Being Little

Mariah is new. Her world is new to her, too. She feels little, because everything is so big.

She feels very, very little.

Except for the few doll chairs, the chairs are very big.

Mariah told Charlotte that the chairs are too big to move.

"That's because they're heavy," Charlotte said.
"How do we sit in them?" Mariah asked.
"Sometimes we have to get help from others," Charlotte explained. "Children or grownups can lift us up and put us into the chair, if we want, or we can help each other if they aren't around."

"The refrigerator is very big, too," Mariah observed. "How do you get help getting food?"
"Of course, we don't really need real food, because we're dolls," Charlotte answered, "but if we did we would ask to be picked up, like this."

"Look how big the shoes are," Mariah said. "How can you put them on?"
"These shoes belong to people," Charlotte explained. "To grownups. We don't have to put them on, because they don't fit us. We have special shoes, just for us."

Mariah climbed into a very big, comfy chair to read a book. "Even the words in the books are big," said Mariah to herself. "What is 'b-i-s-c-u-i-t-s'? I can't sound that out to make any sense of it."

Mariah got down from the very big, comfy chair and went off to find Charlotte. She found her in the bedroom on the very big, comfy bed.
"I'm having trouble with this big word, Charlotte," Mariah explained. "I can't sound it out."
Charlotte helped Mariah climb up on the bed, so they could sit and look at the book together.

"It's 'biscuits,' Mariah," Charlotte explained. "See, it makes sense, because a person in the story has dog biscuits for the dog. Biscuits are like cookies."

"I think I see," said Mariah. "You don't just sound out the word. You figure out what makes sense in the story, and then you try to think of a word that fits the letters and the meaning."

"You are one smart cookie, Mariah," Charlotte said.

"A smart biscuit!" exclaimed Mariah.

They stayed on the very big, comfy bed, which was very comfy, and they chatted about other things that they thought were big, or that they needed help with.

When they had mentioned everything they could think of, they decided to get down to search the house for more things that were big and that they would need help with. They had taken off their shoes to get onto the bed, so they needed to put the shoes back on.

"I can put these shoes on all by myself," Mariah told Charlotte. "They are not too big."

"But I will need help from a person to get my shoes on and tied," said Charlotte, "even though my shoes are not too big. Fortunately, there is someone here who can help," she added. "That person is taking the photos."

The girls spent the next hour finding things in the house that were very big and that would take help to be able to use. Like the toilet, which was very big.

It was like a game. Charlotte had so much fun with Mariah that she decided to let her wear her pearl necklace. It looks so nice with Charlotte's black sweater, pants and shoes, which she had also loaned Mariah to wear. Charlotte's pearls were not too big for Mariah. Charlotte's clothes were not too big, either. They were just right.

"I know I'm going to enjoy being a member of this family," Mariah said with a sigh. "Even if most things are very big, and I need help with lots of things, and even if I'm very little."

"I know it's going to be wonderful, because I know I can get help if I need it and I will have clothes and shoes that are just right. I know that because I'm a smart biscuit!"

Cast--

Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris

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, 2023 by Peggy Stuart

Puzzled

Emil and Billy were working on a puzzle, when they had the feeling someone was watching them, so they looked up from their work.

A head appeared from the empty chair.

"What's up, Pauly?" Emil asked.

"I was just wondering," Pauly replied, "if I could watch you for a while. I came over to do homework with Pippa. We're done now, but I don't have to be home for another hour, and Pippa wanted to help Veronika fold the laundry. It only takes two dolls. I thought maybe I could watch you."

"You can help, if you like," Billy suggested. 

The boys still had a lot left to do on the puzzle. It would be fun to have Pauly help. It was hard for Pauly to reach the puzzle pieces, so he mostly just pointed, described a puzzle piece and suggested where it might go. He was a big help.

They worked quietly on the puzzle for a while, only talking when they needed to say something about how to put the puzzle together. Then Pauly said, "You know, I'm not sure I know what I'm supposed to do."

Emil and Billy both looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Billy asked. "You've been doing fine. You just look for a puzzle piece that fits in a space you see or match the colors and shapes in the picture."

"I don't mean this puzzle," Pauly said with a sigh. "I mean at home. It's a different kind of puzzle. I don't know how I fit in, and I can't exactly see the space where I'm supposed to go. It's so complicated!" he said. "It's so much harder than working on this puzzle," he added.

Emil looked at Billy, who looked back at Emil.

"You mean with your human child?" Emil asked. "What's his name? Jeffy?"

Pauly nodded. "When he goes to school each day," he said, "I go to doll school. I'm learning a lot, but after school sometimes he goes to soccer practice, and I can't come along."

"Jeffy sits me on his bed," Pauly continued. "He says he'll be back soon, but then he's gone for a long time."

"Are you bored?" Billy asked. 

"What's bored?" Pauly wanted to know.

"It's when you are unhappy because nothing is happening," Emil explained.

"Because if you're bored," Billy said, "you can just get down off the bed and check out the house. Maybe you can find something to do. As long as you don't break anything and you put everything back where it was before the family gets back."

"Maybe," Emil suggested, "You can find a book to read."

"Or you can do something nice for them," Billy added, "like washing the dishes left in the sink."

Pauly thought about that. "That sounds like fun," he said, "but I don't think I'm bored. I talk with Jeffy's bear sometimes. He has a lot of interesting stories to tell, because he belonged to Jeffy's mother when she was a young child."

Then Pauly thought about that. "It's hard to think that she was ever a young child like Jeffy. She doesn't look like Jeffy or his friends, and she's much bigger."

"That's because human people start out very small and grow up," Emil pointed out.

"They grow up to be grownups," Billy agreed, "like Jeffy's parents and like The Writer and her husband."

"Yes," Pauly said, "and that's part of the puzzle. You see, I wonder what I'm supposed to do. How do I fit into my home? I don't see a space that's shaped like Pauly."

Emil looked at Billy, who looked back at Emil. They were beginning to see Pauly's puzzle.

"So," Billy began, "what you're saying is that you wonder what your job is, as a doll, I mean."

Pauly had to think about that. "I guess that's one way to put it," he said. "No one gave me any instructions when I came to live with Jeffy. I was just in a box, and then I was let out of it at Jeffy's house."

"I think," Emil suggested, "most dolls don't worry about what their job is. They just let it happen, so I think you don't have to worry about it, either."

"That's right," Billy agreed. "We're in stories. That's our job, but when The Writer's grandchildren come to visit, we get to be regular dolls."

"They dress us," Emil added, "and brush our hair or pretend to feed us. Sometimes they have us go on pretend adventures."

"Jeffy does that with me," Pauly said. "He changes my clothes for me. He fastens my shoes. We have good times. When he has to leave me home alone, he tells me he would love to take me along, but he's going to be out on the field, and he's afraid someone might take me. He doesn't want to lose me, so it's better if I stay home."

"I want to feel useful," Pauly exclaimed. "I don't mind sitting around at home, if there's a point to it."

"Veronika told me," Emil said, "that when a human child looks after a doll, it gets that child ready to look after their own real children some day."

"That's part of the growing up thing," Billy pointed out, "like how Jeffy's mother was once a young human child like Jeffy."

"Yes," Emil agreed. "Jeffy will probably have children of his own some day. You're helping him learn to look after them. When a child cares for a doll, it's good practice for caring for a real human child of their own."

"That's not all, though," Billy went on. "Human children enjoy pretending. That's where the adventures come in. They can pretend to do something they aren't yet ready to do for real."

"They exercise their imaginations that way," Emil interjected. "Then there's another thing dolls do for children," he added. "Dolls help children feel less afraid when something scary is happening."

"Scary?" Pauly asked. "Like what?"

"What if a family has to leave home suddenly," Billy suggested, "like if it's dangerous to stay in their house for some reason? Not like going on vacation, but something unpleasant, like a fire or a flood."

"Children get frightened when the things they are used to have changed," Billy continued, "especially if their parents seem worried, too. Taking some of their dolls along helps them feel normal. When they have their dolls to look after and protect, they don't feel so afraid for themselves, I think. The dolls help them feel safe."

"Wow!" Pauly exclaimed. "That's a big responsibility!"

"It is," Emil agreed, "but you don't have to worry about it. Just let Jeffy guide you. He will let you know what he wants you to do and what he wants to do for you."

"You have another job, too," Billy added.

Pauly looked at Billy expectantly.

"You can be in the stories with us, as well!" Bill exclaimed, patting Pauly's arm. "You've already been in several of them."

"Oh look!" Pauly exclaimed. "There's only one piece left of the puzzle!" He picked up the puzzle piece and showed it to the other boys.

"This puzzle piece fits right there!" Pauly exclaimed, pointing to the one empty space in the puzzle.

Pauly fits in, too. There was a Pauly-shaped hole in The Doll's Storybook.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

Jeffy's bear: Bye-bye, a Steiff bear from 1974

Photo of dolls in car: Tim Mak, NPR Investigative Correspondent in Ukraine.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

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.

"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 and Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble,  BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties 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.

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

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

Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart