“Veronika, are you busy?” Charlotte asked.
Veronika looked up from the fabrics she was getting ready to cut. “Do you need something, Charlotte?” she asked. “I was just getting ready to cut some fabrics. I have to fix this rotary cutter first, because it’s set for dolls who are right-handed, but I can take a break and chat, if you like.”
“I do have a question,” Charlotte replied. “Can you explain what a hobby is?”
“It’s something you do for fun,” Veronika said. “Like human people, dolls usually have at least one hobby. It isn’t something you do because you have to but because you like it.”
“You mean like how you like to quilt?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes,” Veronika agreed. “We all have hobbies, like my quilting and how Mandy likes to knit.”
“She’s good at it, too,” Charlotte agreed.
“That’s part of why she thinks it’s fun,” Veronika explained, “although when she finds a mistake, she is unhappy.”
“But she fixes her mistake, and then she’s happy again,” Veronika went on. “It’s fun to solve problems, and it’s fun to work at something that might be hard to do and then get it right.”
“Jolena likes to ski,” Charlotte said. “I guess that’s her hobby.”
“Yes,” Veronika agreed. “She skis and does tricks on her skis. Jolena also likes to dance, and that helps her with the tricks she does on skis.”
“I’ve seen Jolena practicing dance,” Charlotte said.
“Jolena likes to cook, too,” Charlotte pointed out. “Cooking is useful, but I suppose cooking can be a hobby, too.”
“That's right,” Veronika agreed, “and Mariah likes to write.”
“Yes,” agreed Charlotte. “She wrote me that lovely poem for my birthday.”
“She spent a lot of time thinking about it, too,” Veronika said.
“Billy has found something he likes to do for fun,” Veronika said. “He likes to take photos.”
“Then he likes to use the computer to make the photos look better,” Charlotte agreed, “and I’ve seen him watching lessons to learn how to take better photos. His photos are very nice to look at. He's getting to be very good at it.”
“I remember,” Charlotte continued, “when I first started trying to play the violin, everyone said it hurt their ears, and they wanted me to stop.”
“I remember that,” Veronika said. “You were discouraged at first, but you kept practicing, and then you got better. Now you even make up your own music to play.”
“So if a hobby is something you do because you think it’s fun,” Charlotte said, “I wonder why Tanya doesn’t like to practice. Tanya is in my violin class. She told me she doesn’t practice, because playing the violin is just a hobby. You can never make money at it. She says it’s a hobby, but she doesn’t seem to like it much.”
Veronika thought for a moment. “Why would someone say that they didn’t want to practice because it’s just a hobby?” she asked. “A hobby is something you do because you like to do it.”
“I wonder,” Charlotte said, “if it’s just an excuse for not practicing. Maybe playing the violin isn’t her hobby at all,” she suggested. “Maybe it’s someone else’s idea of what she should be doing.”
“That’s too bad,” Veronika said. “If she practiced, she might find out that it’s fun. Human children should try different things for hobbies. That way, they find out what they like to do, and sometimes it leads them to a job they like when they grow up, or it starts them on a hobby that they will enjoy in their free time.”
“Human children are usually too busy playing,” suggested Charlotte.
“Charlotte, for human children, play is work,” Veronika explained. “Play is learning and practicing what they will need to be able do when they grow up, but it’s also fun. If children enjoy doing something when they play, they may also enjoy doing it when they grow up. If it’s something they have to do, it’s wonderful if they still enjoy it. Human grownups need to have fun, too.”
“What kinds of hobbies do grownup people like?” Charlotte asked.
“Grownups like the same kinds of things that children like to do for fun,” Veronika said. “They play cards or board games. They play sports or dance. Maybe they build things. They might draw or paint or knit or sew. Many adults like to collect something, like plates or stamps or even…dolls!”
The dolls found that shocking to think about.
“One more thing you should know, Charlotte,” Veronika added. “This is something you can tell Tanya. Some grownups even make money playing the violin, but they have to practice until they’re very good at it.”
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
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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.
Do you like our stories? Some of them are available in print:
The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook are Being Little, Besties and Distraction.
The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want and The Boys Cook Dinner.
The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.
Our book of poems, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll’s Storybook includes Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.
The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.
Available now from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. The Stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.
If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to an organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find our books at Barbara’s Bookstore as well, or ask your library to get them for you.
Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.
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