Emil thought Pippa looked sad. "What's the matter, Pippa," he asked.
"I didn't get the book I asked Santa for," she replied, hugging her bear.
"I think that's how it works, Pippa," Emil said. "I didn't get everything I asked for, either."
"Were you naughty?" Pippa wanted to know.
"If I was, I didn't mean to be," Emil replied, as he sat down next to Pippa on the stair. "I mean, it's hard to be good all the time, and sometimes we do things we didn't know were wrong to do, but I really don't think Santa blames us for that."
"You mean being naughty is doing something on purpose you know is wrong?" Pippa asked.
"I'm no expert," said Emil thoughtfully. "I just think Santa is very kind and loves dolls as well as real children. I think he knows when we're doing our best. It must be hard to give every doll and every child everything they want, though."
"But why? If Santa can make all those toys and things, why wouldn't we get everything we asked Santa for?" Pippa persisted.
Emil thought about that. "Well," he said, "I don't know for sure, but here's what I think. Maybe another doll needs what you asked for more than you do or what you asked for won't work out with our family. It doesn't mean we were naughty if we don't get everything we asked for."
"Well," Pippa said with a sigh, "I do feel better now. I was afraid I didn't get the book because I was naughty, but I didn't know what I did that was wrong. I mean, I took one of the ornaments from the tree and played with it, but when The Writer told me they weren't toys, I put it back right where it was hanging on the tree."
"I don't think Santa would think that was very naughty," Emil said.
"I'm glad I wasn't naughty, but I'm still disappointed," Pippa explained, "because I really wanted to read that book."
"Maybe they have it in the library," Emil suggested. "We can look and see. If they have it, and if someone else doesn't have it checked out, we can go to the library when they open tomorrow and get it to bring home. Then you can keep it for a while. Come! I'll show you."
"We go to the library when it's open?" Pippa asked, as Emil led her down the stairs. "We check the book out? Where is it? I thought this was the library," she said, pointing to one of the bookcases as they walked by.
"That's our family's private library," Emil explained. "The library I'm talking about is the public library. It's a big building in town. It's full of books of all kinds. We can get you a library card. Maybe they have some other books you would like to check out, too. Then we will take them back by the date they are due. They have lots more books than we have here!"
"What if I haven't finished it by the time I have to take it back?" Pippa asked.
"Then you can renew it," Emil said, "unless someone else has asked for it. You just let the library know you haven't finished it, and they let you keep it for another three weeks," he said. "We can look it up on the computer," he added pointing to the table where the laptop was open and turned on.
"Let's look now and see if they have it," Pippa begged.
Emil climbed up on a chair and Pippa handed her bear up to him so she would have her hands free to climb up herself.
The dolls found the computer and Emil checked to make sure The Writer wasn't working on something that could be messed up if he used the computer. She wasn't using the internet, so Emil looked up the library. When he found it, he turned to Pippa. "OK! What's the name of the book?" he asked her.
"It's called 'Alices Adventures in Wonderland,'" she said.
Emil typed in the title of the book.
The picture on the screen changed. "They have several copies," Emil said. "One of them is checked out, but they have two others."
"Goodie!" exclaimed Pippa. "When can we go and get it?"
"Well," Emil said as he looked at the screen. "They're closed today, because it's a holiday, but they open tomorrow at noon. That's 12:00," he added, "like lunchtime. Maybe you can get The Writer to take you."
Pippa thought that was a good idea. She knew some books are heavy.
Just then, the two dolls heard what sounded like voices singing or humming...or both. The sound was coming from outside the front door. They left the computer and ran to the door. It was getting dark. The porch light was on.
When they opened the door, they found all the other dolls singing and humming a Christmas carol. Mariah and Charlotte were singing the words, because their mouths are open a bit. The other dolls were all humming, because their mouths don't open.
The dolls all stopped singing and humming. "Merry Christmas!" they cried.
"Put on your coats and hats and come caroling with us!" Mariah said.
Caroling! What fun! Pippa decided it was a merry Christmas after all!
The next day, Pippa went with The Writer to the library. The librarian––that's the person who is in charge of the library––gave Pippa a library card. Then they found a book that had all of the things Lewis Carroll had ever written, all in one book, including 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'!
The Writer allowed Pippa to keep the book at the bottom of the stairs, because the book was too big for a doll to lift. She planned to read every bit of it to her bear. She would try to finish it in three weeks!
Merry Christmas from Veronika and all the dolls in The Doll's Storybook!
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
"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.
Image on Mariah's shirt used with permission with thanks, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.
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Copyright © 2020 by Peggy Stuart
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