Eleo and the Bubble Planet

Eleo
and the
Bubble Planet
Malta UNESCO Youth Association

Eleo
and the
Bubble Planet
Based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Copyright 2011 Malta UNESCO Youth Association
www.muya.info
Published by Gutenberg Press
Gudja Road, Tarxien. Malta. GXQ2902
All Rights Reserved
First Edition: 2011
Written by Sarah Suda, Christianne Caruana, Philip Caruana, Alexander Thenner
Illustrated by Nicole Diacono
Should you wish to translate this book into your own language, we would be more than happy to
provide you with the required resources and assistance.
Kindly contact Malta UNESCO Youth Association on info@muya.info.

Note by the Authors
This book is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, introduced by the
UN General Assembly on the 10th December, 1948. This Declaration was adopted
after the world went through World War II. Following such a tragic event that lasted
many years and affected millions of people around the globe, the leaders of many
countries decided that such an act should never happen again. Together they wrote
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a road map that guarantees the
basic rights of each and every person. They all signed the Declaration promising that
the people in their countries will be protected by the articles in the Declaration.
Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been in place for more
than sixty years, if we look around us we can see that we do not always follow this
Declaration both as people and as countries.
This book tells the story of Eleo, a young boy who lives in the ideal planet of
Bubble-onia where the people have managed to live in harmony with each other for
many, many years. However, unfortunately, the planet does have other problems
and together with Eleo and his grandfather Bobbla, we will find out how they live on
the planet and what the people of Bubble-onia intend to do to overcome their
challenges.
Sarah, Christianne, Philip, and Alex
Malta UNESCO Youth Association
November 2011

This book is dedicated to our daughters, Aaliyah and Rosaleen, and to all
children. We hope they will grow up to live in a more peaceful world.

It was a sunny day on the roundest of all planets, the Planet
Bubble-onia; a planet that is home to native Bubble-onians and
others like the Spikures and Droplings. Both come from other
planets but they have been welcomed like brothers by the native
inhabitants.
Little Eleo runs into his grandfather’s bubble house. “Bobbla, I
heard that our beautiful planet Bubble-onia is going to burst because
we will collide with Spikure!! Is it true?”
Bobbla smiled and asked him to sit down. “Yes little Eleo, this is
true. But do not worry! Once again we will send one of us
Bubble-onians out there to find a new planet for us, so we can live
together with others in peace and bubblistic harmony just as we are
now.”
“I want to tell you a couple of secrets, little Eleo”, his grandfather
continued. “The last time we were building a new planet, I was sent
out and I found a nice blue planet in the mighty Universe, from
where I brought a book with the rules to the happy life we have.
Come my son, let us go for a walk together and I will tell you
everything.”

Eleo waits for Bobbla until he is ready to leave and they walk out
together. As they reach the end of the street, Bobbla points to the
left where there is a nursery with a big window. As Eleo looks
through the window he can see a Bubble-onian nurse walking along
the corridor carrying many babies. Among them there are many
differently coloured Bubble-onian babies and a Dropling baby who
was crying out loudly. He can also see two Spikure toddlers playing
with a Bubble-onian on a little carpet down the corridor, being very
careful not to hurt him with their little spikes.
“Look Eleo”, says Bobbla, “many new brothers and sisters are born
in Bubble-onia.” Eleo looks at Bobbla and nods in agreement. “But
Bobbla, why are they so different?” Bobbla is happy that Eleo has
asked that question and continues to explain, “We are all born
different from one another but we are all the
same and help each other like one big
family. Take a look around you!”

Bobbla leads Eleo as they keep on walking and turn left towards the
maypole that has been set up for the planet holiday. Bobbla and Eleo
smile as they look on and see different bubblings, the name given to
all the children living on Bubble-onia, going round the maypole.
All bubblings are of different colours and not all of them are
Bubble-onians either. Each bubbling is holding a coloured rope as
they skip and run around the pole. “Look at all those little bubblings
Eleo, all are different and yet they are playing and having fun
together” says Bobbla to little Eleo. “What great fun Bobbla! It is
true! That is why you never scolded me when I played with bubblings
who are not like me,” replies Eleo. Eleo now understands that it is
more fun to play games and be friends with different bubblings. Life
is more interesting that way.

As they keep on walking, Eleo and Bobbla arrive at the main Bubbly
park. Here they stop to watch different bubblings play with different
coloured kites. The bubblings are all helping each other: even though
they are not all native Bubble-onian bubblings, little Spikures and
Droplings are playing around them.
They are helping each other so that their kites all fly at the same
height. The sight of the colourful kites makes Eleo smile as it is very
beautiful. “Oh Bobbla how beautiful it is. I would also like to play
with kites,” says Eleo. Bobbla looks at Eleo and nods in agreement,
“Of course it is so much fun. But remember it is more enjoyable if
we help each other so that kites not
only fly at the same height, but
can even go higher.”

Bobbla decides that they should cross the park and walk together
among the lovely trees. Eleo and grandpa pass by a group of
Bubble-onians enjoying a barbeque.
Each of them is doing different things. Two of them are cooking some
food whilst the others are busy cleaning and preparing the table.
“Yummie, that smells good,” says Eleo, “and to tell the truth I am
getting hungry. Do you think we can join them?” Bobbla too is
getting hungry and tells Eleo that it would be possible to join the
party but along with eating they should also help others in preparing
the food, set the table and clean afterwards because in Bubble-onia
everyone has to help out. Eleo agrees and Bobbla greets the group,
“Hello friends, do you think we can join you?”
“Yes, of course” calls back one of the them, “just lend a hand!”

After the group all finishes eating, each and everyone starts to clean
up his plate and the area where they sat. As one bubbling is throwing
away some things, the waste does not fall into the bin but right
outside. His mummy does not look very happy with what her son
has just done and calls him over.
“My dear boy, I know it was a mistake but next time be more
careful. Go and pick it up and throw it in the right place,” says the
Bubble-onian mummy. “See Eleo, the boy made a mistake,” says
Bobbla to Eleo, “but even when we make mistakes we are not
unfairly punished”. As Bobbla finishes cleaning up, he tells Eleo that
they should move on as they have much more to see.

Bobbla and Eleo walk to the end of the park and come to a very busy
cross road. In fact there is a traffic officer guiding bubble cars,
bicycles and pedestrians. “Bobbla, what is that Bubble-onian doing
over there?” asks Eleo.
“She is controlling traffic so that everyone is kept safe,” replies
Bobbla. “I never realised that Bubble-guards have this little book on
them,” says Eleo.
“They make sure that everyone follows the rules and keep us safe
every day. In this book you can find the rules that everyone in
Bubble-onia has to follow to have a peaceful Bubblistic life,” explains
Bobbla.

Eleo and grandpa cross the road carefully and keep on walking until
they arrive to the footcube playground.
“Look Eleo, they are playing footcube. The referee in footcube has
to be fair on both teams,” says Bobbla. “Oh I see”, but what should
the referee do when the fans are shouting?” asks Eleo.
“The referee should not be influenced by the fans, but should apply
the rules to everyone in the same way,” replies grandpa.

Bobbla and his grandson walk until they arrive to the law courts
which is a big transparent building and everyone who passes by can
see what is going on inside. “Bobbla, why have they gathered here?”
asks Eleo. “In this case, some Bubble-onians asked for help to defend
their rights. One lawyer defends one side and another defends the
other.
The judge hears both sides and then he decides who is guilty and
what the punishment should be. All this has to be done in public.
Until a decision is made, if there is a suspected wrong-doer he or she
may be held in a place where one is not free” explains Bobbla. “Will
I also be judged like them?” asks Eleo. “Unless you break the rules of
the bubblistic life of Bubble-onia you will not ever be judged or
punished, so there is no need to be afraid if you live a good life,” says
Bobbla.

Eleo tells his grandpa that he understood and grabs his hand as they
keep on walking together down the street. As they stroll along, they
see a Dropling mummy scolding her little bubbling because she seems
to think that he has done something wrong.
“I promise I have not done anything wrong mummy!” cries out the
little Dropling. His mother stops being angry and starts to reason
with her little son.
“Look, my little Eleo, everyone is innocent until there is real proof
that he or she has done something wrong.” Eleo agrees and they
decide to keep on going.

As they walk along there are many houses on each side of the road.
Some have their doors and windows open however some of them
have their curtains drawn and signs put up saying ‘no peeping
through the curtains (smiley face)’. Grandpa turns to Eleo and says,
“Look my son, the curtains are closed and no one is looking in. We
all can have a place were we can be there without neighbours and
passers by looking in,” explains Bobbla. “This is called privacy, my
dear Eleo. In Bubble-onia we respect that each and every one of us
can have a private space where no one is allowed to peep in.” Eleo
agrees, “so can I consider my room my own little private space
Bobbla?” Bobbla smiles in approval, “Yes, my dear son.”

At the other end of the street, a family is packing stuff into their
bubble car. A sign on the car makes it clear that they are off to
Bubble-onia Beach.
Grandpa points this out to Eleo, “See that family of Spikures packing
their stuff to go on holiday to Bubble-onia Beach. They will stay
there for the summer.” Eleo smiles, “that is very nice, we should do
that soon.” Bobbla agrees,
“We are all allowed to move around freely and go wherever we like.”

Eleo and grandpa keep on walking towards the city centre. On their
way they meet a couple of Droplings who happen to be friends of
Bobbla. They greet each other and chat for a little while and then
they keep on walking.
Grandpa turns to Eleo, “My Dropling friends Chrissy and Alex are
much happier in Bubble-onia and they have been welcomed here as
they have not been treated justly in their planet Clowdia.” Eleo
smiles at Bobbla and tells him that he is very happy that Chrissy and
Alex are now living a happy life.

As they arrive in the city centre they remember that it is the
Bubble-onia festival day as everyone there is participating in a
parade. Bubble-onians, Spikures and Droplings all together are
walking in the parade. Banners and Bubble-onia flags are being
carried by the different citizens of Bubble-onia.
“Wow, grandpa how amazing to look at all the different colours and
flags,” says Eleo. “Yes, my dear grandson. In Bubble-onia even the
Spikures and the Droplings can become citizens of our beautiful
planet.”

As they walk along, they see a wedding bubble car passing by with
newlyweds. Eleo stops Bobbla and starts clapping happily, “Look
Bobbla, a Bubble-onian lady has just married a Spikure! How happy
I am for them!”
Grandpa laughs at Eleo’s excitement, “Yes my dear grandson, here
in Bubble-onia all of us can marry and have a family, even if we
come from different planets.”
Eleo smiles at Bobbla, “Can I get married too?” Grandpa bursts out
laughing and explains, “You are still too young to get married now,
but once you are old enough you can!”

A bubble bicycle is coming along from the other side of the street.
Eleo pulls at Bobbla’s sleeve, “Look grandpa, that little bubbling has
a bicycle just like mine.” Bobbla says, “It could be like yours, but that
does not mean it belongs to you.”
Bobbla explains that many Bubble-onians own different things and to
own things one has to buy them or they have to be given to you as
a present. “I can see that this little bubbling is enjoying his bicycle as
much as I enjoy mine!” says Eleo.

Eleo and Bobbla keep on walking until they arrive to a little opening
where they see a Bubble-onian preacher talking on a stage in front
of an audience. “Grandpa, what is going on there?” asks Eleo.
“Here the preacher is expressing and sharing his beliefs with the
audience,” explains Bobbla, “However the people listening are free
to believe what they think is best for them.”

Eleo and grandpa leave the audience and continue on their way. As
soon as they turn right, a group from the Bubble Motorbike Club
ride past.
Eleo turns to Grandpa and says, “Wow Grandpa, look at that! Can
I join this group when I grow up?” Bobbla smiles at Eleo again and
says, “Of course you can my dear grandson, but only if you want
to.”
Eleo and Bobbla keep on walking down the street, and as they look
to their left they see a wall covered with election posters.

As they walk by, Eleo looks at the pictures of the people on the
posters. “Orange is Cool, Purple is Super, Yellow is Banana!”,
exclaims Eleo as he reads the poster slogans out loud. “How
colourful and interesting these posters are Bobbla!”, says Eleo.
“Soon there will be elections for the Bubble Parliament my dear
son,” explains Bobbla. “They all want to be chosen to represent the
Bubble-onians. Their job will be to decide on good things to do for
us to make our lives better.”
Eleo smiles and tells Bobbla that maybe he too might be a Prime
Bubble some day. “Why not! Everyone can try,” answers Bobbla.

As Eleo and Bobbla reach the end of the street, they come to a large
Bubble shopping mall.
There are many Bubble-onians, Spikures and Droplings inside:
shopping, having fun, playing games, waiting for the theatre or
having coffee. Some Bubble-onians are also at work.
“Look Eleo,” says Bobbla, “everyone is happy because everyone
living in Bubble-onia is encouraged to be what they want to be. Look
at everyone enjoying themselves by learning games or going to the
theatre, even these things make us the beings that we are.”

Bobbla and Eleo keep on walking until they reach the end of the
shopping mall and exit from the back door. As soon as they leave the
mall, they find themselves in the daily market. There are different
stalls at the market. There is Lucy the carpenter working on small
chairs to sell that day, there is Markus setting up his makeup stall
whilst many other stall owners are busy already selling their goods.
“Look Eleo, all of us living in Bubble-onia can choose what work they
want to do. Also, all have enough money to be able to take care of
their family,” explains Bobbla.

After the market, Bobbla and Eleo keep on walking towards the
Bubble Luna Park next to the river. There are several families having
fun and enjoying themselves.
Eleo stops to look at the carousel. Bobbla comes up behind him and
says, “Look Eleo, we all have free time to do whatever we want in
order to have fun and rest. We have free days between working time.
Resting is important son.”
Eleo turns to Bobbla and asks, “When we are free, can we go to
Bubble beach to swim and play?” Bobbla smiles at Eleo and says,
“Yes of course!”

Eleo and Bobbla continue their walk and take the bridge to cross the
river. From the bridge they can see a lot of different Bubble houses
lining up the riverbed.
Eleo looks over and says, “Look Bobbla, it seems as if you can see the
whole town from here!”. “Yes, that is true my son, and look how
different we all are. But it does not matter, because we are all safe
and happy and if we ever need help, we will all get it,” replies Bobbla.
“Do you remember the baby bubblings we saw at the nursery and
the little bubblings playing in the park? Those get special attention
since they are the future of Bubble-onia.”

On the bank of the river there is a school, which Eleo and Bobbla
pass by. They see little bubblings hurrying towards the door carrying
their school bags.
Bobbla explains that everyone has the right to learn and it is
important because it teaches us how to develop our talents and also
how to live together with others. “That is why we love to learn,” says
Bobbla. “I will go to Junior Bubble College soon” says Eleo, “I can’t
wait for school to start!”

They keep on walking to the main square, where every day a lot of
street artists gather. Eleo and Bobbla are having fun as they watch
artists, jugglers, musicians and painters do what they know best.
“Wow, look how artistic we are in Bubble-onia, can I have a painting
of myself?” asks Eleo. “Here in Bubble-onia we truly have many
talents. Our artists’ concerts, exhibitions and plays make our life
more fun and interesting. They really deserve their money, like this
painter here. Have a seat, Eleo!” says Bobbla.

By now, Grandpa Bobbla is feeling a bit tired, so they decide to take
a bus. As soon as they get on, a young Bubble-onian is helping an
older one get onto the bus.
Eleo notices this and says to Bobbla, “It is very nice of this
Bubble-onian,” Bobbla replies, “Yes my son, we should all care for
each other. If we all respect each other and the rules, life is easy to
live.”

As the bubble bus drives near to their house, Eleo and grandpa get
off. Eleo notices the Bubble space ship standing in Bobbla’s garden.
Eleo turns to Bobbla and says, “We have wonderful rules Bobbla. I
hope I will find another planet where we can live together just like we
do now.”
Bobbla agrees and says, “No need to worry son, we are sure that
there are planets out there, where we are welcome. Your Bubble ship
is ready for take-off. Come son, I will help you to prepare for your
trip. Here is the book, you will need it!”

United Nations International Nursery School:
It's Human Rights Day for Them, Too
Children of the United Nations International Nursery School look at a poster of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is two years old on 10
December. [December, 1950]
UN Photo

This book is the collaborative effort of many a creative mind. The initial idea came about
following a Training Course funded by the Youth in Action Programme of the European
Commission called ‘Rightly Yours and Rightly Mine – a Training Course on Human Rights and
Duties in a multi-cultural Europe,’ which was organised by Malta UNESCO Youth Association
and took place in Malta in June 2009. Several participants from Italy, Spain, Malta, Estonia,
Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands were present.
The participants were:
Joanna Bonnici & Caroline Grech – Malta
Olga Rodionova & Rostislav Tshikalski – Estonia
Fabio Cerrito & Giorgio Sinapi – Italy
Marina Albuquerque Maranhao & Fabio Santos – Spain
Popi Nalpantiodou & Athanasios Tzoganis – Greece
Marieke Van Der Linden & Ayla Van Kessel – Netherlands
Ivanina Stoyanova - Bulgaria
Jasmina Mohorko & Sebastijan Starc – Slovenia
Soren Berglund & Mats Grambon – Sweden
Dimitrie Anatoli Postovei – Romania
From this Training Course, the idea for a children’s book came about and Malta UNESCO
Youth Association has been working on the idea ever since.

Collaborators (in alphabetical order):
Alexander Thenner
Annette Vella
Audrey Spiteri
Birgit Oidram
Chantal Sciberras
Christianne Caruana
CJ Saliba
Daniel Mifsud
Desiree D’Amato
Dorianne Formosa
Elysia Camilleri
Joanna Bonnici
Julian Portelli
Krista Bonnici
Marie Louise Vella
Philip Caruana
Sarah Cassar
Sarah Suda
Estonian UNESCO Youth Association, Estonia: Julia Barsukova, Olga Rodionova, Deniss
Jershov. Youth Centre of Dravinja Valley, Slovenia: Aleš Kurnik, Jasmina Mohorko, Anja
Žibert. Initsiativa Regional Youth Council, Bulgaria: Rosen Dimov
Consultants: Dr Gorg Mallia - University of Malta, Mr Chris Grupetta - Merlin Library,
Mr Anson D. Aquilina, Ms Krista Bonnici

The book was partly funded by the European Youth Foundation within the
Council of Europe under category B which supports printed publications
and audio-visual material.
Special thanks to Athanasios “Sakis” Krezios (Kids In Action) for being a source of inspiration
and moreover a provider of precious information about making use of this fund.

Discover more about this project

On a faraway bubbly happy planet where everyone
lives life in peace and harmony with one another,
young Eleo runs into his grandfather's house. He is
looking for some answers, only to find out that he had
been chosen for a mission. But before he sets off, his
grandfather Bobbla needs to give him some precious
information that will help him along the way.