Sunshine in the Rain

Billy and Charlotte had to walk Freckles and Pierre early, because it was supposed to rain soon.
"I wish it wouldn't rain," Billy said when they got back to the house. "I wanted to go for a long bike ride today, but if it starts to rain, I'll get wet. The rain is cold."

"We need the rain, Billy," Charlotte said. "The rain helps the plants grow and lets us wash things and gives us water to pretend to drink."
"But my teacher told us the earth is mostly covered with water," Billy said. "Why do we need any more?"
"That's almost all in the oceans, Billy," Charlotte explained, "and it's salty."
"What's wrong with salty?" Billy asked.
"I'm not sure," Charlotte answered. "Let's ask Mandy."

The dolls found Mandy in the living room window. She was knitting. She looked up when the dolls came in.

"Mandy," Charlotte began, "Billy and I have a question about the oceans."
"Yes," agreed Billy. "We have so much water in the oceans, why can't we use it to drink and to water our plants?"

"That's easy," Mandy replied. "People's bodies need salt, but too much salt will make them sick. The water in the oceans is very salty, much too salty to drink safely. You can taste it and even cook with it, but you can't drink it, because you will get too much salt. It would make the plants sick, too."

"That's too bad," Charlotte said. "There's so much of it! It's too bad we can't use it."

But we do use it," Mandy exclaimed. "That's where our drinking water comes from, and the water we use to wash things and bathe, and to water our plants, but the sun takes the salt out first."

Mandy put down her knitting as Charlotte and Billy looked at each other in surprise.

"Come into the kitchen," Mandy said, "and I'll show you how it works."
Mandy led the two dolls into the kitchen. Jolena was there. She had been looking in the pantry to see what was needed so she could make a grocery list.

"Jolena, I need a glass cake pan," Mandy said. "We are going to see how the sun takes the salt out of the water from the ocean."
"I would like to see, too," Jolena exclaimed, pulling out a cake pan from the cupboard."

"You can use a metal pan for this," Mandy explained, "but I want to use glass, so we can see what's happening. Now we need some other things." Mandy asked Jolena for a small dish that would fit inside the cake pan, some salt, a spoon, a cup of warm water and some plastic wrap.
Jolena knows where everything is in the kitchen, so she found everything Mandy needed.
Mandy filled the cup Jolena gave her with warm water. Then she asked the dolls to help her pour the water into the cake pan.

Next, Mandy had Jolena put a half teaspoon of salt into the water and stir it.

Then Mandy asked Billy to place the smaller dish into the cake pan, right about in the middle.

Finally, Mandy and Jolena worked together to cover the whole thing with plastic wrap.

"We need one more thing," Mandy said. "We need something to weigh down the plastic wrap, but only right in the middle, over the smaller dish."
"There are plenty of rocks outside," Billy suggested.
"Rocks will be great," Mandy agreed. "We're going outside anyway. Now please help me take the pan outside."
Each doll took a corner of the cake pan. They worked together to carry the dish outside and place it on the deck. Then Mandy told them to put some small rocks in the middle of the plastic wrap, right over where the small dish was.

"Now we wait," Mandy said. "The sun will do the same thing here that it does when it shines on the ocean."

"But it's supposed to rain soon," Billy said.
"Yes," Jolena agreed, "and this place will be in the shade in a little while."

"That's OK," Mandy told them. "As long as the sun is in the sky, this will work. It just works faster if it's bright sunshine. People use the sun to make electricity, too, and that still works as long as it's daylight," she said. "When we use the power of the sun to work for us," Mandy added, "it's called solar power."

"Hey!" Billy cried. "The sun has a superpower!"

The other dolls nodded in agreement.
"That reminds me! Jolena exclaimed. "We need to make more iced tea. I always use the sun to make it."
"How do you do that?" Charlotte asked. "I like your iced tea."
"I just put some tea bags in a jar with some water," Jolena explained. "Then I leave it in the sun, but Mandy's right. It will work in the shade, as long as the sun is in the sky."

"I have used the sun to dye yarn," Mandy added. "It works the same way as making tea."

"Now," Mandy went on, "we can come back in a couple of hours and check to see what has happened."
The dolls all went indoors to do their homework or read. Mandy went back to her knitting.
Two hours later, Mandy told the other dolls it was time to check their pan of water. When they went back to where they had left the pan, they saw that there was now some water in the little dish.

"How did that get there?" Billy asked.
"It rained in the little dish," Mandy explained. "This is what happens with the ocean, or anywhere there is water. Water is a liquid, like milk or the stuff you use to blow bubbles. When it's warmed by the sun, the water on the surface evaporates (ee-VAH-per-ates). That means it turns into a gas, and mixes with the air over it. In fact, there is water in the air all around us all the time. When enough water gets together in the air, it turns into clouds."
"So how did it rain in the dish?" Charlotte asked.

"The same way it rains on the earth," Mandy said. "The plastic wrap keeps the air in the cake pan from getting out. That traps the sun's heat inside, so the air outside the pan is cooler than the air inside. When some of the water in the air touches the cooler plastic wrap, it turns back into liquid. We call that condensation (con-den-SAY-shun). When there is enough water, it gets heavier and runs down to the lowest spot, where the rocks makes the plastic wrap lower. Then it drops into the little dish."

"That's because of gravity," Billy said. "Gravity makes the water roll down the inside of the plastic wrap."
"That's right," Mandy agreed.
"So why does it rain here where we live, instead of just over the ocean?" Jolena wanted to know.

"Can anyone guess?" Mandy asked. "Think about how the clouds are made of water."
The other three dolls all though about it.
"Maybe the wind blows the clouds over the land," Charlotte suggested. "If you watch the clouds you can see them move."

"That's right, Charlotte," Mandy agreed. "Now what kind of water did we have in the cake pan?" she asked.
"Salty water," said Billy.
"Like the ocean," agreed Charlotte.
"Let's taste it," Mandy suggested, "and see if it's still salty. Just stick your finger in and lick the water off it."
The dolls all dipped their fingers into the water in the cake pan and tasted it.

"It's still salty," Jolena said.
The other dolls agreed with Jolena.
"Now let's taste the water in the little dish," Mandy said.
The dolls took turns tasting the water in the little dish.

"It isn't salty at all," Charlotte said.
They all agreed with Charlotte.
"So the sun moved the water from the pan to the little dish and left the salt behind?" Jolena asked.
"Yes," Mandy agreed.
"So we could just make as much water as we need from the ocean," Jolena said.
"That would be a lot of trouble," Billy pointed out. "That was a lot of work for not very much water."

"There are other ways to remove salt from sea water," Mandy said, "and there are big factories some places in the world where fresh water is scarce," but it's easier if we can get it from rain."

Again, all the dolls agreed.
Suddenly a drop of water fell onto Billy's head. He looked up. "Look!" Billy cried. "It's starting to rain! Isn't that wonderful? I love the rain!"

Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
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:

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 St. Jude. 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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Copyright © 2018, 2024, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

Going Hungry

Mariah and Jolena were going for a bike ride. The dolls have three bicycles, so they can go for rides two or three at a time, which is more fun than riding alone. They also have three bicycle helmets, so they can ride safely. They put their helmets on before getting on the bicycles.

"This bicycle has a basket," Jolena said. "I can take your water bottle for you."
"I'm not taking a water bottle," Mariah said.
"What if you get thirsty?" Jolena asked.

"I will just be thirsty, then." Mariah replied as they rode to the trail. The dolls stayed on the sidewalks until they reached the trail, where cars are not allowed.
"It's because of Ramadan," Mariah explained as they rode along under the trees. (She said it 'Rah-mah-dahn.') "People and dolls of my faith fast during Ramadan. That means we go without food or water." Mariah explained.

"But you'll have to pretend to be hungry," Jolena exclaimed, "and human people need water even more than they need food!"

Mariah laughed. "We can pretend to eat and drink," she said, "just not during the day."

"I got up at five o'clock this morning to pretend to eat and drink before sunrise," Mariah explained. "I can pretend to eat and drink again after seven-thirty tonight, after sunset. Then I will be very hungry, so I can pretend to eat a lot! I will have a very big dinner."

"Why do you do that?" Jolena wanted to know. "I mean, why do you fast?"
"It helps us feel closer to Allah," (AH-lah) Mariah said. "Allah is our name for God," Mariah explained. "Fasting also reminds us of what it's like to go hungry, the way some human people have to do because they don't have enough to eat. It makes us grateful for what we have."

"Doesn't it make you have to pretend to feel sick or weak?" asked Jolena.
"Sometimes," Mariah agreed, "but people who are already sick or old don't have to fast. Little children don't have to, either," she continued, "but children often start fasting during Ramadan when they are about six years old just to learn how. It teaches us that we don't have to have everything our bodies want."

"Mandy and I both gave up chocolate for Lent," Jolena said. "We went 46 days without pretending to eat chocolate!"

"That's the same idea, I think," Mariah agreed. "Ramadan lasts 30 days, but we can pretend to eat and drink as much as we want each night and before the sun comes up in the morning. It's like having a special dinner every night."

"During Lent," Jolena said, "our church wants us to be good and to do kind things for others."
"We do that too during Ramadan," Mariah said, "and we raise money to help people and dolls in need."

"Lent is over when Easter comes," Jolena said. "Then we hunt for Easter eggs and have a big dinner to pretend to eat."
Mariah nodded. "Hunting for Easter eggs was fun," she said. "Families of my faith have a big party for three days after the end of Ramadan."

"We should have a big party, too," Jolena suggested. "We're your family, so we should celebrate together."
"That would be fun," Mariah agreed, "and very nice, too."

The dolls stopped for a moment so Jolena could pretend to drink some water.

"I wonder if it's harder to go 46 days without chocolate," Mariah said, "or not to be able to eat or drink all day and then eat what you want at night."

Jolena laughed. "Since dolls only pretend to eat and drink," she said, "it probably doesn't make any difference, but I sure like to pretend to eat chocolate!"

Both dolls thought about what it must be like to eat for real, and not just pretend. They also thought about what it must be like to need to eat and have to go hungry.

They rode the rest of the way home without saying anything, while they thought about real children who had no food at all and were not dolls.


Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

Find out about Eid al-Fitr or the celebration at the end of Ramadan here.

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

Gossip

Jolena and Billy came looking for Veronika. They found her sitting in the living room, working on a very large quilt. She has been working on it for a very long time.

"Is everything OK?" Veronika asked. "You two look upset."
"I'm so angry!" Billy cried. "I wanted to hit that doll, but I know I'm not supposed to hit anyone."
"I'm angry, too," Jolena said. "I'm even more angry, because it isn't about me, it's about you, Veronika!"
"Yes," agreed Billy, "and it isn't even true!"

Veronika put aside her quilting. "Tell me about it," she said.

"Well," Jolena began, "You know Lucy, one of the girls in our class. She has been telling everyone that you used to belong to another person."

"She said that the other person sold you because you were naughty!" Billy added.
Veronika thought for a moment. "That's gossip," she said, "but it's partly true."

Billy and Jolena stared at Veronika. They couldn't believe the story was true.
"But you're never naughty!" Billy cried.

"You're the one who shows us how to be good dolls!" Jolena exclaimed.

"This," began Veronika, "is why gossip is so bad. Someone hears something that might be true. Then that doll tells another doll, but he or she might not remember it exactly the way it was told, or might misunderstand it, so the story changes a bit."

"I know a game that shows how this happens. Let's go get the other dolls, and we can play the game," Veronika suggested.

The three dolls went off into other parts of the house to find the other dolls. Each doll came back with a doll. That meant they had six dolls to play the game.

"We're going to play a game called Gossip," Veronika explained to them. "Everyone sit down."

The dolls sat in a row on the couch. 
"Now," said Veronika, "here's how we play the game. I'm going to whisper something in Billy's ear. Billy will listen carefully and whisper what I said in Jolena's ear. Jolena will whisper it to Mandy, and so on, until the message gets to Mariah. Mariah will tell us what she heard." Veronika looked around at the other dolls. "Any questions?"

"So we just whisper, so no one can hear except the person we're whispering to?" Charlotte asked.

Veronika nodded. "That's right," she agreed.

The dolls were ready to play the game. Veronika whispered in Billy's ear. "The weather will be nice today," she whispered.

Billy turned and whispered in Jolena's ear. He whispered exactly what he heard from Veronika.

Jolena whispered what she heard to Mandy.

Then Mandy whispered what she heard to Charlotte.

Charlotte whispered it to Mariah.

"OK, Mariah," Veronika said then, "what was the message? Tell us what you heard."

"I heard that we will have snow and ice today," Mariah answered. "It sure doesn't look like it to me, though. The sun is out, and it's warm!"

"That's because it isn't what I said. I said, 'The weather will be nice today,' but the message changed a little bit with each doll. Sometimes it's because we don't hear something quite the way it was said, or maybe we were expecting something a little different."

"Now I understand how a story changes," Billy said. "You said part of the story Lucy was telling is true, Veronika," Billy said. "So does that mean that someone heard that part and misunderstood the other part?" he asked.

"I don't know for sure, but here's the true story," Veronika replied. "I used to belong to a very nice man. He had several dolls. He made pretty things for us to wear and we modeled them. We wore the dresses and sweaters, and he took photos of us."

"It was a hobby," Veronika went on. "After a while, he decided his dolls weren't getting enough attention, so he sold all of the dolls except one. I was one of the ones he sold. He knew The Writer wanted me, so he sent me to the live with her."

"So it wasn't because you were naughty!" Jolena exclaimed.

"I may have been naughty at some time," Veronika explained, "but he was never angry with me, and that wasn't why I was sold."
Billy was thinking. "I can see how Lucy could get the story mixed up, but I don't understand why she has been telling that story to everyone. It seems like she wants to make you look bad," he said.

"People are like quilts," Veronika said, picking up her very large quilt. "You can see what's on the outside, but not what's inside." 

Veronika pulled up the cloth at the edge of the quilt where it wasn't sewn down yet, so they could see what was inside. It was filled with some white, fluffy stuff.

"I know what's inside the quilt," Veronika explained, "because I put it there. It's cotton batting, and it's made to go inside a quilt, but I didn't make Lucy, so I don't know what's inside her. I only know what I see on the outside. Maybe she's unhappy with who she is. Maybe she thinks she's bad and wants to think other dolls are bad, too, or maybe she did it to get attention from other dolls."

"What are you going to do about it," Charlotte asked.

"I think," Veronika said slowly, "I'll talk to Lucy when we're alone. I'll explain what actually happened to me. Then I'm going to forgive her."

"She's a doll like me," Veronika explained, "and I would want to be forgiven if I had said bad things about her. If I hate her for what she did, it would hurt me more than what she said could hurt me. Having hate in your heart hurts you."
"Dolls have hearts?" Billy asked.
"Of course dolls have hearts, Billy," Veronika exclaimed. "If you take a doll apart, you may not be able to find a heart, but it's there."
"So you do you just forget about what Lucy did?" Mariah wanted to know.

"No, you can't make yourself forget. Forgiving isn't the same as forgetting, but forgiving can take a lot of work. I will just think about how Lucy is like a quilt, and that there might be something inside her, that I can't see, that makes her the way she is. Then I will try to set a good example for her."

"It's important," Billy agreed, "for dolls to be good examples for each other, so they can be good examples for children."

"So will you tell her you forgive her?" Jolena wanted to know.
"No," Veronika answered, "not unless she asks me to. Telling her would be like saying I know she was unkind. It could make things worse. Forgiving isn't for the person who hurt you. Forgiving is something you do for yourself, so you can be nice to the person you forgive, and it makes you feel ever so much better!"

All the dolls thought about it and agreed that Veronika made sense.

"One way we can set a good example," Jolena said, "is not to gossip...ever!"

They all agreed with that, too. If you gossip, you can hurt others, even if you don't mean to.


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.

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

Copyright © 2019, 2025 by Peggy Stuart