Mandy's Birthday Gift

"I know you dolls are talking about my birthday!" It was Mandy's voice from the hall. The dolls all looked at each other. How did she know? Did she read their minds?

Of course Mandy read their minds, because that's how dolls talk to each other! They do that because their mouths don't move.
Mandy's head poked through the door to the workroom. "I thought I should help you decide how to celebrate, since it's my birthday," she told them.

Mandy climbed up on the big work table to where the other dolls were.
"You didn't even get a party last year, Mandy," Veronika said. "We thought you should have one this year."
"It would be fun to have a party," Mandy agreed, "but I've been thinking about how I liked Veronika's party this year. Presents are fun, but I have everything I need, and some real human people don't."

"You mean," asked Charlotte, "that we should make another package of food to keep in the car for homeless people?"
"That's a nice thing to do," Mandy agreed, "but I have another idea."
"Tell us your idea, Mandy," Veronika said.
"Well," Mandy began, pulling the iPad over to where the other dolls could see and sitting down. "You know how after each story we ask our readers to donate to help children who are sick?" Mandy showed them where it said that. "How about we do that ourselves?"

"We have our allowances," Jolena said, "but if we all put our allowances together, it still won't be much."
"Maybe," Billy began, "we could climb back into The Writer's purse and get her credit card."

"No, Billy," Mariah said, "we would have to ask permission, and then it would be from The Writer, not from us."

The dolls tried to think of a way they could get some more money to donate to help sick children.
"We could look for money under the couch cushions," Mariah suggested. "There's usually some money down in there."

"That would belong to the people who live here," Veronika pointed out. "It wouldn't be from us. We should find a way to earn some money."

"If it would stop raining, we could have a lemonade stand and sell lemonade to real people," Jolena said, "but the weather report says it will rain all week!"

"I have an idea!" Charlotte cried. "There are bottles in the glass recycling that have 'Refund 5¢' written on them. There are plastic bottles and aluminum cans in the plastic and metal recycling that have 'Refund 10¢' on them. Doesn't that mean they give you money if you return the bottles and cans? Maybe we could take them in and get the money for them."

"I like that idea," Mandy agreed, "but we would still need to get permission. We need to be sure it's OK to do that. The bottles and cans belong to the people in the house, even if they plan to throw them into recycling."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "The 5¢ refund means they had to pay 5¢ for each bottle or can when they bought the drinks. That isn't a lot in people money, but it adds up to a lot for all those bottles and cans."
"But maybe if we do all the work," Jolena said, "it will be like getting paid to return the bottles at the store for them. I heard The Writer say she was going to the store. We could go with her and take care of the bottles while she's shopping!"

The dolls decided it was a good idea, so they all went to look for The Writer to ask if it was OK. Mandy checked in the study.

Charlotte looked into the downstairs hall.

Veronika rapped politely on the bathroom door.

Mariah came running back to the other dolls. She had found The Writer in the kitchen and explained what they wanted to do. "The Writer likes the idea," she said. "She said she would add to the donation, too, as a birthday present to Mandy."

The dolls were happy to learn that The Writer thought it was a great idea, and that she would even add a donation to the money they got from returning the bottles.
The dolls went through the glass, metal and plastic recycling and pulled out all the bottles and cans that had "5¢" or "10¢" on the label. They put them into two shopping bags and took them to the car.
When they got to the store, the dolls found the place where all the bottle and can recycling machines were. There were machines for glass bottles, for plastic bottles and for cans made of aluminum. They only had plastic and glass bottles. They started with the machine that took plastic bottles.

They worked together to pass the bottles up to Jolena who was putting them into the machine.

Then Billy had a turn feeding the machine. It was fun.

Then they did the same thing with the cans. When they ran out of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, they pushed a button, and the machine gave them a piece of paper. On it was the amount of money the store would give them for the bottles. They did the same thing with the glass bottles, and the glass machine gave them another piece of paper.
The dolls decided that Jolena should be the one to get the money, because she is a good climber. They helped her get into the shopping cart. Jolena had never been in a shopping cart before. It felt strange, even though the cart had a place for her to sit. 

Billy told them that the cart was also called a trolley. How did he know to call it that? Billy doesn't know. Sometimes we know things but can't remember where we learned them.
The dolls pushed the cart to a part of the store where there was a sign that said, "Customer Service." That's where people who return bottles and cans can take their pieces of paper to exchange for people money. There was a long line of people, so they had to wait their turn.

When it was their turn, Jolena climbed out of the cart and up onto the counter. The other dolls passed the two pieces of paper to her, one at a time. A man who worked in "Customer Service" took each piece of paper and gave Jolena the amount of money the machine had written on them.

Jolena thanked him. The man thanked Jolena.
When they got home, they put the money into an envelope.  The Writer gave them a check to put into the envelope, and a little card that explained about the stories. Mariah wrote out the address on the envelope and showed it to Mandy, so she could read it and make sure it was correct.

They put a stamp on the envelope. The dolls let Mandy take the envelope with the money to the mailbox, because it was her birthday present, but they went along to help. When they got to the mail box, they saw the mail slot was very high up.

The other dolls had to help Mandy up, so she could drop the envelope into the slot for the post office person to pick up.

On Wednesday, they had a party for Mandy anyway. It was a fun party, and the dolls were very happy that they had done something to help real children. Helping real children is what makes dolls happy.
"This has been a wonderful birthday!" Mandy exclaimed excitedly.

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

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.

Do you like our stories? Some of them are available in print.

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. The Stories included are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After, and Money in a Jar.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. 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, or ask your library to get our books 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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Copyright © 2019, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

Locked Out

The dolls were all out for a walk together when they came home and found their human family had gone out and locked the door. Uh-oh!

"We will just have to wait for our family to come home," said Veronika. She climbed up and sat down on the outdoor couch that sits on the front porch.
The other dolls joined her on the couch.

"I hope they aren't gone too long," Billy said, as he climbed up to join Veronika.
"I'm glad I don't have to pretend to use the bathroom," Jolena added.

"It's good to sit down," Mariah said. "Our legs are so short."

The dolls waited. Dolls are good at waiting. They are good at being patient.

Maybe Billy isn't as patient as the girls. Soon he began to feel bored. "I wish I had something to do," he said.

Veronika looked around to see what was on the front porch. "Look!" she cried. "The recycling is here!"

Veronika was right. The recycling was sitting on the porch, waiting for someone to take it to the recycling bin.

"There's paper in it," she added. "Let's play a game! Everyone think of something we can do with paper."
The dolls thought for a few minutes.
"I have something!" Jolena cried suddenly. 
The other dolls looked at Jolena.
"I like to fly through the air on my skis," she said. "Maybe it would be fun to make a paper airplane and fly it through the air!"

The dolls agreed that would be fun.
"We could make a hat out of a piece of paper," Charlotte suggested. 

"I have an idea, too!" Billy exclaimed. "If we had scissors, a pin and a pencil, we could make a pinwheel!"

"I have pins," said Veronika, "but they are in the house."
"I have a pin in my knitting bag," Mandy said, "and scissors and a pencil."

"Do you take your knitting with you everywhere?" Billy wanted to know.
"Yes," Mandy replied. "You never know when you might have to wait."

"If we have scissors," Veronika said, "we can make a string of paper dolls."

"If we have scissors," Mariah added, "we can make a snowflake."

"If we had some glue or tape," Mandy said, "We could make paper chains."
The dolls all thought that sounded like fun.

The dolls all looked at Mandy's knitting bag.
"I don't keep any tape in there," Mandy laughed, "but I just thought of another thing we can do with what we have. We can make a cootie catcher. There are some fun games you can play with a cootie catcher."

The dolls got busy. Veronika did the cutting, because she is left-handed and can use the scissors with the hand that has all the fingers loose.

They made a paper airplane.
They made a hat.
They made a pinwheel.
They made a string of paper dolls.
They made a snowflake.
They made a cootie catcher.
Just then, Jolena remembered the dog door in the back. "If we can get over the fence into the back yard," she said, "we can get into the house the way the dogs do."
"You're right," Billy agreed. "We're small enough to go in that way. We can get the tape!"
And so they did. Jolena and Billy helped each other climb over the fence and went into the house through the dog door.

They got the tape. Then they went back out through the dog door, carrying the tape, dispenser and all. They helped each other over the fence with the tape, and brought it back to the front porch.

Then the dolls all worked together to make a paper chain while they waited for their human people to get home to let them into the house.

When they were done, they collected all the little scraps of paper they had cut out from the paper and put them into the recycling can.

What would you do with paper if you wanted to have fun?
What would you do if you were locked out of the house but could get in through the dog door?
What do you think the dolls should have done?

Want to make the things the dolls made with paper? Here are some links to directions:Let your parents see these first!
Here's how to make Jolena's paper airplane.
Here's how to make Charlotte's paper hat.
Here's how to make Billy's pinwheel.
Here's how to make Veronika's string of paper dolls.
Here's how to make Mariah's paper snowflake.
Here's how to make Mandy's paper chain.
Here's how to make a cootie catcher.



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

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 ©2019, 2025 by Peggy Stuart 

Reading, Writing and Recycling Again

Veronika found her three younger sisters writing in the living room. "What are you doing, girls?" she asked.

"We're doing homework," Charlotte said. "We have to write about something that interests us."
"How is it going," Veronika wanted to know.
"I think it's fun. I'm writing about why I like music," Charlotte answered.

"I'm writing about my day at school," Mariah added. "I think school is a lot of fun. I like to write anyway, and writing about what I think is fun is even more fun."

"How about you, Jolena?" Veronika asked.
"Don't ask!" Jolena replied. "I'm having a very hard time."

"Everything I write sounds stupid when I read it," Jolena went on as Veronika came to stand next to her. "Each sentence sounds OK by itself, but when I read the whole thing, it makes my head spin."

"I've started over four times," Jolena continued, pointing to three crumpled-up pieces of paper on the floor.

"Jolena, I hear you saying you're upset that it isn't going better," Veronika said. "We're sisters, and we help each other. Let's see if we can help you."

Veronika thought for a moment. "Mariah doesn't have a problem writing. Maybe she can give you some tips," she said, looking at Mariah, who had continued with her writing.

Mariah looked up. "I would be happy to help if you like, Jolena," she said.
"I would love it!" Jolena exclaimed. "This is really hard."
"Would you read your homework for us, Mariah?" Charlotte asked.

Mariah agreed. She read what she had on her paper. "It isn't finished yet," she said when she was done.
"But it makes sense so far," Jolena said. "Why doesn't mine make sense?"
Mariah came to look at what Jolena had written.

"Each sentence is very nice, Jolena," she said when she had finished reading. Each word is spelled correctly, and your sentences are good. They make sense. The problem is that you seem to be skipping around in your thoughts."

"When we think, our ideas jump around. That make sense to us, but when we write, we need other people to understand. We need what we write to start in one place and go forward to the end," she continued.

 "Here's my little trick, and maybe it will help you. Make a list on a separate piece of paper of your ideas about what you're writing, just as they come from your thoughts." Mariah gave Jolena a piece of piece paper to write on. "What are your ideas?"

"It's about snow," Jolena said. "I know the snow is water that comes from the clouds and falls to the ground." She wrote that down.
"And?" Veronika encouraged.
"It's cold, like ice," Jolena went on, writing that down. Then she looked up. "I don't know what makes it fall."
"You could look that up," Charlotte suggested, looking up from her work.

"That's a great idea," Veronika said.
"Yes, you could look that up and put the answer on your piece of paper," Mariah agreed. "You have a good start, now," she added.

"When you have all your ideas on the piece of paper, you look at what you have," Mariah went on. "Then you figure out what should go first, second and third. You put a number next to each. Then you start writing, using your ideas in order, from the first number all the way through to the last number."
"I think I can do it now!" Jolena exclaimed.
"That's wonderful!" Veronika said. "Now we need to talk about what to do with paper you throw away." Veronika pointed to the balled-up pieces of paper on the floor. "We don't throw paper on the floor," she said.

Jolena gathered up the balled-up pieces of paper. "Where do these belong?" she asked.

"We have trash cans for trash," Veronika explained, "but this is clean paper, and most paper and cardboard can go into the recycling bin."
"What's recycling?" asked Mariah.

"Recycling is one way we show respect for the earth," Veronika explained. "What we throw away in the trash goes into a big hole in the ground called a landfill. The more we throw away, the less natural earth we have where we live. That's one reason we try to reuse or recycle what we can. Many things can be turned into new things. That's what recycling does."
"So we don't have to live in a pile of trash?" Jolena asked.
"Yes, that's one reason," Veronika said. "That isn't the only reason, though. Do you know where paper comes from?"
"I know!" Charlotte cried. "Paper is made from trees."
"That's right," Veronika agreed, "but it's also made from old, used paper. When we recycle used paper we can make new paper out of it. We also save trees, and we need trees."
"I love trees," Jolena said. "They are fun to climb, and you can hang a swing from them," she added, remembering climbing trees last summer.

"Yes, but they also make air for people to breathe," Veronika added. "Without people, we wouldn't have the fun lives we have."
Mariah's eyes  became very big. "I can't imagine our lives without people," she said.
"That's another reason we recycle paper, but we also recycle plastic, metal and glass or reuse it if it's still good. They all come from the earth, using things that might run out or be hard to find, unless we can reuse them," Veronika explained. "Come! I'll show you where we put the things we recycle."
Veronika brought the other dolls to the closet under the stairs.

"Where we live, we put all the things we recycle except for glass and plastic bags in one bin, so paper, cardboard, plastic containers and cans go in here," Veronika explained. "If a can or container had food in it, we wash it first."
"So do I put the paper in here?" Jolena asked.
Veronika nodded. "This is the place," she said.
Jolena put her balled-up paper in the bin.

"When it's full, we empty it into a big container and leave it out at the street, along with one for trash. On trash day, two different trucks come by to empty them," Veronika said.
"Hey, there are glass bottles and jars in this one," Charlotte said, looking into another bin.
"Yes," agreed Veronika. "Glass gets picked up next week, along with next week's trash."

"We take our plastic bags to the grocery store when we shop." Veronika pointed to a grocery bag full of other plastic bags. "If we can't use them anymore, we put them into a bin in front of the store, but we reuse them if they are still good. Many people have grocery bags out of cloth that they use over and over. That's even better than recycling plastic bags."

"Because everything we have comes from the earth, we show our gratitude to the earth for providing all these things every time we recycle," Veronika continued.
"That makes me think." Charlotte said. "Next week is Thanksgiving. Isn't Thanksgiving about being grateful for what we have?"
"Yes," said Veronika. "
"I'm thankful for my sisters" Jolena said. "I learn new things from each of my sisters, and learning is fun."
"We all learn from each other, Jolena," Mariah said. "and I know something you can teach me. I would like to learn to ski!"

"I would love to teach you, as soon as we have enough snow," Jolena replied. "That reminds me. We need to finish our homework, and I have some things to add to my list. I just realized that snow is recycled water!"

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kids Vroni

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen

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, 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.

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