© 2014 by Polirom Publishing House

www.polirom.ro

Polirom Publishing House

Iaşi, B-dul Carol I nr. 4; P.O. BOX 266, 700506

Bucureşti, Splaiul Unirii nr. 6, bl. B3A, sc. 1, et. 1;

sector 4, 040031, O.P. 53, C.P. 15-728

ISBN ePub: 978-973-46-4817-7

ISBN PDF: 978-973-46-3323-4

Cover: Carmen Parii

All rights reserved; no part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

Lectura eco - un supererou al lumii moderne!

Versiune digitală realizată în colaborare cu Libris.ro

G. PANISOARA, PhD (b. 1974) is associate professor at Department of Psychology, University of Bucharest. She wrote and edited 8 books. She is the coordinator of Polirom Publishing House’s “Child Psychology and Parenting” series. She was involved in national and international projects.

I.-O. PANISOARA, PhD (b. 1974) is educational sciences professor and head of the Teacher Training Department, University of Bucharest. Speaker at seminars and international conferences. Involved in many national and international projects. Active speaker in the national media (radio, newspapers, TV.) Coordinator of Polirom’s “Career. Success. Performances” series. Author of several bestsellers on education; his book Efficient Communication won the Romanian Academy Award.

To our daughter Diandra-Maria, whose innocence and ideas contributed to this book. Trust your children, they can do amazing things if you know how to involve them.

To our parents. During a happy childhood, they provided us with the occasions to win all seven medals of success.

The adventure begins....

It is a calm day at the end of September. A few sunbeams are caressing the school’s windows. In the classroom, the teacher has just given the kids some great news: in two days there will be a contest, “Who knows more?” (a contest among classes). The news that their class will participate comes rather late (the other classes already are a week ahead!). This is why only the best pupils must be chosen to participate. No one says a word, but all eyes are on Dia and Nick. Yes, they are the heroes of our story. Two smart and beautiful kids, just like you.

Both of them are happy and proud. They are the best pupils in their class, and now they have to be the best in the whole school. Still, they are a little nervous. They have got only two days to prepare. This is why they decide to stay on after classes to talk and decide how to study.

Their last colleague says good-bye and then closes the door behind him, leaving the two kids alone in the classroom. Neither of them says a word at first. Then Nick hears Dia’s soft voice:

“Well, I am so glad to work with you! We’ve known each other since kindergarten and we can work very well together, don’t you think? Even on such short notice...”

“We have to succeed, we have to!”

“But what if something goes wrong?” asks Dia.

Nick doesn’t answer. He has a lump in his throat. He is becoming anxious. He doesn’t know how to deal with his fear of failure.

The two children look very disappointed. They were so happy and proud two hours ago and now they are all thoughtful and worried. This is their first contest in which they will represent their entire class. Now they feel they would rather not participate. Nick shakes his head as if to chase away all these negative thoughts.

“We will find a solution, won’t we?” Dia asks.

“Yes, this negative thinking does not help! We WILL succeed!”

Suddenly they get the strange feeling that they are being watched. Right in front of them on the teacher’s chair, there is a…. dwarf, smiling. A dwarf just like those in fairytales; he has a big white beard that he strokes now and then with his left hand, a big funny brown hat that seems too big for him and keeps covering his eyes. Nick looks at the door and then at the windows: they are all closed. Where did he come from?

“Don’t be scared! I am here to help you. I see that you are looking for a solution to this problem you have…”

“Who are you?” asks Dia.

“My name is Memo and I am the ‘dwarf’ of your memories!”

“Of OUR memories?”

“Of course, you are old friends and you’ve been through a lot together.”

”And how will you help us?” asks Nick. ”Will you tell us what to do?”

“No, YOU already know what to do, you just need a little help TO REMEMBER…”

“What do you mean we already know what to do?”

“There are seven qualities you need for this contest.”

The dwarf takes out of his pocket seven shiny medals:

♦    The red medal of courage;

♦    The pink medal of cooperation;

♦    The orange medal of curiosity;

♦    The blue medal of patience;

♦    The yellow medal of creativity;

♦    The green medal of persistence;

♦    The violet medal of empathy.

“You have got all these medals in the many contests you won in the past…”

“Contests, medals… WHEN? I don’t remember any medals or contests. I think you are wrong, Mister Memo!” says Dia.

“No, I’m not,” says the dwarf, smiling and putting the medals on the teacher’s desk. “I will help you remember.”

He bends down and barely lifts a big book that the two children have never seen before.

“It’s so heavy!” he grumbles and blows over the pages, which begin to flip and then suddenly stop.

“There it is! Look, this is what happened to you when you were in kindergarten. You were a shy kid back then, Nick, don’t you remember? Just wait a minute and I’ll read to you what I wrote down back then...”

The courage medal

Nick takes courage to speak in public

A calm summer morning. The sun is shining through the open window of the classroom. The kids are very excited, for the teacher has just read them a story about a dwarf’s holiday. In front of her, the kids are noisy and happy. As soon as they heard the magic word – ‘holiday’ – they started making plans. There is an incessant humming for they’re telling each other about their holiday plans. The teacher, with the book in her hands, listens to them and smiles. David, the boy with blonde short hair, is the loudest of them all:

— “First I will visit my grandparents in another town. They are very kind and listen to me whenever I tell them about my toys. From the very moment I get there, I talk and talk and talk and talk!”

— ”Yes, we know, you never shut up…”

— “I will go to the seaside with my parents. I’ll pick up seashells, glue them together and make a castle. A castle for…”

“For Buzzy, the king of the flies!”

David laughs: “I will go to the seaside too. Maybe we’ll meet there!”

“I waaant…”

The kids are happy and they all want to tell more about their plans. Only Nick is sitting alone in a corner. He came to this kindergarten a week ago and he doesn’t know what to do. Look, David talks a lot but the other kids listen to him. Mary and Dia are chatty, too. All of a sudden, Nick realizes he is the only one who hasn’t said anything yet. Why can they do this and he can’t?

He wishes he had the courage to speak. Maybe not as much as David, but at least as much as Dia. He treads a small step forward and opens his mouth. His lips are moving, but no sound comes out. He notices that Dia is watching him and he winces. He blushes and steps back. Maybe it’s better for him not to speak. At least not yet. For the other kids it’s easy. They’ve been friends for some time now and he is the newcomer. What if they don’t want to be friends with him? Maybe they don’t even want to hear what he has to say and everyone will laugh at him. The kids from his old class used to laugh when someone said something stupid. Kids can be very mean sometimes. “I’d rather shut up, this way I’m sure I won’t make any mistake!” What a shame! They are not going to hear about his plans for the summer holiday. About the ruins of an old castle near his grandparents’ village. He heard lots of stories about a treasure being buried there… How wonderful it would be if he discovered it!

All of a sudden he realized the negative thoughts are not helping him at all. He would better find his courage and speak. But how to begin?

At some point he realizes that Dia is still looking at him, smiling. The she tells their colleagues, pointing at Nick:

“I think we ought to listen to Nick as well! So, Nick, what would you like to tell us?”

“I… don’t know if you are interested… I mean…”

“Don’t worry…” says Dia. “We are your friends now. Of course we are interested!”

“I…” he whispers and then lowers his eyes.

“Speak up. I can’t hear you…” shouts Dan from the other side of the classroom.

Then the teacher comes closer and says:

“Kids, Nick doesn’t know what we studied last year. Dia, will you explain it to Nick?”

The girl nodds, smiling:

“Nick, we only have 4 rules. It will be easy for you to remember them.”

1.   Speak out!

2.   Look the person you talk to straight in the eyes!

3.   Stand up straight and be proud of what you are saying!

4.   Be passionate! If you like what you are saying, then we will like it, too!

Nick’s face is glowing. He stands up, looks around him and sees friendly faces, so he begins to speak. At first, his voice wobbles but then it all gets easier that he thought. He is still a bit nervous but also very excited. He will never forget the warm look in his classmates’ eyes and the teacher’s smile. He knows that from now on, everything will be just fine!

Memo reaches into his bag looking for something.

“Oh dear, I might have lost them!” he says smirking. Then he takes out two medals, the courage medals, and hands them out to the two kids.

“Both of you won this medal when you were in kindergarten. You have always had these medals in your ‘pocket.’ Remember, courage is and always will be with you!”

The courage poem

Once there was a knight of old

To defeat the dragon: he was so bold

Though in battle he didn’t catch it

With kind words he convinced it.

Here’s why:

You should know your word is golden,

And your fear is like a dragon.

If you seek treasures, like in this story,

Courage will help you to find glory.

When you speak out, I say: ‘He tries’

Look your audience straight in the eyes,

Stand up straight

And speak up, mate!

You can find the courage within you

And your friends will be amazed, too

When you’re feeling very nervous

Just smile and you’re be back in service.

So pay attention to what I say

And your fear will go away.