We've Got Email!

Billy was in the living room reading to Pauly and Pippa when they heard Charlotte call out to them. (They are both good readers, but there's something special about reading a story together with people you care about.)

"We're having a meeting upstairs!" Charlotte called out to them. "I came to get you! It's important!"

Soon the dolls were climbing the stairs...all except for Pauly, who still stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Pippa turned around and called to him, "Pauly, come on! It always takes us longer to get up the stairs!"

"But it's a family meeting!" Pauly answered back. "It's just for all of you, isn't it?"

By then, Charlotte was almost at the top of the stairs. "You can come, too, Pauly! It isn't private or anything, and this way you'll be the first to know." It was obvious that Charlotte knew something about what the meeting was for.

Pauly started up the stairs a bit hesitantly. "But what if Jeffy needs me?" he asked. "He'll be home from school in a little while."

"The meeting won't take that long," Charlotte reassured him, "and Veronika told me you should come."

"Jeffy can call us," Billy called down to Pauly. "He has our number now, and he'll know you're here if you aren't home! If you're really worried, you can use our phone to call him."

Because he got off to a late start up the stairs, Pauly was the last one to join the dolls seated at the big work table. He really did want to know what the meeting was all about; he just didn't want to be pushy. He climbed up on the tall stool to sit next to Pippa.

Veronika and Mandy were ready to begin. Veronika waited for Pauly to get settled, and then she cleared her throat––well, she cleared the inside of her neck, where her throat would be––and began. "Everyone is here except for Jolena," she said, "and we can explain all this to her when she gets home from her ballet lesson. She should be here soon. The Writer has asked Mandy and me to share this with all of you." Veronika then looked at Mandy.

"We now have something very few dolls have," Mandy began, as Veronika helped her lift a big sheet of paper from behind them on their seat.

They held up the sheet of paper. "We," Mandy said proudly, "now have our own email address!" On the sheet of paper the dolls could see "thedollsstorybook@icloud.com."

"Wow!" Billy exclaimed. "That's huge!"

Mariah had been thinking. "I have a question," she said. "Why do we need an email address? We're dolls. Dolls don't usually have email addresses."

"Most dolls don't, that's true," Veronika replied, "but we're a little different, because we're in stories and now books."

"You see," Mandy began, "people sometimes have difficulty leaving comments on the story blog, and The Writer has a lot of trouble answering the comments when she sees them, even if Billy helps. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

"And there's no way for people to comment on the books," Veronika pointed out. "They can write the publisher or comment wherever they bought the book, but that's what we call cumbersome (KUM-ber-sum). That means it's a lot of trouble to do and it doesn't work very well."

"If it's too much trouble," she said, "some human people don't bother. They may have more important things to do."

"People comment on Facebook sometimes," Mandy added, "and that's nice, but The Writer has to see the comments, and then she responds to the comment, and if it's something for one of us, she tells us about it. This way, though, we can answer the emails ourselves, too, without bothering The Writer. Besides, someone may have a comment or question they don't want the whole world to know about, like what Billy wants for his birthday, and they want it to be a surprise. If you want something to be secret, you don't talk about it on Facebook!"

"Will people be able to use the email address to order our books?" Pippa asked.

"That's a very smart question, Pippa!" Veronika exclaimed, "As a matter of fact, they will. Of course, the books are for sale in book stores, but if someone wants a signed copy, they have to get it from The Writer, and they can use this email for that."

"However," Mandy broke in, "we have another plan for this email. I mean, it will be good for more than just getting comments on the stories and selling the books."

"Yes," Veronika agreed. "We want our readers to use it to ask questions that they want us to answer. Maybe some of the questions will end up in stories."

While the dolls were still thinking about that, Jolena appeared in the doorway. "Sorry I'm late for the meeting," she said. "What did I miss?"

As Jolena climbed up next to Emil, all the dolls started talking at once.

All, that is, except for Mandy and Veronika, who just folded their hands in front of themselves and waited. They could correct anything the others got wrong. It's good for dolls to tell others about something they had just learned, and this was also a way for the two older dolls to find out if there was anything someone didn't understand.

Many dolls might be confused with everyone talking at one time, but not Jolena. She was used to being in a large group of dolls all talking at once when she traveled with the Doll Ski Team. Her little doll brain picked out each thing that was said and organized it into something that made sense.

Pippa and Pauly have higher voices, so they were easy to pick out.

When the dolls had all reached the part of the story where Veronika had said, "Maybe some of the questions will end up in stories," Jolena was caught up. 

"So someone's question might be an idea for a new story?" Emil asked when they were ready to go on. "Someone might send us an email asking why Brownie hasn't been in a story lately, for instance?"

Mandy nodded. "Yes, and that's a great idea!" she agreed. "They might have a question about science or nature we can help them with."

"Someone might want to know how you learn to be a writer," Mariah suggested.

"Maybe someone wants to know how to bake a cake!" Jolena exclaimed.

"Or what's the most fun about playing the violin!" Charlotte joined in.

"Or how to take good photos," Billy added.

"Or how to stay out of trouble," said Pauly, giving Billy a meaningful look.

Billy tried very hard to wink at Pauly, but all he could do was pretend, because his eyes don't close.

Mandy laughed. "That's too complicated for one story," she said. Each situation is different. Dolls can get into trouble in lots of different ways. It's a great idea, though. Each one could be a story."

"Wow!" Pauly almost shouted. "Jeffy might be in college by the time we finish them!"

"So," said Veronika, trying to bring the meeting to a close, "we want to ask our readers to let us know if they have any questions for us, or if there's something they want us to know. They should just email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com. We promise not to share their email address with anyone."

"Pinky swear!" Pippa exclaimed, grabbing Pauly's pinky finger with her own.

"Pinky swear!" Pauly responded. Pippa had taught him this little ritual. Jeffy may be the center of his life, but he was happy to be included with this group of friends. Who knew being a doll could be so much fun!

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 here: 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 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, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available (not featured in every story).

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Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart

Back to School

"Did you get another email from The Other Billy?" Emil asked Billy that afternoon.

"Yes," Billy replied. "I can't wait to read it and find out what he's up to." 

Billy and Emil both started reading the email to themselves. (Billy didn't mind that Emil was reading over his shoulder. The Other Billy's email messages were sent to all the dolls in the family.)

While the boys are reading, maybe we should stop and explain who Billy's and Emil's friend is and why his name is The Other Billy.

The Other Billy is a doll, of course, but he's a different kind of doll from our Billy and our Emil. This Billy came from a different manufacturer (man-you-FAK-cher-er). He was made in a factory that belonged to a different company from the one that made our Billy and our Emil. His eyes close when he's on his back. He can't watch the clouds or see the stars, but he can sleep without a sleep mask.

After this Billy left the factory, he came to stay with The Writer so he could get some clothes before he went to live with The Writer's grandson, Zachary. 

Mandy made him a sweater while he was here. He could wear it like a cardigan, with the buttons in front.

It could also be a pullover, if he wore it with the buttons in back. (Dolls don't like having things pulled over their heads, so their pullovers often fasten in the back.)

If you can only have one sweater, this is the kind to have.

The Writer bought The Other Billy some clothes. He received extra pants and shirts, pajamas, winter boots and a warm jacket. It would be winter soon where he was going, and he would need these things. The Other Billy also received a fancy dress outfit for parties or for dancing on the stage, because he likes to dance. Of course he needed some fancy dress shoes, too, that can also be dance shoes.

When The Writer had collected all the clothes the other Billy would need for his journey and for his new home, he said goodbye to his new friends and climbed back into his box. "I'll email you," The Other Billy said as The Writer put the lid on the box.

The Writer put his box into another box for mailing. The Other Billy (who didn't have his name yet) was excited to see his new home and meet his new family.

Now it has been more than six months since The Other Billy went to live in his new home. Zachary named him Billy, and they have lots of fun adventures together. Now The Other Billy was looking forward to going back to school, which starts in September where he is.

"Look! He attached a photo," our Billy told Emil. "He says he put a box on top of some books to make a desk so he could pretend to be a student already, and then he had one of the other dolls take the photo of him."

"See? He says that in the photo he is just starting to draw a picture of the beautiful sky," Billy told Emil.

Both boys looked at the photo. They were looking forward to starting school again in September, too. They liked the idea of having a doll-size desk at home. They thought the other Billy was smart to think of how to do it.

"Does he answer our question?" Emil asked, staring anxiously at the computer screen. "Does he say if he was named after you or not?"

Both dolls read on. "He does," Billy said. "Here it is. He says that as much as he likes me and all of us, Zachary named him Billy after Bill Nye, The Science Guy*. That's a real person!"

The boys thought about what Bill Nye looked like. They could see him in their heads, even though they can't close their eyes. He is a human person who knows a lot about science. He knows even more about science than Mandy does.

"Wow!" Emil exclaimed. "Imagine being named after a real human person, and someone so smart! Let's see what else he says."

The boys continued to read the email. 

"It's very interesting living here," The Other Billy wrote. "I already knew that dolls teach children how to look after someone who is smaller than you. That's very important. I knew that dolls also allow children to have adventures they couldn't have in real life," he explained, "and we do that, but my boy and his sister like to write stories and plays, so we (the other dolls and I) talk to them and give them ideas. They think they come up with the ideas on their own, though, and that's OK. I'm happy to let them take the credit for being creative."

"Wow!" Billy exclaimed when he had read that. "He's doing something like what we're doing, only he gets to live with real human children, not old people!"

"That must be nice," said Emil wistfully, and Billy agreed.

The rest of the letter was about Billy's new doll family. There are a lot of dolls, because the boy's sister also has dolls. Billy wrote all their names and something important about each one. It was interesting.

"Billy's a good writer," our Billy stated when they had finished reading the email. "I feel as if I know all of his family members."

"I think," Emil said after a moment, "that the best part is that the children listen to their dolls and use them to write stories and plays. That must be fun. Not all children listen to their dolls."

"Yeah," Billy agreed. "I think it's because you have to listen with your heart, not your ears. Maybe no one ever told them."

Do you hear your dolls talk to you?

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

The Other Billy: American Girl Truly Me 74

*Learn more about Bill Nye, The Science Guy here.

Photo of Bill Nye courtesy of billnye.com

Photo of Billy at his improvised desk by David Hart.

The Writer would like to thank Zachary Hart for the inspiration for this story.

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 © 2021, 2024 by Peggy Stuart