INTRODUCTION

Italian students were inspired by an article we read together during our research in class about beavers. We thought it would be interesting to start the story with some true facts.

https://wilderness-society.org/beaver-back-in-italy-after-450-years/

Ponta the beaver

Ponta is an old beaver. He is very wise. Ponta works a lot all day. Ponta is his nickname. He lives in Friuli Venezia Giulia in the forest of Tarvisio but he is from Austria. He likes the forest of  Tarvisio  because of the rich flora and fauna. The forest of Tarvisio is beautiful and there are a lot of spruce trees. Ponta loves spruce trees. They are very tasty. He has got big teeth and a long tail! Ponta lives in a big lodge near the lake. Ponta’ s home place is very nice. It is surrounded by the Alps and there are a lot of  valleys. A lot of animals  live in the forest...

CHAPTER 1 BEAVER'S HOME PLACE Page 1

Ponta is sad because he has not got his family nor friends in Italy. He is working hard to go back to Austria.

One day he finds a bird who told him: - You cannot fly because you are a beaver.

Ponta has an idea "birds can fly, fish can swim but beavers can swim, walk and build". Ponta builds a boat to sail on the lake.

Page 2 Spain

Page 3 UK

Ponta was so happy that his own made boat had worked so well and sailing away, he spotted a wonderful place. An idyllic place to call home.

Ponta also was received by a group of beavers, who were very curious to see who he was.

This was a great day, Ponta had found a place to live and possibly a good group of friends.

Page 4 Romania

Even though in the early days Ponta was still feeling distant from his new friends, day by day they were getting closer and getting better and better. He worked from morning till evening to build a house with his new family. One morning he couldn't get out of his bed, he felt very bad and he was very cold. His friends, seeing that Ponta did not leave the house, came quickly after him and....

Page 5 Serbia

'What's the matter, Ponta?' asked his friend.

'I'm not feeling well. And, there's so much to do!' Ponta said sadly.

'Don't worry! We'll be glad to help! You just get better soon!' everyone added.

Hearing this, Ponta felt better already.

Page 6 Italy Angela

Ponta had a nice idea: he decided to start a 'travel agency' to show all animals and friends the beauties of the place and, for doing so, he needed the help of different friends.

Birds could give a view from above, fish could plan snorkeling activities and tell about underwater habitats. Beavers had to build a particular object, similar to a wall, so that water could be better organized: a dam. All animals were happy and proud to cooperate in such a fantastic idea.

CHAPTER 2:

Beavers Friends and Family

Introduction

Spanish students found out that beavers live in the river Ebro and that they are very sociable and live in family groups where the eldest brothers and sisters help their parents to take care of the youngest ones.

Once upon a time, Pito, the beaver, and his family, met Lola, the duck and her family, while they were swimming in the river Ebro.

Pito and Lola were very good friends.

Page 2 UK

Pito realized that the ducks were a bit different than him and his family. They swam and looked different, but this seemed not to be a problem.

Pito started to show how beavers did things and shared them with his ducks friends. At the same time Pito learned so many new things about ducks.

Page 3 Italy Angela

Pito and Lola invited their families to show what each one could do best.

Nino, the youngest duck, was very small and could reach the tiniest places.

Bella, the prettiest beaver could share her mirrors to create a fantastic telescope.

Nemo, the smartest fish, invited his whole family to make a short presentation of their particular animal class. https://www.kidzone.ws/animals/fish1.htm

But their happy and quiet life did not last long, because one day the water in which they had their home became very murky and impossible to consume. It was full of toxic and highly odorous substances. Then he remembered the methods by which beavers protect their water, putting twigs and grasses to filter the water. He quickly told his friends what to do and ...

Page 4 Romania

Page 5 Serbia

'Dear friends, the water is very polluted. If we all help, we'll make it cleaner and safe for everyone. Let's organise a Clean-up Day!' Pito suggested.

Everyone cheered, supporting the idea.

Page 6 Italy

So Pito and his friends got to work.

Pito started biting into the trunks and Lola and the other ducks collected mud,plants,branches, grass and leaves and Pito’s family showed them where to put things and how to build the dams. Even the fish and frogs helped to create the passageways to allow excess water to drain off without damaging the dam.

By the end of the day all the animals were proud and happy about the new pond and the clean water.

CHAPTER 3

BULLYING IN THE POND

Students from School Elena Doamna, Romania learned this days about bullying and emotions. They discovered that also animals can be a bully

Page 1 Romania



Once, there was a beaver and his name was Willy. Unfortunately he became an orphan and he decided to move to another pond. After days of walking, he found a suitable pond for him. He began to build a new house, but the animals from the pond didn't accept him. The fish from the pond took out the sticks with which Willy was making his home, the frogs were jumping over his house and the beavers from the pond were laughing at him. In one day.......

Page 2 UK

In one day of hard work, Willy was still homeless and he started to feel sad and helpless. The next morning, Willy woke up and remembered what his dad told him one day when at the school he was treated unfairly. He said: " Willy if any other animals are unkind to you tell them; I don't like when you break my house. it makes me feel sad, if you do it again, I will tell an adult".

Willy felt himself strong and spoke to all the animals.......

                      Page 3  Spain Antonio

Can I stay here with you?

You are bothering me!!

Please, don´t destroy my house and don'´t laugh at me!!!

I haven´'t got any family. No parents, no friends, and no home.

I´'m very alone!!!

Can we make peace?

And the fish said:

Oh, sorry!! We didn't know !!!

We want to be friends!!!

Page 4 Italy Angela

Animals of different types were working together giving their best in every single activity. But one day, while working, something unfair happened.

One of the ducks was not like the others and his group was bullying the little one, but Pito told the story of the Ugly Duckling, and explained that no matter the differences, everyone is beautiful and unique and must not be bullied at all.

Page 6 Italy

Pito and Willy know what it's like to feel alone. They are now known as defenders.They help all the animals that are victims of bullying.

Every day they tell stories like the Ugly Duckling and tell the animals to treat others with respect...always!

CHAPTER 4

THE UNUSUAL ENCOUNTER

Page 1 Italy

Ponta goes out and starts collecting wood to repair his dam. Under the tree he sees a snake sleeping. Ponta moves his tail and the snake wakes up.

“Ohhh!” says the snake

“Excuse me ! I’m sorry!” says Ponta.

“No problem.I’m happy to meet you. I’m Mr. URL and who are you?”

“I’m Ponta the beaver”says Ponta.

Mr.URL quickly says “ Ohh really?? I know your parents. They are my friends. Come with me for a walk. Don’t worry, I know where you live.”

PAGE 2 ITALY

Ponta, unaware of the danger, accepts. On the way, Mr. URL asks Ponta a lot of personal questions about his family and private life. Ponta tells Mr. URL that he has got a computer at home and that he chats with his friend on Facebook. Her name is Miss Foxy. Miss Foxy sends a lot of photos and messages to Ponta. Ponta tells Mr. URL that it is a secret and asks him to keep the secret.

SPAIN

Mr. URL said: I promise to keep the secret and

Ponta started to trust Mr. URL.

Ponta told him many details about his life.

After one hour of walking Ponta realized that he didn´t know where he was now and he asked Mr. URL: Where are we?

Mr. URL answered:Don´t worry.You are safe with me...

UK

Chapter 5

TIME TO BUILD ANOTHER DAM

One day, there was a big storm and it rained too much. The beavers' dam was destroyed and all beavers were very unhappy

'What are we going to do now?' cried the little ones?

'Don't worry! We're a great team, so we'll team up and build a new, and better dam in no time!' said the wise beaver.

SERBIA

UK

The new dam was built by the ultimate aquatic engineers. Using branches from trees they have felled.

This was going to be a good protection from predators.

They also built a sophisticated home.

All beavers felt so secured and safe

ROMANIA

because they wanted their dam to be the most interesting and sophisticated, they asked the engineers to build a hydroelectric power station with which to produce electricity. They longed for their dam to be illuminated so that their lives would be much easier.

ITALY(During COVID-19 lockdown)

But while they were planning, an old wise beaver stopped by, curious about what they were planning.

When they mentioned electricity, the old beaver jumped and said “Oh no!. Don’t do the same mistake humans do. We must protect nature. I have seen nature completely destroyed by urbanization."

Spain (during COVID-19 lockdown)

Finally, they decided to work together as a big team. They worked hard to repair their old dam, they made it bigger and stronger. They lived together as a big family, protecting each other from all dangers.

Chapter 6

SAFELY EVER AFTER

SERBIA

Once upon a time, in a forest far away, a group of beavers made their first dam. It was very strong and they were proud of their work. All the animals from the forest would come and admire it.

UK

But one of these group of Beavers started to take branches and sticks from the dam, they also started calling them bad names. the poor beaver from that dam were sad and scared of the the beavers, because they were bullying them

feeling guilty for what he did, left and hid in the middle of the forest. He was the funniest and best entertainer of all, but now he's wrong.

After a few days, the beavers on the dock realized that without their friend, the days are sad and boring, so they left to look for him.

They looked for him everywhere, until they found him, explaining to him that it was not right what he did and they were all in danger

ROMANIA

ITALY(during COVID-19 lockdown)

The beaver was happy to be forgived by his friends and when he got back he helped the other beavers repair the dam. Day after day, the beavers worked hard and after a month the dam looked very nice.