I have always dreamt of visiting the far regions of Europe, and to see the countries unknown to me. Even those which lay on my continent in a small piece of their area. I would like to visit the beautiful Italy, sunbathe in the sunny Portugal, taste Bulgarian grapes, meet Count Dracula in Romania, or see the Süleymaniye Mosque in Turkey.

Deep in my dreams, I’ve tried to visit the unknown places in my fantasies, and sometimes through literature. I have recently been visiting our school library more often, in search of a book right for me.  

This was also the case on that sunny December morning. I was wandering through the alleys of the library looking for the next volume which would take my imagination to some mysterious land, when suddenly I heard some unusual sounds coming from behind the third book case. I was very surprised because the library was usually a still and quiet place. Puzzled, I looked at the librarian who was sitting by her desk, entering some data into the computer.

‘Have you also heard that disturbing noise?’ I asked.

‘Haven’t heard anything.’ The woman replied, lost in her thoughts.

I decided to go to the place where the unusual noises came from. At first, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I got a little scared when one of the books began to move. I looked at the title. “120 Adventures of Koziołek Matołek” written by Kornel Makuszyński. I carefully picked it up.

‘Well, you silly billy-goat.’ I sighed. ‘You at least had seen the world during your search for Pacanów.’

And then, something remarkable happened. I noticed that the tapping sound was coming from the inside of the book.

‘Gosh, what’s happening?!’ I shouted out in horror, dropping the book to the floor.

The book opened and you won’t believe it - Koziołek Matołek himself jumped out of it! As if touched by hot iron, I spontaneously leaped aside.

‘Hello.’ The billy-goat said. ‘Am I in Pacanów?’

‘Nnnooo. Matołek.’ I stuttered in disbelief. ‘Pacanów is far away from here. You are at the Primary School Number 3 in Leszno.’

‘Oh, oh.’ He said. ‘I thought that this was Pacanów.’ At that point Koziołek looked at the map of the world hanging on the wall, and asked:

‘Can you show me please where Pacanów is?’

‘Oh, silly, it’s not the right map.’ I said. ‘After all, you don’t have to wander over the entire globe to go to Pacanów. Look!’ And I showed him the map of Poland, hanging on the wall on the other side. ‘You have to search in Poland!”

‘Oh, I see,’ said Matołek. ‘But that map is larger.’ He pointed at the world map. ‘My friends from the bookshelves promised to me that we would look for Pacanów together’

‘What friends?’ I asked, intrigued.

‘’Oh, Mary, Mary. You visit me so rarely that I got a bit sad, and decided to roam a bit through the books.’

At that moment I got a little ashamed and had lowered my head. It was true, it had been some time since I last picked up the book of which Matołek was the main character. And after all, I used to enjoy this story so much.

‘That’s how I got to know the other characters from children’s books, which are lying here on the shelves. They have also felt lonely. Sadly, children stopped reading their stories a long time ago. We’ve talked about it and we are really concerned’ Koziołek continued.  

‘Concerned with what?’ I dwelled on the subject.

‘I believe that they themselves will explain it to you better than I can.’

And before I could put my head around it, books were falling all around me, and from these books their characters jumped out one after another. There was the Snow Queen, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, Harry Potter, the Prince, the Little Match Girl, Hansel and Gretel, Mr. Kleks, and even Winnie-the-Pooh. Seeing the friendly and chubby bear in front of me, I immediately felt a warmness in my heart.

Just imagine the racket when all the characters tried to outshout one another, wondering:

‘What are we doing here? Who has called for us? Was it you, Matołek!?’ The shouting was coming from every direction. Pinocchio was the one shouting the loudest.

‘Calm down, calm down’ Matołek began to quiet the other characters. ‘I have called for you but, well, we can’t make such a noise in here. This is a library after all. We must be quiet or find some other place for our meeting.’

‘We know a place where we can go! A place where we can have our meeting!’ Hansel and Gretel shouted simultaneously. ‘Let’s go to the Witch’s hut. It’s a really delicious place!’ They both chuckled.

Then Harry Potter and Mr. Kleks stepped forward.

‘We’ll take you to the Witch’s hut - get ready: one, two, three!’ said Harry Potter, taking out his magic wand.

‘No problemo on my side.’ Mr. Kleks added, winking at Little Red Riding Hood, while eating some freckles off his nose.

They stood abreast and said loudly: „Wingardium leviosa to the Witch’s hut!!”

Before anyone could notice, something banged, then flashed, and the group was standing in a fairy-tale forest. However, Harry must have miscalculated because the gingerbread house was nowhere to be seen.

‘That’s great. Not only am I talking to fairy-tale characters but now I’m also lost with them in the backwoods...’ I whispered.

Then, all of a sudden the seven dwarves came out from behind a tree, singing ‘High Ho, High Ho. It's off to work we go!’ 

‘Are you lost?’ The one with the largest hat asked kindly, while halting his friends with a strict gesture of the hand.

‘Yes, yes.’ said the Little Match Girl. ‘We are looking for the gingerbread house on a chicken’s foot. Could you show us the way? As a reward, you’ll receive quite a generous amount of matches.’

‘Thank you for the matches, and of course we’ll show you the way. Turn right behind that large oak tree and then go straight ahead, make a left, then two rights, go diagonally and you’ll be there.’ The dwarf smiled.

And just as they appeared singing ‘High Ho, High Ho. It's off to work we go!’ they now disappeared behind the corner.

Against all odds – thanks to Mr. Kleks – we’ve found the hut very quickly.

We were already a bit tired (you understand, so much has happened), and on top of it all very, very hungry. Unscrupulously, we went for the gingerbread delicacies.

‘Yummy, yummy, what a treat!’ said Koziołek.

‘Really, as good as my honey.’ Winnie-the-Pooh added.

Then, all of a sudden, the Witch jumped out of the hut.

‘Why ya blighters, ya buggers! Who had told ya to gnaw on my house. Oh well! Who do I see here! Hansel and Gretel! I’ve already caught ya once on guttlin’ Off ya go!’

‘Stop! Don’t be angry, we have an important meeting here. We promise that we’ll fix your hut and mend any damages.’ The Prince tried to calm the situation.

‘That’s true. Let us all sit in a circle now because the matter is very important. Well, one might say that it’s a matter of life and death’ Matołek longed. “It was I that had called for you. It is a special meeting because we do have a special guest. Yes, I mean you, Jagódka. Our faith lies precisely in your hands.’

‘What do you mean, in my hands?’ I could not believe his words. ‘Please explain! What is this all about?’

‘Our situation is very serious. We’ve already talked about this by the shelves in the library. No one wants to read about our adventures anymore. Not in Poland, not anywhere in the world do children reach for our stories.’ Little Red Riding Hood complained.

‘Can I say a word?’ asked Pinocchio. ‘The matter is serious, as we don’t have much time left. In 100 days we will disappear from your world. I’m not lying. See? My nose is not growing.’

‘But how?’ I could not believe what I was hearing. ‘How will you disappear?’

‘That’s how the magic of literature works. If people read the books which describe our stories, nothing happens to us but recently, things have got much worse - those tablets, computers, mobile phones, games! We are losing the fight against them. You wouldn’t believe how few children read nowadays.’ Mr. Kleks explained.

‘How can I help you? Just tell me, and I’ll do what I can - I will do my best’ I assured them.

‘That is a difficult task, but we believe you will manage to do it.’ the Snow Queen spoke for the first time, enfolding my face with her cold breath. ‘You will visit the countries selected by us, with a mission to save the fairy-tale characters. You must influence the children so that they will start reading again. How will you do it? We believe that you will come up with some idea. After all, you yourself are a child. We don’t know a thing or two about this. The first country you will visit is going to be Portugal. Can we count on you?’

‘Yes, of course. I will do whatever I can. But, tell me, when I arrive, what should I do, who should I look for?’

‘Don’t worry. There, you will be welcomed by fairy-tale characters which you are surely familiar with. Perhaps even one of us will accompany you there.’ Winnie-the-Pooh cheered me up. ‘I would however have to take a large barrel of honey with me.’ He whispered to himself.

‘I’m ready. Don’t worry. I’ll be back within a 100 days. Then, we’ll meet again.’

‘Farewell, Mary, we hope you will succeed’ Said Koziołek Matołek.

Suddenly something banged and flashed forcefully. And then, all was dark and quiet.

CHAPTER II

IN WHICH CHARACTERS TRAVEL TO PORTUGAL AND FIND SOME HELP

At this point I realized it was Harry Potter who used his magic to take me and Winnie-the-Pooh to the room where we were.

‘Where are we?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know, Mary.’- Winnie-the-Pooh answered.

 We stood quietly there in the dark waiting for something to happen when suddenly someone opened a door letting the light fill up the whole room. A short dark haired woman, probably in her fifties, came in and welcomed us; she introduced herself as Maria and told us she had been waiting for us.

‘I'm very relieved you came and arrived safely, we don’t have much time!’ she said. ‘In fact, if we don’t hurry, the magic of fairy tales is doomed.’- obviously I was surprised to see that she knew all about the fairy tale characters destiny.

‘Maria, thank you so much for receiving us...I’m completely lost...the other characters told me that I was the only one who could save them...but...I really don’t know what to do...’, I said

‘Calm down, my dear. Follow me!’, she interrupted with a reassuring smile.

 Winnie-the-Pooh and I followed her through a maze of corridors which led us to a huge hall. A rusty iron key appeared out of nowhere and Maria grabbed it and opened the heavy wooden door.  It was when that magical thing happened: we were inside a huge bookstore, with shelves filled with colourful books everywhere we looked. I immediately recognized the stairs in the middle of the room: the red steps, the wooden railing and that point where the stairs divided in two flights of stairs changing their directions, both leading to the second floor...

There were no doubts we were in the bookstore Lello & Irmão in Oporto, Portugal. But another surprise was yet to come:  Peter Pan, Belle, Aladdin holding his Magic Carpet, and the Evil Queen line up on the top of the stairs staring at us. 

The light coming through the numerous windows and the stained glass up above conveyed an impressive wonderful atmosphere where books and fantasy intermingled.

‘Have you already been here, my dear?’, Maria asked.

‘No, I haven’t. But I’ve already heard about it, it’s wonderful...’

 ‘I’ve been working here for years and I know the deepest secrets of this place...’ she added ‘Now it’s time for us to start looking for a solution and they might help you to find a way.”, she said pointing at the fairy tale characters.

‘Mary you have arrived at last! We’ve been waiting for you for so long!.’ ,Peter Pan remarked.

 ‘Hello everyone! My fellow characters told me to help you to find a solution..., but I really don’t know what to do, I myself have deserted my books of fairy tales at some point...even those who had made me so happy ’, I admitted.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll find a solution, but it’s time to start thinking about something’ ,Belle said ,‘since kids are quitting the books for the technology, we’ve been thinking on how to use the internet to promote fairy tales and revive the love of reading’

 ‘The fact is that nowadays there are already plenty of E-books and films about fairy tales available on the Internet.’ – announced Aladdin– ‘ which means that if we want to promote passion for reading we must do something big  to attract kids.’

‘Well, maybe we could create a website with book trailers of all the fairy tales. Kids would get interested in them and eventually they would read the books ’ I suggested.

‘It’s a good idea but it will take a long time...’Winnie-the-Pooh told me.

 There was silence as if everybody had to give up from life!

‘Listen to me!’ Maria said. ‘There is a book in this bookstore that can help us! It’s kept on a secret shelf and it has got a prophecy which may help us to solve this problem.’

‘Then let us see that book.’

And Maria went seeking it.

A few minutes later she returned with the book ‘The unnamed lords of divination’ that was written by S.R. Woods.

‘The author wrote this book about anonymous shamans and clairvoyants who made prophecies about the future and some of them became true.’ she explained while opening the book . ‘And there was this one...’ ,she said showing us the page ‘An anonymous clairvoyant predicted the taking over of technology and how it would rule our lives and made this prophesy’ –she said pointing to the page where it was written:

When the machines take control over the future

All the paper pages where the fairy tales lay on will be forgotten

until a girl with a teddy bear comes and seeks a hope in a Portuguese school

 which will lead her to other places.

 There she will rewrite the pages of destiny!

‘There’s no doubt that ‘the girl with a teddy bear’ is you, and you have to go to a Portuguese school to find a possible solution.’ Belle turned on to me.

‘But we don’t know which school it is.’ Peter Pan said.

‘Then I will ask my magic mirror.’ the Evil Queen spoke for the first time.

Then she picked up her cell phone and summoned the spirit of the mirror:

‘Mirror mirror on the phone screen, for our safety, which school has the anonymous clairvoyant seen?’

And then, all of a sudden, the face of the magic mirror was shown in a holographic-like image in the space above the screen, and replied:

‘The school that the clairvoyant has just seen is the primary and secondary school of Macedo de Cavaleiros, which is doing some unusual activities with students. But, if you want to make kids read fairy tales again, you’ll have to improve those practices and make it international, creating more interesting activities for them.’ –the spirit said soon before vanishing.

It was then clear what we had to do next.

‘Then let’s go to Macedo de Cavaleiros and find that school. We can fly on my Magic Carpet to get there!’ said Aladdin excited. ‘But I am afraid I can only take three of you! ”

‘That’s fine, I’m going and so is Winnie-The Pooh!’, I said determined ‘ Belle’ better go too since she can help us a lot.’

We thanked Maria and headed to the flying carpet. Although it was a ten- minute trip, we were able to sunbathe and enjoy the breathtaking view of Portugal from the blue skies.

It wasn’t difficult to find the school. In fact, all happened so quickly that we became a bit more hopeful, but there was still a long road ahead!

Belle disguised herself as a school inspector and pretended to be investigating what the schools were doing to promote reading habits. 

Belle ‘interviewed’ the headmaster of the school and he said:

‘Not only are our kids reading more fairy tales but also they are trying to write different endings for the stories or create their own.’

Belle took some notes and the headmaster continued:

‘Kids are very excited about competing with the other schools of the district, and their desire to win is so big that the kids are improving their reading and writing skills.’

‘It’s an interesting idea’ Belle said, ‘But what about the students in the high school and the secondary school? Do they do any activities to promote reading habits?’

‘Yes, the older students are also doing other activities.’ The headmaster explained- ‘They are a digital tool called ‘Kahoot’ where they can play educational games with multiple choice questions with people all over the world. In this case they are using it to study the stories of the books they have to read, by answering questions about the characters and the plot. They found it very useful to train for the reading evaluation tests on school.’

‘I see...’-Belle said, behaving like the typical school inspector.

‘But there’s more...’ the director added ‘We created a scavenger hunt in which students use an app called ‘ActionBound’ to find the ‘treasure’ we hid; and the clues are hidden in books we provide to the participants. It’s being a success; they are reading more and improving their writing skills as well.’

I can’t express how happy I was, we could find some suitable solutions for our problem, there was still some.

So that was the key to rewrite the pages of the destiny, not only of the characters, but also the destiny of children and teens! 

We stayed in that district just for two days but we could enjoy the beautiful scenery of the mountains, go for a swim in the dam of Azibo and meet the welcoming people of Trás- os – Montes.  Then we flew back to Oporto where Maria and Harry Potter informed us about our next mission.

‘Now it’s time for you to go to Bulgaria where we can find more solutions.’ she said hopefully ‘Good luck, dear, the destiny of the characters is in your hands.’

‘I will do my best, I’m sure we’ll succeed, goodbye Maria, thanks for everything.’ I said quite nostalgic and some tears blurred my eyes because I really hate saying good-byes.

‘Goodbye, my dear, you can always count on me!’

‘Are you ready, Winnie-the-Pooh?’

‘I will, once I ‘ve stuffed myself with honey!’ and everybody  burst out laughing.

Harry Potter waved his magic wand and once again something banged and flashed forcefully...and then there was I again with Winnie-the-Pooh and Belle  in a strange place somewhere... 

CHAPTER III

in which we understand that books hide

priceless treasure

Erasmus+

Project Group - Bulgaria

It turned out that we are in Bulgaria, the home of Clever Peter. I have read many stories about him and I am glad that we will meet. I realized that his mind and wit are what we need at this time. That's when he went out with his nephew. We hid by a bush and began to observe. We heard how Clever Peter said to his nephew:

- Come on, little Peter, go and wash yourself then we will have lunch!

- But, Uncle, why wash if I will get dirty again?

- If you say so, my boy - Clever Peter answered and they went home.

Some time passed. At noon Peter instructed his wife to hide the bread. Little Peter was hungry and looking sadly at his uncle. He was waiting to be invited at the table. More time passed. The boy did not resist and asked:

- Uncle, when are we going to eat? I am very hungry.

- We are no longer going to eat, because what's the point to eat if we will get hungry again? - Clever Peter said.

The boy bowed his head sadly and walked to the bathroom to wash.

At this point we with Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh decided to show because we had to hurry. When we stood in front of the home, I presented myself and my companions:

- I am Mary, and these are Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh. We left Poland with a very important task - to find a way to save the fairy characters and get children to start reading again. We went through an interesting country. Fairy characters from Portugal advised us to use modern technology because children love them dearly.

Then almost unanimously We with Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh uttered:

-Clever Peter, we are asking you to help us! You're smart and very wise man; would you advise us how to cope with the task?      

Peter liked the idea and answered us with amusement:

- This idea of electronic books and Internet is very good. In fact, my nephew is very intrigued by the present technologies but does not use them for reading. Of course I will help you. I want to show the children that books have many useful lessons. Knowledge and lessons learned in fairy tales help people in difficulties and trials. I have an idea that you might like. Do you want to teach Little Peter a lesson?

- Of course!

        After little Peter emerged from the bathroom, he saw us and was overjoyed:

- Wow, this is Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh! Oooh, I cannot believe it!! And who are you?

- I am Mary and these are my friends - I replied.

- Uncle, can you go out for a walk with them? - Little Peter asked.

- Yes, but under one condition - to help Harry Potter to find Viktor Krum, the greatest player of Quidditch because he keeps priceless treasure that will be helpful - said Peter.

- That would be great!!! When will we go? What should I take? I just cannot wait! But wait, who is Viktor Krum?

- Ahh ... - they shouted - how can you not know who he is!!!

Then his uncle offered us to go to a school where the children are very curious and certainly know all about Viktor Krum - Dimitar Talev Secondary School in the city of Dobrich. There we saw two children and little Peter asked them:

- Hello! Can you give me a hand? How to learn more about the famous Viktor Krum? Do you know who he is?

The children certainly knew who is the greatest Quidditch player and were very proud that he is Bulgarian. They willingly showed us the library of the school, where there were many books, which were hiding knowledge and wisdom. There he met polite and smiling woman. She was glad that the children were interested in books which filled the shelves of the library. After all, fewer people were reading nowadays. The woman gave us one of the books, entitled Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ''. Little Peter put it in his bag. Suddenly my attention was caught by a few more books. I asked to take them too. The boy at first was not very willing to carry the heavy books, but then remembered that he had promised his uncle to help us, so we took them too.

We left the school. The two students spoke for a while and then confidently said they want to go with your new friend Little Peter with me in this exciting adventure - to find Viktor Krum.

Even Pooh philosophical saying:

- The more, the better. And I agree you should come with us. When we are more and stick together, we might be able to find him easier.

We agreed with joy.

- Harry, why do not use their power in order to discover him sooner? - Asked Little Peter secretly thinking about the heavy bag on his back.

- We must go through the enchanted forest, and if you use magic, evil forces will detect and find ourselves in a difficult position before find Victor. We will need to cope alone and without magic, using only books that we took from the library. - Harry said.

- Well, they weigh so much that probably just need to hit someone on the head with a full bag! - Groaned the nephew of Clever Peter.

Carefully we've come a long way. At one time Pooh said:

- You have to look for a well, I'm very thirsty.

All we agreed and soon noticed well, which could quench our thirst.

We rushed to it, but suddenly appeared a witch.

- You cannot drink here, because I am bewitched each well and you will all die of thirst! - Chuckled the evil witch.

- We can help! – said the students to their friends. - In the book ,,The Wizard of Oz" we read how Dorothy and her companions the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion have dealt with the evil sorceress.

All hid behind the trees. Little Peter opened "The Wizard of Oz" and found that part, which spoke of the evil sorceress. We understood that we need a bucket with water, just like Dorothy did.

- Great idea - all agreed.

While Winnie the Pooh and Harry distract the witch, I and Little Peter poured from the well bucket with water. Immediately we gave signals to Harry that we are ready, but the sorceress saw us and walked towards us without understanding that we have a bucket of water. She came even - close. Then I shouted:

- Now!

And with the boy we poured the water on her. Then the evil witch writhed in pain and melt.

 Once we drunk some water and slaked our thirst, we continued forward. It grew dark. At night we were lost in the woods. At one time I and the children from the school saw a nice big castle. We told the others, and they headed there. On the path we met the Cat in Boots.

-Hello! Where are you heading and who are you?

-Hi! We are travellers from Poland and the nephew of the Peter Sly and those kids there are from Dimitar Talev Secondary School in Bulgaria. We are headed to the castle to ask to spend the night here. Who are you?

-I am the Cat in Boots. You should not go there.

-I am the Cat in Boots. You should not go there.

-But why?

-In this castle lives a bad ogre - giant. He can turn into every animal.

-This is terrible where will you spend the night then?

-I will help you. I'll go talk to him and challenge him to become a mouse. Once he do, I will eat him.

And just as in the fairy tale by Charles Perrault, the clever cat managed to outwit the man-eater. All entered the castle and rest until morning. 

The coolness in the forest and the clean air made us feel great and sleep quickly. In the morning again we went on the road. We had to climb heights and ridges, then descend a steep screes to bypass rocks. The way was not easy but we walked and walked. We knew that we have an important task and should not give up for the world. As if the voices of the forest songbirds supported us, and there were hovering eagles high above, which seemed to guard us. Only Pooh occasionally asked us to stop for him to eat some honey, otherwise he could not continue.

At one point we reached a lake, but not just any lake. The rocks on the

shore gleamed, the water was wonderful emerald colour. Our attention was drawn by the figure of a girl with delicate beauty, long fabulous hair that was knitting something. I asked:

- Excuse me, can you guide us?

What was the girl doing? She looked so sad and focused. We greeted and asked her what she knits. She did not answer. She did not even returned our greetings. She was only knitting and knitting. Nothing could distract her from the needlework. Little Peter then explained that there was nettle in her arms. All at once we exclaimed:

- This is Eliza from the book ,,Wild Swans".

We looked in the bag. The books had already helped us a lot. Were they going to do it one more time? We flipped through the tales of Andersen and found "Wild Swans".

-Eliza must knit 12 shirts in order to free her brothers who are turned into swans. We need to find more nettles to help her finish her sewing; otherwise we will not know which way to go. - I suggested.

We parted and entered the forest to find more nettles. When we returned, Eliza finished the twelve shirts. He rejoiced that she could save her brothers from the bad spell. In gratitude when she learned what we were doing in this wilderness, she told us which path to continue in order to go to Viktor Krum and how to find him. We were so glad so we did not even think to ask how she knew about him. We thanked and continued our journey.

Finally we found a cave in front of which stood Viktor Krum. Immediately he recognised Harry Potter and they greeted. Harry introduced us and I stepped straight to the task. Time was moving on, and we had only 100 days to complete the task.

- Nice to meet you. There are a few Bulgarian students with us. So far they are doing very well and helped us a lot. We have a mission - to get children back to loving literature and begin to read more. Can you now show us the treasure?

- You will be surprised, but it is already in you! The real treasure, dear heroes was always with you - these are the books which advised you on the road, overcoming with their help difficulties and trials, because knowledge is the most valuable wealth.

Winnie the Pooh rejoiced with us, but then glanced mischievously and said:

- Oh, so you did not let me put a little honey in the bag? What will I do now, how will I go back on the road?

The children from Dimitar Talev Secondary School said:

-Our native land bears very aromatic herbs - lime, lavender, clover. Bees here are very hardworking and honey which farmers produce is the best in the world. So be calm. You'll have your honey. We had already dealt with the evil forest forces, so do not be afraid.

 Harry Potter used his magic and we came back for seconds back in Dobrich. There Pooh received as a gift his honey.

I was now time for me, Harry and Winnie the Pooh to go to Italy. Our stay in Bulgaria was rewarding, but what awaited us on our way forward?!

With a few words and a twitch of the wand Harry sent us on next adventure.

Chapter 4

Special delivery

We arrived in Italy in the morning.  Flying with Harry was exciting but not so comfortable. We were carrying the books which Little Peter gave us in Bulgaria and from time to time we had to fly quickly back and downwards to catch them before they hit someone’s head. We were tired, not to mention that we hadn’t eaten much during the last days, so we were hungry too.  

We were looking for a place to buy something to eat when something happened. A white rabbit with pink eyes, wearing a pair of gloves and carrying a fan, appeared in front of us saying: “Oh dear, oh dear, I’m late!”

He took a watch out of his pocket and at that point I had no doubts. “He’s the White Rabbit from the Alice in Wonderland tale!” I told Harry and Winnie, “Let’s follow him”.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” Harry asked doubtfully.

 “Not at all, but Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is my favourite book. And I’d love to meet some other characters so much!”.

“And I could find a little honey for me,” sighed Winnie, who had quite finished the jar he got as a present in Bulgaria. 

The White Rabbit led us to the March Hare’s house. Under a tree in front of the house there was a long table with a selection of sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, big slices of cake, little jars of honey... and tea, of course.

Winnie was just about to grab a jar of honey when a tiny voice behind us made us jump.

“You are here, at last! There are so many photos of you on Facebook,” said Alice, who had moved to Italy just to meet the three travellers, especially Harry! “My name’s Alice. Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too,” we answered in turn while the Mad Hatter was staring at us suspiciously until he asserted with great authority: “Yes sure, I know you too.

Mary, you are a new student at Hogwarts and you, Winnie, you’re campaigning to save bees from extinction, while you... you must be Harry, the owner of the new travel agency ’round the corner.”

“Not exactly,” I pointed out “We are travelling around Europe, looking for a way to help fairy tale characters. If we don’t, they’ll disappear.”

 “If you don’t, you’ll disappear too,” specified the March Hare, pouring some tea in the cups.

I didn’t like the Hare’s comment at all and I was going to tell him what I thought when Alice interrupted me: “To tell the truth, books can be boring sometimes. I myself fell asleep when my sister read me stories.

But if you use your imagination, everything becomes better and funnier. I had a lot of fun, when I became the protagonist of my own fantasy tale”

I wanted to ask her how it could be possible that real.children

became the protagonists of fantasy tales, when Alice drank from a little bottle and disappeared together with the table, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare’s house and its owner.

“Wow! I feel at home in this crazy country!” Harry had just the time to exclaim, that we found ourselves surrounded by the city traffic and we had to cross the road quickly not to end our mission miserably before its time.“Eek!” shouted out Winnie the Pooh.

“I was about to drop the jar of honey I got in Bulgaria. I need to stop and have some of this delicacy.”

“Not now, Winnie. You can have it later,” I replied while pointing to a big sign saying Istituto Comprensivo Pescara 4.  

“Yeah, it’s a school and children are getting in right now. And we have to mix up to them if we want to find out what teachers and children are doing here to keep fairy tales alive,” added Harry, who didn’t feel like becoming invisible.

“ And I also want to leave the books Little Peter gave us, in a safe place. This school might be the right place” I added.

“I’m not a student!” complained Winnie the Pooh.

“Well. I’ll hide you in a basket of toys in the kindergarten and I’ll come and pick you up at the end of the lessons.” I reassured him.

Five hours later...

Riiing riiing. The sound of the bell called out all children, younger and older, in the schoolyard, where Winnie and I met Harry again.

“It was so funny,” said Winnie, excited. “Children in the kindergarten dressed up as elves and rehearsed a play. They were so expressive that I thought I was in a fairy tale, for a moment”

“I went to the secondary school and I saw students inventing a story they are going to translate into Braille and, in the corridors, I heard there will be a fantastic show at the end of the school year. What about you Mary? ”  

“I listened to the actor Ezio Budini reading Matilda by Roald Dahl to children in the primary school. Everyone listened in silence. It was captivating. Then I went to the secondary school too and I met a talented teacher who teaches her students the art of reading through creative workshops and expressive reading activities. I told them about the risk that fairytale characters could disappear because children don’t read fairy tales any more and they offered to read them to all children in the kindergarten.

In that class there were also Romanians and Albanians and a Bulgarian girl who offered to translate the books I had with me, for her new friends. So I left her all the books we carried with us from Bulgaria. Fairytale characters are safe and sound here. We can be happy and hopeful. Students love reading and use their imagination to keep fairytale characters alive by reading and acting. This is what Alice meant when we were at the March Hare’s house: imagination can keep fairytale characters alive” I concluded, satisfied with our

research.“Well, our mission here is over, my friends,” said Harry, eager to show off his magic powers again. “It’s time to leave...” “No, please, not yet!” I interrupted him. Before leaving Italy I’d love to see Venice. It’s carnival time and I know there’s an amazing street party with people in extravagant clothes and gorgeous masks. Let’s go and have a look!” “But our mission?” asked Harry surprised. “We are doing very well. A day in Venice won’t spoil it” I assured him.

 “Come on Harry, let’s go! I want to see if someone dresses up like me too,” added Winnie the Pooh.“OK. I give up, you win.”

In less than no time Harry, Mary and Winnie found themselves in a very colourful and lively Saint Mark’s Square. Beside spectacular Venetian masks and costumes there were also characters from the Italian Commedia dell’arte: Harlequin, Pantalone, Gianduia, Colombina. Like fairytales these characters had been neglected over the years both by children and adults who preferred movie

movie characters to them, but someone still liked to dress up like them.

“Thank you for the lift, Harry! See if I wasn’t right. These masks are awesome” I stated proud of my idea. “And also the city is wonderful” Harry had to admit.

As a matter of fact the city was completely different from the others because there weren’t any streets or cars, there were channels and strange boats called “gondole”. We took one and we soaked in the

magic atmosphere of Venice and its magnificent historic buildings. While our gondola glided under the sixteenth-century Rialto Bridge, Harry and Winnie drew the attention of the masks. Everybody wanted to take a photo with them.

“Harry, Winnie you are the Carnival stars! This afternoon there will the best masked costume contest. Why don’t you parade with all the other masks?” “I’m not masked I am Harry Potter” “neither am I” Harry and Winnie complained.

It was not easy to convince them but at the end – a bit for fun, a bit for my insistence - they  on Saint Mark’s Square.

At the end a jury of experts proclaimed the best masked costumes of the 2017 carnival edition and ... guess what! Harry and Winnie were awarded 500 euros each because their costumes were completely and amazingly faithful to the original ones.  

The three friends couldn’t believe what was happening.

Mary was beside herself with delight. She hugged her friends and exclaimed: “Now we can do something for fairytales too. With this money we can buy a lot of fairytale books and hand them out to all the children who have come here for the carnival from all over the world”. “ Great idea”, said Harry, “and I can bring you to a very special bookshop called Acqua Alta. I saw it while we were travelling by gondola”.  

Quick as a flash we got to the bookshop.  

 “Harry did you take us into a film or it’s all true?” I couldn’t but express my surprise at seeing thousands of books stored in the most unusual ways inside gondolas, boats, tanks and canoes. “Actually it reminded me of Diagon Alley as soon I saw it” conceded Harry. “ Come on you two, stop looking around! There are fairy tales from all over the world here. Some books are new and others are second hand. Let’s choose the best ones ” urged Winnie.

“Right,” I replied,

 “there’s a wide choice and we have to hurry up if we want to get back in time.” “I’ll go and look for a trolley we can’t carry them in bags” Harry suggested and left.

As usual he was back in the blink of an eye.

We put the books in the trolley and walked towards the square. On the way we found another bookshop called Feltrinelli bookstore and stopped again to buy some more books.

“Mary, Winnie, it’s getting dark and there won’t be any children

when we reach St Mark’s square. What shall we do now?”

Actually we didn’t know where to sleep and we had spent quite all the money. While considering all the possible solutions two figures in the costume of The Fox and the Cat - Pinocchio’s bad advisors - stole our trolley.   “Hey you two! Where are you going with our books?” I shouted starting to run behind them when I heard Harry casting some kind of spell and all at once the Fox and the Cat disappeared and the trolley magically moved back to me.  

I stared at the trolley, then at Harry and I was about to congratulate him for the enterprise when I noticed that Winnie had disappeared too. He was a little bear, after all, and Harry’s spell didn’t make any difference between a fox, a cat or a bear. As a matter of fact while looking for Winnie we saw that not only him but all the animals seemed to have disappeared within the range of a kilometre.  

A man was looking in astonishment at his empty leash while a woman was arguing with her husband because he had unleashed their dog and now they couldn’t find it and on top of that we could hear children crying from some houses for their missing pets.  In the distance I could see a little dog sniffing here and there until it started to head towards me. Behind him there was an electric train with its driver, a guard and a station master. At first I thought it was a remote controlled train. Surely there was a child nearby, even though it was too early to be true. And behind the train there was a tribe of little indians with their chief