlier this morning'.
'Well, I think it was mine, could you please give it back to me?' asked Little Red Riding Hood.
'Oh, I'm so sorry...I didn't know it was yours. And my hamily has eaten it all. But if you want, we can bake a new cake'
Little Red Hiding Hood accepted and they had fun together and became really good friends.
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The princess in the woods
by group 3
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Once upon a time there was a princess who woke up in the woods, not knowing where she was and how he got there. She started to look for a placxe to sleep, then suddenly she saw a hairy dwarf named Ekaopo.
She asked him for a place to sleep, but he didn't have ebnough space, so he helped her find another place.
After searching the whole day, he finally found a house. She knocked at the door, a boy opened and although she planned to only stay for a night, she ended up falling in love with him and staying forever.
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Anna and Aaron
by group 4
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Once upon a time there was this little fairy girl called Anna, living in a house with a woman. She was happy. but at the same time lonely too. because she thought about finding someone like her and imagined she was the only one of her kind in this world.
One night Anna woke up in the middle of the night, walked to the window and saw a very bright star. She thought of her loneliness and wished upon that star 'I wish I could find someone like me, I wish I could find another fairy.' There was no answer, so she sadly went back to sleep.
On the following day a stranger's voice awoke Anna. When she looked up she saw the eyes of a small fairy boy who was just as tiny as her and had wings like hers.
'Hello, my name is Aaron and I'm the fairy prince' he said. 'I saw you yesterday standing by your window and I thought I should introduce myself.'
They talked for a while and then Aaron invited Anna to have a flight on a leaf. As they were flying over a giant rock, they heard someone screaming. Aaron flew down and told Anna to wait for him, while he checked on the person screaming earlier. so she sat down and waited on a rock.
From the other side of the mountain a cricked named Mr Cricked, who had spotted an eye on her for a long time, saw Anna sitting on a rock and immediately tried to capture her
TOPIC: IDENTITY AND SOCIETY
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A boy's name
by Louisa-Joelle
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'Mom, can I change my name?', asked Mark.
It was a Saturday evening and he was in the kitchen, watching his mother cook dinner.
'What? What do you mean, honey?', she answered while stirring the fried potatoes in the pan.
'I mean, can I change my name?', Mark repeated.
'Why would you want to do that? Don't you like your name?'
'It's just that I don't feel like a Mark.', he replied, feeling mildly irritated that she still didn't look at him while they were talking. At that moment she was adding salt to the potatoes.
'Then what do you feel like being called, honey?', she asked, cutting rosemary herbs and adding these to the pan too.
'Before your dad and I decided how to name you we had a bunch of names to choose from', she added, 'there was Max- your father liked that one a lot- and Martin, like your great-grandfather.'
'I want to change my name to Mary', he interrupted.
His mother burst out laughing.
'Mary?', she said, 'Why would you want to be called Mary? That is a girl's name!'
'I know', said Mark, 'but I like it more than Mark. It feels more like me, you know?'
'No', his mother said. 'I'm sorry, but I don't understand. You're a boy, you have a boy's name. Mary is a girl's name. Meant for girls. Are you a girl, Mark?' she asked, finally looking at her son, waving the wooden spoon with her hand. Mark didn't answer.
'Are you a girl?', she repeated.
'No', Mark whispered.
'What?', his mother asked.
'No, I'm not a girl', he said.
His mother went back to her cooking.
'Well, then I guess that settles it, doesn't it?', she stated.
But Mark wasn't done yet.
'I don't get it. Why does a name say you're a boy or a girl?'
His mom just shrugged.
'A name is what identifies us, right?` So, I feel like a Mary and not like a Mark, then that's what I feel identifies me.'
'Mark!' his Mom tried to say.
'But Mom, I feel like Mary! I'm Mary. Just Mary. I just want your permission to make it official, that's all!'
Just then he heard the front door open. His father was home from church. Mark could see him taking off his preacher collar through the kitchen door. He looked back at his mother. She was still holding the spoon in her hand but looking at him. Unsure, she quickly said:
'Okay, I'll discuss this with your father. If you still feel the same in a month, we'll consider it. Now go set the table.'
31 days later, Mark was now Mary.
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A Parent's work
from Louisa-Joelle
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Children don't understand what it means to be a parent.
They take almost everything for granted. The time we take to make them feel happy. Making their breakfast at 6 in the morning, the cash we save up for them so they won't go hungry at school, all the toys we bye because they just NEED to have them. It's the things we, us parents, keep out of our life so that they are taken care of. No late-night parties, no dates, no dinner with friends on the weekends, no drugs, no alcohol. And ALL THAT MONEY. My God, where does it all go? Into school books, field trips, lunch money, new toys they get bored of in a week, new clothes that they grow out of in less than a year. Then braces, glasses, acne cream, makeup, tablets, computers, that new phone they so desperately wanted and you just have to get them because otherwise, they'll torture you with whining.
Imagine a household with two parents, all manageable when you're a team, but think of single parents. A lone mom working two jobs to cover rent, having to pick her kid up from kindergarten, preschool, primary school. It doesn't get easier when they're older either. Some say it's even harder. They're conscious, know what they're doing and need to do, but they don't. Rebellious little shits. They don't listen anymore, they do what they want when they want to. They leave you crying on more days than you'd like to count.
But it's the independence that hurts the most. When they decide they don't need you anymore, not the way you want them to, have learned to. They go and there's a hole that's left behind. A void only they can fill but won't. Not completely, anyway. They visit for Christmas, Thanksgiving, maybe new years, but there's always a space left. It takes a long time to let them go. Your children. The ones you've raised for over a decade and who you sometimes hated or loved, maybe both at the same time. The ones you'd give up your life for, sacrifice everything for. Because they're your child, not someone else's, your responsibility. They are half of you. You can't help but love them. It doesn't matter if they're ugly or beautiful or average, smart or retarded, talented or lazy. You brought them into this world and you have to help them understand it so that they can one day do the same for their children. It's a circle that always repeats, maybe not always the way it should or when it should, but it happens either way and each parent should focus on doing the best they can. Perfect is not always better. A child growing up in a poor household does not have to become poor itself. Or one growing up rich, won't necessarily mean it will have a bright future.
It's when your child leaves you to face the world alone, that a mom or dad has to realize, they are a piece of you but also something new, ready to be discovered.
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