Part 1:

Arsakeio Primary School of Ioannina, Greece

The secret of the country of emotions started on a sunny day last summer when the kids were playing and a new store was about to open. Looking at the store, you would think that it was an ordinary place. Just like any other store in the country. However, it hid a secret! A secret that we are about to reveal today!

And if you wonder which was this secret, the answer is this! The joy jellies of course!

At first nobody knew about them. The owner was trying so hard to sell his experiment, but people didn’t seem to like his jellies. 

“Maybe kids are just crazy only about chocolate”, he kept saying to himself, looking sadly at the big, full of jellies bowl. 

He felt that all his efforts were for nothing. He loved sweets and candies so much that he had devoted his life to the making of a candy that would be able to change the mood of the person who would choose to eat it!  Of course, he failed many times. Before joy jellies, he had made anger jellies, sorrow jellies and even jealousy jellies! He was so careful not to sell these jellies, unless the customer himself asked for them! 

The last thing he wished for was a country full of grumpy people! 

On that day, he realized that even the joy jellies didn’t have the success he was expecting!

”Excuse me…sir!”

The store owner was so deep in his thoughts that he hadn’t seen the boys who entered the store! As soon as he listened to the voice, he looked around surprised!

“Hi there! How can I help you?” he asked the boy and his friends that were standing in front of the candies window.

“What are these?” the boy asked pointing at the jellies!

A bright smile appeared on the owner’s face! “These, my dear kids, are the joy jellies!”

“Joy jellies? I have never heard of joy jellies before!”

“Of course you haven’t!”, said the owner proudly! “ You cannot find them anywhere else! Just in this place!”

“Are they tasty enough?”

“They are perfect! You know they didn’t take their name by chance! One jelly is enough to make you smile with joy!”

The kids looked at the owner with excitement! Two minutes later, they left the store holding bags full of joy jellies!

The secret spread quickly and the kids queued outside the candy store to buy this delicious treat! They spent the rest of the summer laughing and having so much fun! They were playing together in the streets, enjoying every second of the beautiful summer days!

However, summer was over soon. The kids were getting ready to go back to school. They didn’t have time to play tag or hide and seek, to watch their favourite movies and eat ice cream! They didn’t even have time to think of their favourite store! There was just one solution! Parents should go and buy jellies for their kids! I know, this doesn’t seem like a good idea as parents didn’t know the kids’ favourite flavours. But it was the only solution and everyone hoped it would work!

So you could now see parents queuing outside the candy store. Parents who were looking at their watches as they were anxious if there was enough time to finish all the things they had to do! But they knew that it was worth waiting, as their kids would have the chance to taste their favourite jellies again!

And the truth is that things would have been perfect, if the kids had explained to their parents that they wanted just the joy jellies and not the other feelings jellies…

Part 2: Class 1b from primary school No. 50 in Białystok, Poland

Parents went to the store to buy jelly beans for the kids. It turned out that there were different colors of jelly beans in the store. Parents did not know which jellies to choose, so they bought the ones they liked. On the way, parents also tried them, and when they got home, some were sad, others were angry and shouted at their children. When the children tried them, they began to complain, grumble and did not feel like doing anything.

After returning home, it turned out that these were other jelly beans. The parents were very surprised because they didn't know that feelings depend on the color of the jelly beans. Together with the children, they quickly went to the store to buy their favorite jellies, which would ensure joy and good humor for everyone. Nobody wanted to be sad and angry. Everyone preferred to be happy, smiling and nice to others.

The children appreciated the fact that they wanted to learn at school, gain new knowledge every day and make new friends. If you have a negative attitude towards everything, then you don't want to learn, we start arguing with our loved ones and complaining. Thanks to the jelly of joy, children and parents understood that it is worth enjoying the little things, noticing small friendliness and trying to change for the better every day ...

Part 3: Școala Gimnazială Nr. 29, Galați, Romania

On the farthest street of the city, in the farthest house, there lived a little girl named Maria. She was tall, but not too tall, her hair was black, but not too black, her eyes were blue, but not too blue and she was happy, but not very happy. Her family was very poor. Her parents were working all day long in the garden and she helped them a lot, so she didn’t have time to make friends. In fact, she didn’t have friends at all; the only children who spent time around her were her classmates.

Maria’s life may seem boring to you, but she was busy all day long. In spring, when the flowers were in bloom, Maria was in the garden, helping her parents. She loved to say that during spring she was giving new life to her dear plants; so she was happy; but not very happy, because she didn’t have a friend to share the joy. In summer, when the cherries and the peaches were ready to be harvested, Maria helped her parents to pick the fruits and to make sweet cakes.

They sold the cakes in the local market; the buyers were happy and Maria was happy, too, but not very happy, because she didn’t have a friend to share a piece of pie with. When autumn came, Maria was helping her parents to harvest the vegetables: carrots, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower. They made vegetable stew and sold it in the local market; all the people were happy to buy it because it was good and healthy. Maria was happy, too; but not very happy, because she didn’t have a friend to share a plate of stew with.

The winter came and passed, the spring passed, too, and the summer came with a gorgeous sun and the amazing summer holiday. Maria was happy; but not very happy, because she didn’t have a friend to spend the summer holiday with.

She heard about the candy shop. The one where the children could buy joy jellies, but her parents didn’t have enough money to give her to buy some sweets. In fact, she didn’t even need the joy jellies so much because she was quite happy; not very happy, but she was pleased with her feelings.

One day, it was her neighbor’s birthday – a boy from her class, Alex. He saw her and asked:

`Maria, it’s my birthday today and my parents allowed me to buy a lot of sweets. Would you like to try a joy jelly?`

`Happy birthday, Alex! Yes, I would like to have jelly, please!`

Maria took the jelly and ate it. In five minutes, she felt so much joy and happiness! She felt that the flowers, the trees, the birds, the sky, the sun and every human being loved her and she loved them. What a wonderful feeling!

The next day, Maria felt as before: she was happy, but not too happy.

Summer passed and autumn came. The school opened again. Maria met her classmates and her teachers. She was happy to see them again. But not very happy.   

Soon Maria celebrated her birthday and… what present do you think she wanted from her parents? Of course! A joy jelly.

Maria’s mother went to the candy shop, bought a jelly, but she didn’t mention what kind of jelly she wanted and the seller gave her a sadness jelly.

After celebration, after the cake, Maria received the present from her mother and, quickly, she ate the jelly!

Oh! What sorrow! Maria never felt so sad in her entire life! She felt like the flowers, the trees, the birds, the sky, the sun and every human being didn’t love her anymore. What a horrible feeling!

The second day, when Maria woke up, she felt happy again, but this time she felt happy enough. So she decided to make a friend to share all these experiences with, and she went to… 

Part 4: “Vittorio Veneto” Primary School, Terni, Umbria, Italy

Maria went to the park near her house called “Promenade” and there, in the playground, she met a girl, named Sofia. 

They were sliding down one after the other  and they looked  at each other smiling. 

Sofia wasn’t very tall, she had got long, curly red hair, big, green eyes and she had got freckles on her nose and cheeks.

She greeted Sofia and said ”What’s your name?”

At first Sofia smiled and then she answered: ”Sofia! And yours?”.

Maria answered immediately:” Maria, nice to meet you Sofia!”

“I’m so happy to meet you!” said Sofia happily.

The two girls spent all afternoon playing together and enjoying the lovely, warm weather. 

Besides, they also started to collect flowers of different colours, white daisies, red poppies, yellow dandelions.

During that wonderful day, Maria told Sofia of her precious experience...to have tasted two jellies of emotions: one, the joy jelly and the other one, the sadness jelly.

“Can you imagine how I felt when I tasted the joy jelly for the first time?”Maria asked her.

“Please! Tell me Maria!!!!”Sofia promptly replied and she couldn’t really wait to listen to her story.

So Maria enthusiastically started :”My friend Alex gave it to me on his birthday. I ate it and in five minutes, I felt so much joy and happiness! I felt that the birds, the flowers, the trees, the sky, the sun and every human being loved me so much and I loved them immensely.  What a deeper and intense feeling….I’ve never felt that way before!!!!!” exclaimed Maria.

She carried on: ”But unfortunately my mum bought me for my birthday a sadness jelly! Straight after the cake, I couldn’t wait to eat it. With my big surprise I felt so sad and the birds, the flowers, the trees, the sky, the sun and every human being didn’t love me anymore and I didn’t love them too! Oh! What a sorrow!!!!

 Luckily It lasted only the afternoon and the night!!! The day after I felt happy again!”.

“Your story is so interesting!!! I’d love to taste such jellies… especially the joy ones!!!!”Sofia uttered with surprise and while listening got so enthusiastic that…………..

Part 5: Experimental Primary School of Serres

She felt as if she had already tasted the joy jellies. Before they both got home, Sofia asked Maria where she could buy the jellies. Maria told her everything she knew about the jelly shop

As soon as Sofia went home, she told her parents and her brother Marco, about the jelly shop. She said that the owner is an expert in candy making and that she definitely wanted a bag full of jellies for her. Marco said he wanted jellies too. Sofia’s parents never said “no” to their beloved children, so the next day their mother went to the jelly shop. She said “good morning” to the jelly-maker and asked for the yummy jellies.

“Good morning sir. I have heard that you sell the best jellies in the country. Can I please have two bags? “

“Of course, madam. Do you have any preference?”

“Oh, yes, said Sofia’s mother. My favorite color is green. Can I please have two bags of green jellies?”

“Green jellies?” said the jelly-maker “Sorry, I very rarely sell these...”

“Oh, really? I think my children will love them!”

“But,...you know...the green jellies…”

“How much do they cost? I am in a hurry!” So Sofia’s mother paid for the green jellies and went to the supermarket to buy flour sugar and cream to make a cake for the afternoon tea. She was thinking that the green jellies would be a perfect decoration for the cake. She didn’t know though, that the green jellies were the jealousy jellies.

Sofia’s mother went home and after lunch she baked a yummy vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. To finish up she put the jealousy jellies on top.

Then she called Marco and Sofia to come for their afternoon snack. The children were peacefully playing in the garden. They heard their mother calling and hurried to the dining room. They both had a big piece of the cake with the nice green jellies on top.

As soon as they got out to the garden again, Sofia said:

“Marco, get down from the swing immediately! I want to go on it!!”  But Marco didn’t want to get down. So Sofia started yelling and got a toy shovel to fight with him. As soon as Marco saw her with the shovel, he got down from the swing and screamed at his sister:

“Sofia, leave this shovel alone! It is not yours! I want it!” and he tried to take it from her hands. Sofia was surprised and left the shovel. The next minute she got the little bucket they had to play in the sandpit.  Marco went towards her and grabbed the bucket from the handle. The children were pushing and pulling and screaming and there was such a noise that their mother came out in the garden. She was holding her scarf and as the children saw her they both rushed to take the scarf.  They grabbed it and started quarrelling again, for the scarf this time. Their mother was surprised and didn’t know what to think.

The whole afternoon passed with the two children fighting and screaming, as they wanted the same things. Everything one of them had, the other one wanted it at the same moment.

Their mother was feeling helpless. She sent them to bed very early that day. The next morning the children woke up as usual, without any signs of jealousy. For breakfast they asked for some of the nice vanilla cake. What a mistake! As soon as they ate it they started feeling they wanted whatever belonged to somebody else.

“How weird!” said their mother. ”It seems there’s something wrong with my cake!”

“Maybe it is not the cake, '' said Sofia. Maybe it is the jellies, mum! Maria told me that she felt tremendous sorrow when she ate one of those”.

“Oh my God,” said the mother. “The jelly-maker told me not to buy the green ones… but I thought they would be nice”

“This explains everything!” Sofia replied.

Part 6: 2nd Primary School of Istiaia, Greece

“That's why the candy maker tried to prevent you from buying them! The candies we ate brought us jealousy!” said Maria. Their mum immediately threw the cake in the rubbish bin!

“What a pity”, answered Marco, “I wanted so much to taste these wonderful jellies, your friend Maria described to you” and started to cry.

When their dad saw him, he felt very sorry for the mistake they had made and he decided to go right to the candy store to get new jellies!

The kids were so happy that finally they would taste the delicious jellies and asked their parents to go to the playground to find Sofia and tell her all about their adventure.

The three kids met at the playground and started playing, having fun and laughing with what they had gone through.

Sofia's and Marco's dad went to the candy shop thinking “Not, the green jellies, not the green jellies...” As he arrived he got overwhelmed by the colours and the smells that surrounded him. But his eyes stopped on a bowl full of deep red jellies. “I must get these, they have such a wonderful colour, there is to doubt that they must be the most delicious jellies” and he bought a pack of red jellies. Feeling very sure for his purchase we went straight to the playground to find the children and offer them one...

Sofia, Marco and their friend Maria were delighted when they saw the new red jellies and the three of them together with dad tasted one jelly each... Then they decided to go back home and ask their mum to make a new cake!

As they were returning... their faces began to look different... their eyes were getting narrow... their mouths started to look crooked! When they arrived at home they all yelled at mum “Why did you throw away our cake!”, “We are very hungry and we want a new one right away!” and all shouted very loudly. Their mum couldn't believe in her eyes! What was going on? She couldn't calm them down and understand what was happening…

As you might have guessed, these jellies were anger jellies!

Fortunately, their mum realized in a while what must have happened, so she separated them and tried to keep them as calm as possible. The next day everything was back to normal.

Sofia, Marco and Maria discussed their adventures with their friends and they decided to not let their parents buy them jellies again and to be very very careful about which jellies they chose to eat!

Part 7: 4th Primary School of ‘La Immaculada’, Barcelona, Spain

But our story is not over yet...

A boy, whose name was Peter had overheard the discussion of Maria and Sofia about the jellies. So he decided to run to the shop and buy some for himself and try all the different emotions jellies to see what was going to happen.

‘Hi Sir! I would  like to buy some of your jellies please. - said Peter loudly.

‘Of course my love. Here you are!. What colours would you prefer?- said the shopkeeper.

‘I would like to get three of each colour, please’

The boy went back to his house and got a notebook and a pencil. He started eating the jellies one by one and waited to see how he would feel after eating them. He wasn’t sure about what each jelly would make him feel, so he wrote down every single feeling so as not to get wrong next time he would eat one. 

Peter loved living in peace. Now that he knew about the impact of these bellies on people’s emotions he had a plan!

First, he would tell about joy jellies to his teachers, so as not to have sad or angry partners at school. Teachers might love the idea and would buy plenty of jellies to give to their students when celebrating somebody’s birthday in the classroom. He wanted everyone to be happy.

He would tell to all his neighbours too, so as to live in a peaceful and nice town where everybody would live content and delight….

Also, he……

Part 8: End of the story: 1st Primary School of Akrata

Also, he would give a fear jelly to the careless drivers, so they would get afraid of speed and drive more carefully. He would also offer the love jelly to people who don’t love animals or treat other people badly. What a plan that was!

On his desk he saw the last jelly. It was time to try this one too, and write down his feelings after tasting it. He put the last jelly in his mouth. It was sweet then sour and just a few seconds later Peter started feeling very sad. So sad that he started crying. Suddenly there was a knock on his door. It was his best friend, Nikos, who asked him: ‘What’s wrong, Peter? Why are you crying?’. Peter said ‘I don’t know. I ate a jelly of sadness and it made me very sad’. Nikos said to him: ‘What are you talking about? Is this a joke? A jelly of sadness? Stop that nonsense and come and play with us outside. It’s a beautiful day!’

Nikos took Peter outside where all of their friends were there! They started playing hide and seek at their backyard when suddenly one of the boys got very angry and started to shout: ‘I don’t want to be the one to count again!’, he said. He was so angry that his face turned red! Everyone knew how easily he would get furious. They tried to calm him down, they talked to him, understood the reason he got angry and everyone decided that someone else would count instead. They were very good friends and would always help each other, as they did that day, too; when the youngest fell and started crying, everyone stopped the game, went close and hugged him until he stopped crying.

The afternoon had passed with games, laughter and lots of fun! It was late in the evening. Everyone had played for hours and had to get back home. When Peter was reaching his house, a wonderful smell was coming out of their kitchen spreading all over the neighbourhood. He recognized the smell: ‘I think my mum is making chips! It’s my favourite food! I’m so lucky!’. It was the perfect ending to a nice day! He was so happy!

When Peter went to bed he reflected on the day; what had happened, how he had felt, what he was grateful for. Reflection was something he had learnt at school recently and making good thoughts was something that made him very calm before sleeping. That night he realized that the sadness caused by the sadness jelly was gone very quickly thanks to his friends! He also felt happy because he had helped to calm down his angry friend and he gave love to his youngest friend who was crying. Not to mention how happy he was with his mum’s potato chips!

When he woke up the next morning he went over to his desk and tore up his notes about the emotion jellies. He felt very relieved at once. He decided that from that day on, he wouldn’t need any jelly in order to feel happy, sad or angry. He thought how precious it is to let real life bring out real emotions, positive or negative ones. He decided to deal with his negative feelings with the help of his family, teachers and friends and spread his positive feelings all around!

So, that was exactly what he would do that morning! He went over to each child who had tried the jellies and shared his thoughts and feelings! Everyone agreed with his decision and promised to do the same: to feel and deal with their feelings and stop buying emotion jellies.

The country of emotions was full of real emotions again; love, sadness, fear, jealousy, happiness, anger.

   THE END