What Do Dolls Do on Their Day Off?

 What do dolls do when we aren't home? What are they up to when we're away? They can't just stand in your room and stare at the walls. Wouldn't that be boring?

Maybe they stay in their pajamas all day.

Or maybe they sleep while we're gone.

Do they get together and read a book? Do they imagine they're having adventures?

Maybe they watch TV all day.

Do they play with their toys?

Or do they play games with each other?

Or do they they play with your toys?

Maybe they go into the kitchen and make some hot cocoa...

Or banana-oat waffles...

Or do the dishes.

Would they have a tea party?

Maybe they try on your clothes.

What if they tried on your mother's clothes?

Maybe they find your mother's purse.

Maybe they even find your mother's credit card and buy some things for themselves online while you're gone!

Maybe they go for a hike in the woods.

What if there's a bear in the woods?

They could invite the bear into the house for a snack, couldn't they?

Maybe there's a bear in your house right now!

Or maybe they just sit patiently, right where you left them, waiting for you to come home and play with them.

What do you think your dolls do while you're away?

Cast:

Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"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 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude. Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author for $20 including shipping. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.

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Copyright © 2018 and 2023 by Peggy Stuart

Existing Outside the Box

Jolena has been learning about her new existence. The other girls have been teaching her. This morning, Mandy asked her,  “Jolena, do you know what are we?”

Jolena knew the answer to that: “We’re dolls.”

“Well, we are…and we aren’t,” Mandy explained. “This is a doll,” she said, holding out something in her hand.

In her hand was a tiny doll from many years ago. “This doll belonged to a child who lived in the 1800s.”
“That doesn’t look like us at all!” Jolena pointed out.
“That’s because we’re more realistic. Dolls are made by people so they and their children can learn about life and practice what they learn. When dolls are realistic, like us, people can use their imagination for something besides pretending we’re real.”
“We start out as realistic dolls,” Mandy went on, “but when we come out of our boxes, our existence starts. We evolve into something more, almost a form of life, related to human life.” 
“You mean we change into something better?”  Jolena wanted to know.

“Yes, sort of. Better, more suitable for existing outside our boxes,” Mandy agreed. “Then we can help people practice and imagine different activities and situations.”

Jolena nodded solemnly. She understood, because she went through that experience herself when she arrived at her new home not long ago...in her box.

“When a human child or adult plays with us and imagines activities for us or ideas we might have, we take on part of that person’s life,” Mandy went on. “When people change our clothes…

…or fix our hair… 

or take us with them places…

…then we sort of come alive.” 

“This is still just a doll,” Mandy said, holding out the tiny doll from long ago. “She’s just a doll, because no one plays with her anymore.”

“I’ll bet she has some happy memories, though,” Jolena replied dreamily.

Cast--

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen 2015
The doll: A penny doll from the middle 1800s, given to the author by a friend, Gertrude Whitwell, who was in her 90s at the time, about 1950, when The Writer was still a child. "Aunt Gertrude" inspired many flights of fancy with her tales of life in a very different era.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"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 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude. Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author for $20 including shipping. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2018 and 2023 by Peggy Stuart 

Little Miss Crocker and the Spider

 Little Miss Crocker and the Spider

Little Miss Crocker

Sat in her rocker,

Eating her cottage cheese.

Along came a spider.... 

And sat down beside her,

And surprised the young maid with a sneeze.

"Bless you!" said the little girl.

"Thank you," said the spider. "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

"Because I know that you eat bugs like mosquitos, flies and moths," was her reply. "And I know you aren't poisonous, because that book you're sitting on has pictures of the spiders that are poisonous."

Little Miss Crocker showed the spider the pictures in the book.

The spider sneezed again.

"Do you have a cold?" the little girl wanted to know.

"No," said the spider. "Allergies."

"Well, what are you allergic to?" she asked.

"Little girls," answered the spider.

"I'm sorry," said the little girl. "Why did you come up to me if you're allergic to little girls?"

"I thought you would run away," said the spider, hopping to a safe distance on the other chair.

Little Miss Crocker sat back in her rocker

To finish her cottage cheese,

While watching the spider

Climb the post close beside her....

To start a new web with a sneeze.

Cast: 

Little Miss Crocker--Götz Happy Kidz "Lena in Aspen"

The Spider--Herself or himself...we're not sure.

Note: This is a rerun of our very first story from The Doll's Storybook. It appeared on June 22, 2018. The complete list of stories so far may be found here. Physical books with some of these stories are available wherever books are sold.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"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 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2018, 2023, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

Pawternity Leave!

"So, what's pawternity leave, anyway?" Pippa asked as the dolls sat around the big table in the workroom.

Mandy turned to Veronika. "Would you like to explain, or do you want me to?" she asked.

"It's like maternity leave or paternity leave," Veronika explained. "Maternity leave is when a mother stays home from work for a time to look after a new baby. Paternity leave is when the father stays home to look after a new baby."

"As you know," Mandy explained, "The Writer and her husband have a new puppy, so The Writer is going to take pawternity leave for a few weeks to look after him and train him."

"Real puppies can get into a lot of trouble," Veronika said, "until they know what they can do and what they can't do. They need to learn where to sleep and eat, and where to potty. They need to learn what is OK to chew on and play with, and what's OK to eat."

"Like eating dolls hair," Billy suggested. He already had experience with the new puppy.

"I thought he was going to take my wig off!" He exclaimed.

"New puppies like to chew things," Mandy said. "Maybe a doll's hand might feel good to chew on, but a puppy has to learn what things are OK to chew on and play with." The dolls had watched the new puppy chew his chew toys and play with the older dog and his toys. They had been staying up off the floor as much as possible since the puppy joined the family.

"Where's Jolena?" Mariah asked then.

"She's in the kitchen," Veronika replied, "fixing tea for The Writer, so she can relax for a bit."

"The puppy is in his playpen right now," Mandy said. "He went into his crate to take a nap. Puppies are very busy, but they nap a lot, too."

"So," Veronika said, "while The Writer is on pawternity leave, we decided we would help by getting more stories ready."

"Mariah can write up some ideas for stories," she added.

Mariah nodded. She liked to write, and she had lots of ideas.

"Billy can take lots of photos," Mandy suggested.

"Charlotte can play her violin to help the puppy sleep," Veronika said.

"I know lots of lullabies," Charlotte put in.

"We can all help with new stories," Mandy pointed out. "We can work on getting together the wardrobe––that's the clothes––for each story and setting the stage––like where we will act out the story and what will be in the photos, like furniture and props. Props are things like books or dishes or knitting," she added. 

"I want to help," Pauly exclaimed, "but I can't think of anything I can do!"

"Don't worry," Pippa assured him. "You and I will just get into trouble as usual, so Mariah will have something to write about."

"Also," Mandy added, "our readers sometimes have good ideas. They can write us with questions they want to know more about. They can send us emails. In the meantime, until the puppy is trained, we will need to stay off the floor!"

Do you have questions for the cast of The Doll's Storybook? If so, write us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Since this story was written, The Writer and Mariah have begun writing one new story a month and reediting past stories to post at the normal time on the other weeks. This gives Mariah a chance to reread each one and correct any typos or information that might not be right. If you can't wait and want to read them all, you can do that here.

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

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"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 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2023, 2024 by Peggy Stuart