"Is Mandy pretending to be sick?" asked Pippa from the doorway.
Charlotte turned to look at her. "She isn't pretending to be sick for real," she said. "She's pretending to be pretending to be sick so we can practice."
"Come in," said Mandy. "You can watch, if you like."
Pippa came into the room and stood where she could watch what was going on. Charlotte and Billy had their dogs with them. The dogs were both wearing their leashes, which was unusual when they were indoors. Both dolls were holding on to the leashes.
Charlotte and Billy put the dogs up on the bed with Mandy. "What's your dog's name?" Mandy asked Charlotte.
"His name is Pierre," Charlotte replied. (She said it like "pee-AIR," but Pippa knew that, and so did Mandy.)
"What's your dog's name?" Mandy asked Billy.
"Her name is Freckles," Billy replied.
Pippa was pretty sure Mandy knew the names of both dogs, but they were rehearsing something, so maybe it was a play.
Mandy kept petting the dogs. "Thank you for bringing your dogs to visit me," she said finally. "I think I need to rest now," she said.
"We will visit you again next week, if you like" Billy said, and Charlotte nodded her head, showing she agreed. Both dolls removed their dogs from Mandy's bed.
"Are you rehearsing a play?" Pippa asked.
"No," Mandy replied. "Billy and Charlotte, and their dogs, have just passed their tests to be pet-therapy (THAYR-ah-pee) teams. They're practicing, so that when they go to the doll hospital to give pet therapy to the patients, they will remember what to do."
"Therapy?" Pippa wondered. "What is therapy?"
"Well," Mandy began, "therapy is something we do to make someone feel better. Pet therapy is a special kind of therapy. Doll doctors have discovered that petting a dog or a cat, or visiting with another kind of tame animal often makes damaged dolls feel better."
"We're going to the doll hospital in a few days," Charlotte said. "We're going to give pet therapy to the dolls who are being repaired."
"Yes," Billy agreed. "We just finished our training and passed our tests, so we will know what to do."
Pippa looked at the two dogs. "Did Pierre and Freckles need to go to training, too?" she asked.
"Not in the same way," Charlotte explained. "They need to be able to do simple commands, like sit and stay, but they already knew how to do that."
"We get tested as a team," Charlotte explained. "We have to show that our dogs can follow our commands and that we know what our dogs need," she added, as she showed the other dolls how Pierre will sit and stay and come.
"They have to enjoy attention, too," Billy added, "but we're the ones who had to be trained."
"Dogs look to their people or their dolls for guidance," Mandy explained. "That's why Charlotte and Billy need to know what to do, but the dogs just need to know how to behave in new places. They have to be able to stay calm if something unusual happens. Not all dogs can do that."
"If we do well with the patients at the doll hospital," Charlotte told her, "we can take the dogs to the school."
"What for?" Pippa asked. "Will the dogs go to school with you every day? Do they need to learn how to read and write?"
"No," Billy replied. "We will take them to help other dolls learn to read."
"Freckles and Pierre can read?" Pippa asked. She tried very hard to make her eyes get big, but they just wouldn't, because they don't move.
"No," Charlotte said. "They don't have to read, just listen. Some dolls feel uncomfortable reading aloud to other dolls. Maybe they are afraid of making a mistake, but dogs like to listen to us when we talk. They never tell you that you read something the wrong way."
"Reading to a dog gives the doll confidence," Billy added.
Pippa thought about that for a few seconds. Then she asked, "May I borrow Pierre and Freckles for a little while?"
The dolls were through practicing for their visit to the doll hospital, so they agreed, and Freckles and Pierre went off with Pippa. "You're going to give me reading therapy," she said to them.
Freckles and Pierre wondered if the story Pippa was going to read to them would be about dogs.
The story was not about dogs, but Pierre and Freckles didn't complain. There were some strange animals in it.
Pierre and Freckles never told Pippa when she pronounced a word the wrong way. They just listened.
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
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Copyright © 2021 by Peggy Stuart
J'ai beaucoup aimé cette histoire. Et les poses, comme les poupées, sont toujours magnifiques. Bravo!
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