Earning a Living

"Give us a call," Mariah said, "to let us know how you're getting along."

"I will," Gabi replied. "It should be interesting in the yarn shop. All kinds of human people will be coming and going."

"Dolly will be joining you soon," Emil pointed out, as he opened the door for Gabi. "You can keep each other company, so you aren't lonely."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Gabi assured him. Then she turned and waved goodbye to Mariah and Pippa, who had come to the door with her. "Got to go," she said. "Mandy and The Writer are waiting in the car for me."

"What was the tag on Gabi's dress for," Pippa wanted to know after Emil had closed the door behind Gabi.

"That tag," Mariah explained, "is the label from the yarn that Mandy used to knit the dress. Gabi is going to model the dress at the yarn shop, so people who buy one of our books from there can buy the yarn to make the dress. Then they can give both together as a gift."

The dolls climbed up on the front windowsill and looked out the window to watch The Writer's car drive off.

"Why is Mandy going?" Pippa asked.

"She's picking out yarn for a sweater for Dolly," Mariah replied. "Dolly will be going to the yarn shop, too, when her sweater is finished. She will model the sweater for customers who might want to make it. It's in our books, too."

"The bookshelf in the workroom will be empty without Gabi and Dolly," Emil said after the car had left and the dolls had climbed back down from the windowsill. He was thinking about the place where the two dolls stood and watched when they weren't helping.

"It will seem strange without them," Mariah agreed.

"Why do they want to leave us?" Pippa asked with concern in her voice.

"Since they don't play parts in the stories," Emil replied, "they want to help sell the books. Helping sell the books lets them still be part of everything we do."

"They've always been part of the stories," Pippa pointed out. "Gabi holds my clothes when I'm changing. I'll have to use a chair now."

"That's true," Mariah agreed, "Dolly helps, too, behind the scenes, with hair and other things, but we can help each other, and this job is more important right now."

"Why aren't they in the stories?" Pippa asked.

Mariah looked at Emil. Emil looked at Mariah. "Let's ask Veronika!" they both said at once.

The dolls left the bottom stair and went to find Veronika. She was in the workroom, choosing some fabrics that might work for a skirt to go with Dolly's new sweater. She would make the final selection when she saw the yarn Mandy brought home from the yarn store. Mandy had said she was going to look for green, but there are lots of different greens, and not all of them go together. Veronika looked up when the three dolls came in.

"We have a question," Mariah said. "We were wondering why Gabi and Dolly aren't in the stories."

Veronika thought for a moment. She knew the answer, but it was complicated. "Well," she said finally, "the main reason is because their manufacturers (man-you-FAK-cher-ers) didn't ever answer when The Writer wrote them to ask for permission to use them in our books."

"You see," Veronika went on, after the other dolls had settled down around her to listen, "even before the first book, The Writer made a book about my birthday. It wasn't a published book, you see, but just a book she wrote and had printed as gifts for her grandchildren."

"The Writer made several other copies, too, to keep for gifts," Veronika continued. "Gabi and Dolly were already living with us then, and Mandy and Charlotte, and two boys named Alister and Matthias, who were with us to get clothes before going to live with The Writer's grandsons. We were all dolls from five different manufacturers: the company that made us and four others. The Writer wrote to each one asking for permission to publish the book so other human children could get copies." 

"She received permission from the company that makes dolls like us," Veronika went on, "and a reply from the company that makes Matthias saying they could not give permission. None of the others wrote back. That meant that The Writer could not publish the book about my birthday, nor could she publish any other book with those dolls in it."

"The boys went to their new homes," Veronika continued, "but Gabi and Dolly stayed here with us. This story won't ever be in a published book unless The Writer can get permission to use them," she added.

"How sad for Gabi and Dolly," said Pippa, who really enjoyed being in the stories.

"They tell us they don't mind," said Mariah, who had been quiet for a long time. "It's hard for them to do some of the things we need to do," she pointed out. "Their elbows and knees don't bend."

"Like our fingers?" Pippa asked, and the other dolls nodded.

"Gabi will be an excellent model," Veronika pointed out, "and she will feel useful if someone buys a copy of one of our books and yarn to make the dress she's modeling. Now, I need to get some more fabrics out of the fabric cabinet so we will have a good selection that might make a good skirt for Dolly!"

The other dolls decided to read while Veronika dug through the fabrics. Soon they were all comfortably reading.

Some time later, they heard a car door close. "Mandy's back!" Pippa cried. "Let's go see what kind of yarn she picked out!"

Meanwhile, in a yarn shop* in Bend, Oregon, a proud Gabi displayed her simple dress in a gorgeous yarn...and was proud of the job she had.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta
Gabi: Tonner My Imagination Play Doll

*Fancywork Yarn Shop

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, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook and More Classic Tales Untold: Stories 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 © 2022, 2025 by Peggy Stuart 

Wrapping Paper

"How has your week been, Pauly?" Mariah asked, as the dolls' young friend climbed up to stand on one of the dining room chairs next to Billy.

"Short," was Pauly's reply. (His answer was short in more ways than one, but that’s often the case with Pauly.)

"It’s because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day," Pippa said, as if the other dolls didn’t know that they had just had a holiday. 

"For Martin Luther King Day, The Writer and her husband made up some packets of food to keep in the car to give to people who need it," Pippa said. "Some of us helped!"

"They said it was something called…" Billy had to think. "They called it a 'National Day of Service' to honor him."

"On Monday," Pauly said, "Jeffy and his dad went with some other people to clean up trash along the highway. I guess that’s why. That’s service, isn’t it?"

The other dolls agreed that spending your holiday cleaning up trash was a service.

"When was he king?" Pauly asked.

"That’s his name," Billy explained. "He was an American. We have lots of human people named King in this country," he added, "but none of them are rulers. We don’t have actual kings or queens. It’s just their name."

"A king who rules a country is called a monarch," Mariah told him. We have a president, but that’s not the same as a king. Our president isn’t a monarch."

"So he was a president, then?" Pauly asked.

"He was a very important human person," Mariah told him, "and a great leader, but he was never a president."

"So," Pauly began thoughtfully, "if he wasn’t a king and he wasn’t a president, why do we get a holiday named after him?"

Mariah began stacking her books and moving them aside. This was going to take some explaining. "Well," she said, "Last week, my teacher asked me to give a talk about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. All the students in my class had to give talks on a subject they picked for themselves, but my teacher suggested this topic to me, because she thought I would be especially interested in finding out more about Dr. King." Mariah finished stacking her books and closed her notebook.

Pauly was about to ask something, but Mariah guessed what it was. Pauly notices everything. "No, he wasn’t the kind of doctor who looks after sick people," she told him. "He was called Dr. because he kept on studying after he finished college. It means that he graduated again on a higher level, just like doctors who look after sick people have to."

Pauly was thinking there was still a lot of things he didn’t know about the world.

"Why did your teacher think you would like to find out more about Dr. King?" Billy asked, while Pauly was thinking. "I mean, if all the others in your class just picked their own topics."

Mariah thought about that. Yes, it was true. She was the only doll in her class she knew of who was given a topic by the teacher. "She didn’t say," Mariah replied, "but I’m pretty sure it was because I’m almost the same color as Dr. King."

"You mean he had brown vinyl?" Pauly asked, astounded.

"No," Mariah laughed. "He was a real human person. Real people have skin, not vinyl, but his skin was brown, like my vinyl, although when they talk about real human people my color, they say they are Black and real human people who have pink skin like your vinyl are called White."

"That actually has a lot to do with why Dr. King was so important and why he has a special day," Mariah added.

"It must have been something very important," Pippa suggested, "other than his birthday, I mean."

"Well, it is sort of his birthday," Mariah told them. He was born on January 15th, so they picked the Monday closest to that for the holiday."

"What he did to make his birthday worth celebrating," the older doll said, "is that he made people realize that the color of a human person’s skin doesn’t mean that they should be valued more or less than others. All people have the right to be treated fairly and equally."

"Dr. King explained things so everyone could understand," Mariah declared. "He led black people, and many white people, too, to march peacefully to protest unfair treatment of black people. He insisted they do it without hurting others, even if others hurt them first. That’s why the protests were successful. A lot of laws were changed because of those protests."

"They must have been very brave," Pippa observed.

Mariah nodded. "Yes, and many were hurt by people who were afraid of change," she agreed,  "but it worked, and it's still working. When other people saw that they stayed peaceful they took their side. Some laws were changed and new ones made. Many people changed their minds. There's still a lot to do, but things are better for everyone because of Dr. King. Most people today wait until they know someone before they decide if they like them. They don’t dislike someone or treat them unfairly, just because of their skin color."

"But there are still some human people," Mariah continued, "who want to believe that being White makes them better than people who are Black. Maybe they don’t feel good about themselves, and believing their skin color makes them better than others gives them something they can feel proud about. Whatever it is, they don’t want that taken away. They don’t know that what’s on the outside of a human person—or a doll even—doesn’t tell you who they are."

"I think I know what you mean," Pauly said, "about not knowing how a person or doll really is just from the outside. It’s like Christmas presents."

The other dolls looked at Pauly in surprise.

He knew they wanted him to explain. "Well," he said, "Jeffy got this beautiful present for Christmas. The wrapping was really special.

"He was so excited to open it," Pauly continued, "but when he did, he found out that what was inside was underwear."

"It was nice underwear," Pauly said, "but not his favorite thing for a Christmas present. Oh, and socks. The other part of the present was socks. The present was from his grandmother. He thanked her and gave her a hug, but he really was hoping for something more fun."

"Then," Pauly continued his story, "there was another present from his grandmother. The wrapping was nice, but not so fancy."

"When he opened that one," Pauly said, "guess what was inside!"

The other dolls just looked at him and waited. It’s hard to guess what’s in a present when it’s all wrapped in paper and tied with a bow. It was hard to guess what Jeffy might be getting when he unwrapped it. More underwear and socks?

"It was the special building set he had been wanting!" Pauly told them. "It was what he had been hoping for!"

"Don’t you see?" Pauly asked. "You can’t tell from the outside whether it’s something really good or just something OK, like other dolls and human people."

"I guess," Pippa said, "when my teacher said that you can’t judge a book by its cover, that's what she meant, but books usually tell you on the outside what the book is about, so I’m not sure."

"If you’ve never read the story inside," Mariah pointed out, "you don’t know whether you like the story or not, so it’s sort of the same."

"Not everyone likes the same stories," Pippa said. "Someone in my class said he didn’t like Alice in Wonderland, but it’s my favorite. Maybe that’s why we all have different special friends."

All the dolls had a think.

"So," Pauly observed, "we can’t know how good a present is until we unwrap it, and we can’t tell if we will like a book until we read it. We have a special holiday for a Dr. King, who isn’t a doctor and isn’t a king, so we also can’t tell who a doll or a human person is from their name, either. We have to get to know them."

They all had to agree with Pauly. He certainly had a lot to say today. Pippa was even remembering how she thought Pauly was Polly. 

"Good point, Pauly!" Mariah exclaimed. "Now you know what?" She asked. "He also wasn’t really a Martin Luther. His last name was really King, but when he was born, his name was Michael. I think the name he went by says a lot about the person he was, though, now that I have learned what he said and did."

Some questions to think about:

What do you think Dr. King did that was the most important?

If you wanted to do something you think Dr. King would like you to do, what would it be?

What person do you like very much now but didn’t like at all when you first met?

Cast--
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

Photo of Dr. King: The Sun

Photo of people picking up trash: The Monroe Sun

Photo of protest: Life Magazine

Our older readers might like to know how Martin Luther King Jr. got his name. Find out here: https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/why-martin-luther-king-father-changed-their-names/5ClNJ60MUtgsAZyCB4A4IN/

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.

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

Copyright © 2023 by Peggy Stuart