Once upon a time there were three six year old children who moved to Los Angeles, California.  These children were from  Italy, France and Germany.

Chiara came form France.  She was a funny and witty girl who loved fairy tales and  her favorite dessert  were Macarons. 

Antonie was an adventurer, he liked to play soccer with other kids and climb trees, his favorite food was spaghetti  as a good Italian. 

Lena was a German, bossy and noisy girl who loved to get everyone's attention. She loved pommes (french fries) and manners (chocolate wafers).

On the first day at  Palm Crest Elementary School , these three children realized they were in the same classroom. 

Their first impression of each other made a huge difference, because the three of them noticed that making new friends in this new school was going to be difficult, because they tried to talk to their classmates and nobody could understand what they said, although they tried to speak english.

This school day was long and sad for Antonie, he expected to make new friends in his first day of school. 

When Lena, Antonie and Chiara arrived at their homes, they told their parents the horrible first day at school they had. 

Chiara's mom told her to be patient and try to make new friends next day.

On the other hand, Lena's mom was totally surprised since her daughter did not mention any of her new classmates during dinner. Therefore, she visited the school next day to know what was going on. 

After a few weeks of school things did not get easier for Lena, Antonie and Chiara. They tried their best to communicate with the other children, but since Lena, Antonie and Chiara didn't know a lot  of English, their classmates couldn't understand them, so that discouraged them a bit.

But one day, a nice kid named James, who was resindent of the city, saw the three kids on the playground alone. James was a cheerful boy who always looked for the positive side of things. He was always eager to make new friends.

One day during recess, James' best friend didn't go to school and he really wanted to play cops and thieves. He saw Lena, Antonie and Chiara from a distance, so he took a deep breath and decided to approach them and invite them to play.

James asked Lena, Antonie and Chiara to play cops and thieves, but the children did not fully understand what James was referring to.

 The kids looked at each other in silence with doubt and confusion, but inside they were very excited that one of the children had approached them. Since James did not get any answer he felt defeated, he turned his back, but suddenly, Antonie tapped his shoulder and told him to wait. 

Antonie asked James if cops and thieves was a game and if it was, how was it played.

James was puzzled by Antonie’s way to speak, but that did not stop him from trying to communicate with him. So, James began to explain the game in any possible way. He used his hands and different gestures, he even mimed just to be sure everyone understood him. 

Therefore, he asked them to look at him and pay attention. 

 He started acting  out. 

First, he showed  the weapons they could use and he took out a stick, he showed it to the other kids and he shout  loud " I got a knife".  

Then, he pretended someone shot him in his stomach, so he made a painful face and slowly put his hand on his belly saying: Oh, NO ... Someone hurt me !!

After that, the kids were taught how the thieves were supposed to escape through a river. In this case, they were supposed to cover their noses in order to avoid getting water in their noses. 

Then they pretended that after getting out of the river someone saw them and they had to give them some money to bribe them and don't say anything to the police.  

All of the sudden, all those kids were communicating through spoken language and signs. They were happy and decided to play again next day.