Being Distracted

Mariah wanted to write an essay (ESS-say). An essay is a short written work about something. It isn't a story or a poem. It's a chance for Mariah to say what she thinks about something. She had an idea that she wanted to write about.

When it was still quiet this morning, Mariah made an outline to follow, so she would have all the ideas she wanted to include. She had organized her ideas so everything she had to say would make sense.

When Mariah was ready to write, it was later in the day, and the other dolls were up. She thought she would sit in the workroom, so she went in and sat down in the empty chair next to Veronika. Mandy and Veronika were watching the television.

Mariah tried to write, but she couldn't. Her mind kept going to what was on the television. It was an interesting movie, and she would have liked to watch, but she wanted to write her essay while all the ideas were in her mind. 

She was distracted (dis-TRAK-ted). Finally she got up and left.

Mariah decided to go to the dining room. Billy and Emil were there. They were working on a crossword puzzle together. Mariah tried to write, but she could hear what the boys were saying. She knew right away what the word was that the boys had to figure out. She was interested to see how long it would take them to figure it out, so she couldn't keep her mind on her essay. The boys with their crossword puzzle were a distraction. Finally she got up and left.

Next Mariah tried the kitchen. Jolena was there, but she was just cooking. Mariah didn't think that would bother her while she tried to write, so she sat down on one of the big stools.

Jolena was chopping vegetables. Mariah started to wonder what they were having for supper. She had pretended to eat her breakfast very early, when it was still dark, and she was already hungry again.

Jolena sometimes talks to herself when she cooks. "What did I do with the pepper?" she asked herself, looking through the spice drawer. 

"It's next to your left hand," Mariah told her.

Then Mariah realized that she had been sitting there for a while and hadn't written anything. This wasn't working, either. On top of that, something was baking in the oven. It smelled like fresh bread. She was distracted by the lovely smell. She kept thinking about food and how nice it was to pretend to eat.

Mariah got up and left.

She decided to try the guest room. Charlotte was there, practicing her violin. "This won't be a distraction," Mariah thought to herself. She sat down and started to write. It went well until Charlotte made a mistake. Charlotte stopped playing, started again and then stopped again.

For a few minutes, Charlotte played the same part of her music over and over. It distracted Mariah. This wasn't working, either. Mariah gave a big sigh, and got up and left.

Where could she go? Everywhere in the house there was something going on that distracted her from her writing.

Mariah gazed out the window, thinking about her problem. It was a nice day outside. "I know what I'll do!" she exclaimed. "I'll go sit outside to write. I can be alone out there."

So she did. She sat outside. The birds sang, but they did not distract Mariah. A squirrel ran along the fence, but he did not distract her. There was a breeze that made the branches of the trees move, but that didn't distract Mariah.

Mariah wrote until she had finished her essay. She read it through and made some corrections. Then she copied it onto a fresh page, so it would be neat. She was done!

Mariah went back into the house. She stopped in the kitchen to check on supper. She found out they were having chili for supper. Mariah was looking forward to pretending to eat it.

Mariah stopped in the dining room. The boys were stuck on a word they couldn't figure out. She helped them figure out the word. She did it in a way that helped them figure it out by themselves.

Mariah went upstairs. As she passed the workroom, she heard Charlotte playing the piece she had been practicing. She stopped and listened. Charlotte played it straight through without making any mistakes. It was nice to listen.

Mariah continued on to the workroom. She sat down again in the empty chair next to Veronika. The girls were still watching the same movie.

The movie gave Mariah an idea for another essay. She decided she would write her outline later, but she wrote herself a note in her notebook, so she would remember. For now, she would just watch with Veronika and Mandy.


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

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 © 2020, 2025 by Peggy Stuart  

Storytime in Bend

Once upon a time there were seven dolls. Their names were Charlotte, Mandy, Veronika, Billy, Mariah, Emil and Jolena. 

They all lived together in a big house with a little old man and a little old woman. The little old woman wrote stories about what she imagined the dolls were doing. The dolls enjoyed being written about.

They liked having their clothes changed and their hair brushed and arranged for photos that would go with the stories.

They liked pretending to go on adventures and to have fun together doing things. The dolls were happy that they had fun toys to play with. They were happy that they had books to read and pets to care for.

They liked pretending to sleep or eat. They liked pretending to be real human children.

The dolls listened to the little old man and little old woman talking to each other. The dolls heard them talking about how they were going to go on a trip and would be gone for a week. They talked about having the post office hold their mail until they got back. They talked about what clothes and other things they might need while they were gone.

One day the little old man and the little old woman put some things into the back of the car.

 
"The car is pulling out of the garage," Jolena said from the windowsill as the other dolls looked up at her. They listened as the garage door closed.

"The little old lady is getting in on the passenger side," Jolena said.

"That's it! They've gone," Jolena said. "The car just drove away."

"What should we do while they're gone?" Billy asked. "We have the house to ourselves."

"Let's clean the house again!" Veronika exclaimed. "That was so much fun the last time!"

"Let us, I mean Emil and me, do the vacuuming," Billy said. "We've done it before, and we're good at it."
"You can do the vacuuming, Billy," Mandy said, "but don't forget, you will need to do the dusting first. Otherwise, the dust will fall on the clean floor. You want the vacuum to pick it up."

The dolls all agreed that cleaning the house again would be fun.
The boys got to work getting the dusting done, so they could get on to the fun part.

Mariah and Jolena changed the sheets on the beds. They had to work together, because it's hard to do when you're so small. They carried the dirty sheets down the hall to the laundry room. Then they got out some clean sheets from the linen closet. They worked together to get the clean sheets on the bed and the pillows into the pillow cases.

Veronika did the laundry. She washed all the white things together and then put them into the dryer. Then she washed the colored things. She would put them into the dryer when it was done. She knew the colors sometimes like to leave one thing and move into something that's supposed to be white.

Mandy and Charlotte cleaned the bathrooms.

When they were done, they got dressed and went looking for the others. They found the other girls in the workroom. The boys were not there. 

"Where are the boys?" Charlotte asked when she and Mandy were dressed.

"I think I hear the vacuum downstairs," Mariah told them. "They must still be working."

The girls went downstairs to look for the boys. They found them in the dining room, still vacuuming the floor. They were using the new robot vacuum cleaner. They were having too much fun to stop. All they had to do was push a button, and the vacuum would move around on the floor, sucking up all the dirt and dust. The boys had been letting Billy's teddy bear ride it and pretend to be driving. Billy and Emil knew they were not supposed to climb onto the vacuum, but Teddy is very small and light.

The dolls spent the next few days reading, playing games and pretending to eat and sleep.
Every day, the boys would run the robot vacuum for a while. They knew it wasn't a toy, but they still thought it was fun. They named it "Beatrice (BEE-ah-triss) the Cleaning Lady." They took turns using the remote control to change the way Beatrice cleaned. They laughed when Beatrice bumped into something and just turned away to vacuum in another direction. They knew it didn't hurt Beatrice to bump into things. When Beatrice was tired, she would go back to her charging station.

On the last day, Jolena got some frozen tomatoes out of the freezer and started them cooking on the stove to make jam.

While the jam was cooking, Jolena started a loaf of bread in the bread machine.

When the jam had cooked long enough, Jolena washed some jars. Then she spooned the jam into the clean jars.

She left the jars of jam on the big cutting board on the stove.

When the bread was baked, she took it out of the oven. 

While it was cooling, she went and found a clean cloth napkin. She wrapped it in a cloth napkin and left it on the counter.

The little old woman and the little old man returned in the evening.

"I'm tired," the little old woman said, as she put down her suitcase. "I'm not looking forward to cleaning the house," 
"I'll do the dusting," said the little old man. "Then we can run the vacuum. Just let me get a good night's sleep first."

Then the two real human people stopped and looked around. Something was different, and they had the feeling they were being watched.

"The house looks clean," said the little old woman.
"It smells clean, too," said the little old man, "and I think I smell fresh bread! We must have elves!" he added with a laugh. He looked around. (Elves! What a silly thought!)

The "elves" stifled their giggles.

The old couple walked into the kitchen, following the smells.

There they found the jars of homemade tomato jam, still warm.

On the counter was the bread, wrapped in a cloth napkin, also still warm.

The little old lady and the little old man thought they knew who had been busy in their house. "We should do something to thank them," the little old man suggested.
"I know what!" the little old lady exclaimed. "I'll write them a story about how dolls cleaned the house!"
"No one will believe it," the little old man pointed out.
"I'll just start it the way you start fairy tales," she replied, "'Once upon a time...'"
"Does that mean we get to live happily ever after?" he asked with a smile.
The old lady nodded. "It has worked so far," she pointed out.


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
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL
Beatrice: Eufy 35C RoboVac
The little old lady and the little old man: themselves

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.

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

Copyright © 2020, 2024 by Peggy Stuart 

Different Ways To Write

 "Are you doing your homework?" Emil asked when he came into the room. He climbed up on a chair so he could see better.

Charlotte and Mariah were both sitting with paper and pencil. They were both writing.

"I'm learning Hebrew (HEE-brew)," Charlotte explained as Emil joined her on her chair to look at her pad of paper. "It's the special language (LANG-wedj) we use in our religious services at the synagogue (SIN-a-gog)." She showed Emil what she had written.

Emil had not been with the family for very long and had only just started to go to the synagogue.

The letters looked strange to Emil. What Charlotte had written looked like this:

שמי שרלוט

"What does it say?" Emil asked.
"It says, 'My name is Charlotte,'" she replied.

Emil climbed down and went to where Mariah was.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"I'm learning Arabic (AH-rah-bik)," Mariah explained, showing him her notebook. "It's the language we use in our worship services at the mosque (MOSK).

Emil looked at Mariah's paper. He saw this:

اسمي ماريا

Emil asked Mariah what it said.
"I have written 'My name is Mariah,'" she said. "Charlotte and I were just showing each other how we introduce ourselves in our special writing."

"Mariah and I," Charlotte explained, "are learning to read and write different languages so we can use those languages in the places where we worship and can know what we're saying."

"What you are writing looks very different," Emil noticed. "It isn't just the words that are different from English, but the letters, too. They are very unusual."

"Many languages in the world" Mariah said, "use letters that are mostly the same as the letters we use in English, although they may have some special letters, too."

Charlotte nodded. "Yes, but there are also many other languages that use letters that are different, and some languages have a whole different letter for each word or part of a word."

"When you learn a new language," Mariah explained, "you have to learn the way it is written, not just how it is spoken."

Emil thought about that. "If I wanted to learn Hebrew or another new language, I would need both eyes that can see and ears that can hear," he said. "I'm really glad I have my special glasses! I think it would be fun to learn a new language."

The girls agreed. "We're glad you have your special glasses, too, Emil," Mariah said. "If you were unable to see enough to read, you would have to learn to read with your fingers. There is a special kind of writing for dolls and people who can't see well enough to read regular printing. It uses little bumps on a page. It's called Braille (BRAYL). I think that would be like learning a new language. You would read by feeling the bumps." Mariah showed Emil what she meant, using one of the books on the table. She ran her fingers along the page without looking at it.

All three dolls thought about that for a moment..

Then Emil said, "When I came in, I noticed that you were both writing from right to left. Why were you doing that?"

"Where you start writing the words is different, too, with some languages," Mariah said. 

Charlotte nodded. "When we write in English and other languages that use the same letters as English does, we write from left to right. Both Hebrew and Arabic are written from right to left." Charlotte picked up her pencil and wrote "My name is Charlotte" on her pad of paper. Then she showed it to Emil.

Mariah and Charlotte think their special languages are interesting. They are the only dolls in the house who can read a special kind of writing. Their two special languages are different, but they are read in the same direction: from right to left, and they both use letters that are different from those they use to read and write in English.

"Sometimes," Mariah said, "we play a game we call, 'Naming Things.' One of us asks the other how she says something in her special language, then repeats it back." 

"Sometimes we will show each other how to write the word," Mariah added. 

"Sometimes we have to go and look up the word in a dictionary (DIK-shun-air-ee)," Charlotte explained. "That's a book that just has words and what they mean. Some dictionaries have the words in one language and what it means in that same language. Others have two parts: one with the words in one language and what those words mean in the other language, and the other part has the words in the other language and what the word means in the first language. We don't know all the words for everything yet."

Sometimes the other dolls will play the game with Mariah or Charlotte, too. They enjoy hearing the word for something in another language.

The other dolls know other languages besides English, but Mariah and Charlotte are the only ones who can read a language with letters that are not used in English.

Charlotte and Mariah are best friends. They like a lot of the same things. They do a lot of the same things. They do a lot of things together. They are alike in many ways, but there are also ways in which they are very different. Charlotte and Mariah love that they have ways they are the same. They love that they have ways they are different from each other. They find those differences interesting.

Do you have a friend who is different from you?

Special note to readers: When this story was written, Emil was new. He had not been out of his box very long. He is Jewish, like Charlotte, and now he is learning Hebrew, too. He also decided he wanted to learn sign language, so he could talk with dolls who can’t hear. He feels very fortunate to have his special glasses!

Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

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.

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

Copyright © 2020, 2024 by Peggy Stuart