Emil

The dolls were studying and doing their homework when Veronika came into the room.

"Everyone, you need to listen to this," Veronika said, waving a piece of paper so they would see what she had.

The dolls gathered around Veronika. "It's a letter," she said. Then she began to read. 

Here is what the letter said:

Dear Veronika and Cast of The Doll's Storybook,
I heard you were looking for another boy doll, and I am hoping you will choose me.
Before you accept me, you should know something about me. I'm not perfect. It isn't the fault of the factory where we were made. Sometimes these things just happen. Anyway, I wanted to be sure you knew about this before you decide.

First of all, I'm very nearsighted. That means I can't see very far from my nose. This isn't too bad, though, because my glasses correct my sight to almost normal. I just need to wear my glasses all the time, except when I'm asleep.

My other problem is more serious. I'm almost deaf without my hearing aids. Fortunately, they were able to build my hearing aids into my glasses. I can talk with other dolls with no problem without my hearing aids, because, like you, I talk by sharing my thoughts and listening to yours, but I need the hearing aids so I don't get hurt by things like cars and bicycles, and so I know when water is running and when the alarm goes off. I can't hear those things in my head without my hearing aids.

If you accept me as a new cast member, I promise to try very hard not to let these things make problems for you. I will also try to be the best doll I can be.

Sincerely,
Emil

"It's a good letter," Mandy said when Veronika had finished reading the letter.

Mariah, who had been looking over Veronika's shoulder, pointed at the letter. "There are no words misspelled," she said. "The ideas are easy to understand. He must be smart. He must have worked hard on the letter."

"He could have used Autocorrect," Billy said. "Autocorrect will fix the spelling."

"Yes," agreed Mariah, "but Autocorrect just changes something that isn't a word to something that is. It may not be the right word."
"Sometimes," put in Jolena, "Autocorrect gives you something silly, and it makes you laugh."

The dolls all smiled and nodded. They could remember times when they had seen this happen.
"That's right," Mariah agreed. "You have to know if the word is the right one, and you still have to write what you want to say so it's easy to understand."

Charlotte had been very quiet. Now she had something to say. "I like that he sounds honest," she said.
The other dolls looked at Charlotte.

"How do you see that in his letter, Charlotte?" Veronika asked.
"Well," Charlotte began, "he wants to be chosen, doesn't he? He could have just told us how wonderful he is, and how he's the best one for the job. He could have left out the part about his problems."

"You're right," Mandy said. "Then we wouldn't have known until he arrived, when it was too late."

Veronika turned to Billy. "What do you think, Billy?" she asked. "If we choose him, he will be your pal. You need to be satisfied with the choice."

"I like the letter," Billy said. "He sounds interesting. He says he isn't perfect, but none of us is perfect. He's different, but we're all different, even though we are alike in lots of ways."

"Like that our eyes don't close," Jolena said, "and we each have one hand with two fingers stuck together."

"It sounds to me," Billy said, "like he can do everything I like to do. I think we will have fun together."

"Let's vote on it," Veronika said, "unless anyone has something else to say."
The dolls shook their heads. They were ready to vote.
"All right," Veronika said, "who wants to choose Emil to be our new brother? Raise your hand if you do."
All the dolls raised their hands.

"Good," said Veronika. "It's unanimous (you-NAN-ih-mus)! That means we all voted the same. Then I don't have to ask who doesn't want Emil to be our new brother. I will write back and let him know."
"Veronika," Billy said, "there is something I would like you to ask him. You said his name like 'eh-MEEL.' How do we know it isn't 'EE-mul' or something else? It's an unusual name. Would you ask him how he says it so we can say it correctly when he comes?"

Veronika said she would ask.
"When you write, please ask him what kind of food he likes best," Jolena said. "I want to fix him his favorite food when he gets here."

"I want to find out," Mariah added, "what kinds of books he likes. We can go to the library right before he arrives and check out some things."
"Ask him if he can hear music," Charlotte said. "If he can, please find out what his favorite song is, so I can learn to play it for him on my violin."

"I have something for you to ask him," Mandy said. "Ask him if he needs to plug in his hearing aids at night or if his hearing aids use batteries, and please ask him if he needs anything else we might not think of."

That night, Veronika wrote a letter to Emil and told him that he had been chosen to be their new brother. She wrote that they liked his letter and thought he sounded nice. She asked him how to say his name.

Veronika asked Emil what kind of food and books he liked best. She asked him if he could hear music with his hearing aids, and if so, what was his favorite song. She asked him if he needed batteries or a charger for his hearing aids, or if there was anything else he might need. Then she added that they could tell he was special from his letter, and that was good. Then she printed off the letter and signed it. She put it into an envelope. She put a stamp on the letter.
The dolls were so excited that they forgot to change their clothes before bed, but they did not forget to pretend to brush their teeth.
In the morning, all the dolls went to the mailbox together to mail the letter to Emil.

They could hardly wait. They knew Emil would be special.

We are all special, and so are you.


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.


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Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart

The Cruise That Didn't Happen

Veronika was very excited. She was going to go on a cruise! She was going to go on a ship on the ocean with lots of passengers.

The cruise ship would take her to some islands off the East Coast of the United States. They are called The Bahamas. She knew it would be nice and warm. She could swim in the ocean, so she was going to take her new bathing suit.

The day before she would leave, she took her new bathing suit out of the closet to pack.

Dolls' eyes shouldn't get water in them, so she knew she would need her swim goggles.

Veronika also knew there would be a big party on board the cruise ship, so she was taking the pretty new dress Mandy had knitted for her.

She tried it on, and she looked pretty in it.

When it was time to pack, Veronika got out her suitcase. 

She started packing her clothes in it, along with everything she needed for the trip.

She was so excited, we hated to have to tell her the bad news. Someone from the cruise line had just called. The cruise was cancelled! That meant there was no cruise to The Bahamas for Veronika.

She didn't cry when we told her. She just stared at us for a moment. Then she asked, "Why?"

We explained that a big storm called a hurricane was coming. It wouldn't be safe to travel there or to be on the ocean near there. It would not be fun. Many people in The Bahamas and in Florida would have to leave their homes.
Veronika looked out the window. She felt like crying, but she did not want to get her eyes wet. She was disappointed.

When the other dolls found out, they were sad for Veronika. They were also sad for themselves. They had been looking forward to seeing the photos Veronika had promised to send them. They had been looking forward to reading Veronika's post cards. Mandy had been looking forward to seeing photos of Veronika wearing her new dress at a party on the ship.
"I know why you aren't crying, but why aren't you throwing pillows across the room?" Mariah asked Veronika. "That's what I do when I'm disappointed."

"When I'm upset, I like to kick pillows," Billy said.

"That's a good thing to do with your anger," Veronika said. "That way nothing gets hurt or broken. I'm disappointed," she added, "but I feel very lucky I'm just missing out on a fun adventure. I'm not going to be on a boat on the ocean in a hurricane. I'm not going to be lying at the bottom of the ocean knowing it won't matter if my eyes are wet, because if I get silver eye, there will be no one to see me. I don't have to leave my home and wonder if it will be there when I come back."

"What's a hurricane?" Billy wanted to know. "I know it's a big storm, but it must be special to have a special name."
All the dolls looked at Mandy.

"Yes, I know," Mandy said. "It's a Mandy question."
She found a big book in the bookcase. The other dolls helped Mandy get it down and hold it so she could open it to the page she wanted. Then they listened to Mandy as she explained. 

"A hurricane starts at the equator, that's the invisible line around the middle of the earth," Mandy explained. "The air there is warmer because the equator gets more sun. Warm air rises. That makes room for colder air to come to where it's warm, but then the colder air gets warmer and rises." 

"When the warm air gets up high," Mandy continued, "it cools off and comes down again. All that moving up and down makes a lot of wind. The wind starts to go in circles, and the circle starts to move away from the equator."

"This is what a big hurricane looks like from space," Mandy said. She showed them a photo like this in the book. "We're looking down on it," she told them. "That's the earth below it. You can see where there is land and where there is ocean."

"If the wind gets to be faster than 73 miles or 118 kilometers an hour or so," Mandy continued, "we call it a hurricane. We call this kind of storm a hurricane where we live, but in other parts of the world this kind of storm is called a cyclone or a typhoon. Big hurricanes can do a lot of damage if they reach the shore where people live. Our weather scientists watch them, so they can warn people. It's good they cancelled the cruise. We would not want Veronika to be in a ship on the ocean with a storm like this."

Mandy showed them a photo like this in her book. "This is a real house and car, not toys," she said. "A hurricane did this. It was good the people who lived here had left."

"I wish we didn't have hurricanes," Mariah sighed. "I feel bad that people have their homes and cars destroyed. I feel bad that Veronika had to be disappointed."

"Disappointment is part of life, Mariah," Veronika said. "I understand that. We are all disappointed sometimes. It makes the happy times more enjoyable, because we know what it's like not to be happy. It's important for us to learn what to do with our disappointment, because it will come, sometimes when we least expect it," she sighed.

"I know what you mean," Billy said. "I was disappointed at first when I found out I was the only boy, but then I found that girls can be fun, too."

(The girls were glad that Billy had said that, because they sometimes felt sorry that he was the only boy.)

"Well, I have an idea!" Mariah exclaimed. "Let's see if Jolena will bake us a cake! Let's ask Charlotte if she will play her violin for us! Let's have a Disappointment Party!"
"That's a great idea!" Mandy agreed.

"That sounds like fun," Veronika said. "I can wear my new dress!"

Jolena baked a cake and made some ice cream, too.

Charlotte got out her violin and tuned it, so she could play it at the party.

Freckles and Pierre sat under the table and waited for crumbs that might fall. They know not to beg. They just sit and wait, but they make sure the dolls know that they are there, just in case they want to let some crumbs fall. That isn't begging.

The cruise company says that they will exchange Veronika's ticket for another time, or she can have her money back. In the meantime, the dolls are having a Disappointment Party.


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

Learn more about hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons here.
Hurricane photo by NASA on Unsplash.
Hurricane damage photo by John Middelkoop on Unsplash.
Mandy's book is National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe by Roy A. Gallant, 1980. It has a photo of a hurricane in it but not a photo of a house and car damaged by one. We made that up. It's fiction, after all.Like our Facebook page: The Doll's Storybook

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Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart

Getting Answers

Billy looked for Veronika as soon as he got home. He found her reading a book.
"Veronika," he said, "we need to talk."

Veronika put the book she was reading down on her chair. "What is it, Billy?" she asked.

"I want to know what's the right thing to do," Billy began. "I know you say we should help people in need if we can, but I'm not sure about this, so I didn't, but now I feel bad."

"Tell me about it," Veronika urged.

"Today we had a science quiz," Billy explained. "We had to know all the planets in order of their distance from the sun. I knew them, because Mandy helped me study for the quiz. She taught me a sentence where each word starts with the first letter of the name of the planet. Then I just had to remember that Mercury is the first 'm' and Mars is the second one, because there are two that start with the letter 'm'. That way, it's easy," Billy explained. "Mandy showed me in a book what each one looks like through a telescope. It showed where each planet is in our solar system. (That's what we call our sun with all the planets circling around it.) That way, I can see it in my head. It isn't just a word," he added.

Veronika nodded encouragement. "It sounds as if you didn't have any trouble with the quiz," Veronika said. "So who needed help?"
"The boy behind me––I don't know his name yet, because he wasn't in my class last year––anyway, the boy behind me asked me quietly to hold my paper so he could see as I wrote my answers." 

"I wasn't sure if that was a good idea," Billy went on, "so I shook my head. He was mad at me."

Veronika got down from her chair and climbed up on the box with Billy. "I can see why you didn't want to, Billy," she said, "but tell me why you didn't think it was a good idea?"

"Well," Billy said, "I think Mr. Jackson, that's the teacher, wants to know if we have learned what we were supposed to learn. He didn't want to know if we could just copy the words when we see them."

Veronika nodded.
"I also think," Billy went on, "that the boy behind me didn't want the teacher to know he was asking to copy from me. He asked me in a way that made me think it should be a secret."

"You did the right thing, Billy," Veronika told him. "What he wanted to do is called cheating, and cheating is wrong. It would be wrong for him to copy your paper and wrong for you to let him."

"Cheating!" Billy said. "There's even a word for it. I didn't know that." Then Billy looked down at his hands.

"I felt sorry for him, though," Billy said. "He told me out on the playground that he was going to be punished for failing the quiz. I wish I could have helped him."
"You have helped him, Billy," Veronika explained. "He has learned that you won't let him copy your paper. He has learned that he needs to study for quizzes and tests if he wants to get a good grade."

"If he didn't ever learn that, he would someday find himself with a problem he couldn't solve by cheating, and that problem probably would be a much bigger one than a quiz."

Billy thought about that. "I see what you mean," he said. "I still feel sorry for him and wish I could help."

"It isn't cheating to help someone study," Veronika suggested, "the way Mandy helped you. If you really want to help him, you could do that."

"How do I do that?" Billy asked.

"You could work together on your homework," Veronika said. "It isn't cheating if you don't give him the answers but just discuss the question with him and show him how to find answers for himself. You could even quiz each other about what the teacher says will be on the test or quiz. That will help both of you."

"That sounds like a good way for me to learn, too," Billy said. "That's just what Mandy did. We talked about the planets, not just the names. Then she had me draw a picture of the sun and all the planets with their names. She knows so much!" he added.
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "When we teach someone else, we learn what we're teaching even better."
"Maybe," Billy said "that's why you're so good at knowing how to help people, and what's right and wrong. You teach the rest of us."

For once, Veronika was speechless. She didn't know what to say.


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.


Like our Facebook page: The Doll's Storybook

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart