The Doll's Storybook

Stories about dolls who live in our world. Although these stories are suitable for children, they should check with their parents before reading and always be careful online. Readers are invited to donate to a charity supporting pediatric cancer treatment and research. Images shown are taken by the author or from a free image website with attribution and appreciation. The author has no connection with Götz Puppenmanufaktur, but gives them credit for the amazing dolls they produce.

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Merry Christmas to All and to Dolls a Goodnight!

This story originally appeared in 2019, when Hanukkah started later in the month. (Unlike Christmas, which is always on December 25th, Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, moves around on the calendar. This year Hanukkah started at sundown on December 14th and ended on December 22nd.)

Mandy turned the last page while Charlotte and Mariah held the book.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" Mandy read. and they closed the book.

The dolls all thought about the story.

Suddenly, the dolls all gazed at the ceiling. "What was that?" Billy asked.

"It sounds like someone on the roof!" Jolena said.

The dolls listened.

"It can't be Santa," Mariah said. "We're all still awake."

"Yes," agreed Mandy, "and even the mouse is still stirring."
They all thought about that with their little imaginary doll brains, while Mandy petted the mouse.

"Do we count as creatures, though?" Veronika asked.

"We're dolls, after all," she pointed out, "not people, and the mouse is a cat toy."

The mouse, or cat toy, or whatever he was, wiggled in Mandy's hand. He was definitely stirring.
"Maybe we could peek down from the stairs," Charlotte suggested in a whisper.

They all nodded in agreement. They got up and crept down the stairs. Charlotte went first, since it was her idea. It was almost dark downstairs, but the lights on the Christmas tree were bright enough that they could see. The dolls peeked between the spokes on the bannister.

As a group, the dolls tiptoed...well, they didn't tiptoe, exactly, because their toes don't bend. They went quietly down the stairs so they could see better. They saw the tree in the corner windows, but no one was there.

They heard humming.
"It sounds like 'Jingle Bells,'" whispered Charlotte.

The other dolls thought it did sound like "Jingle Bells." They wanted to hum along. Then they heard what sounded like paper rattling.
"It sounds like someone is putting presents into stockings," Mariah said.

The other dolls agreed, it did sound like someone putting packages into stockings. The sound was coming from down the hall. They listened.

Then they tiptoed...well, walked quietly down the hall to the family room. Then they stopped and looked.

The stockings were all lying on the hearth in front of the fireplace instead of hanging from the mantle, where they had been when the dolls went upstairs, and now they were stuffed full! It must have been Santa, but no one was there!

"The stockings must be too heavy for hanging now," Mandy said.
All the dolls heard bells jingling and a snapping sound from over their heads.

"That was his whip," Mandy said. "He snaps it over the heads of his reindeer, so they know it's time to take off," she explained.
Then they heard a scrunching sound from the roof. "Sleigh runners," Billy said. "My sled sounds like that."

Then they heard a deep voice saying, "Merry Christmas to dolls and to dolls a goodnight!"
"He knew we were up!" Mariah exclaimed.

"Well, we should go to bed now," Veronika suggested. "We have to set a good example for real girls and boys." She made little shooing motions with her hands.

The dolls went upstairs and got into bed.
"One thing I don't understand," Emil said as he and Billy got into bed. "We have a gas fireplace, and it was lit. How did Santa get in and out?" He had read that Santa comes down the chimney. How could he do that with the fire lit?

"I guess Santa knows how to solve problems like that," Billy said. "Some people don't even have fireplaces, but Santa still comes. I guess it's what you call a miracle (MEER-uh-kul)."

In the girls room, Charlotte put on her sleep mask and got ready to go to sleep. She was tying the ribbon on her sleep mask at the back of her head, when she heard a voice in her head.

"Happy Hanukkah, Charlotte," the voice said, and then, "Happy Hanukkah, Emil!"
It was Santa's voice! Charlotte smiled. She snuggled down in the bed. Tomorrow was Christmas, and tomorrow night would be the first night of Hanukkah! She and Emil would light the Shamus and then the first candle. "Happy Hanukkah, Santa!" she replied. She hoped Emil heard Santa, too.

Charlotte went to sleep dreaming of Hanukkah gelt and playing the dreidel game with her sisters and brothers.

She dreamt about how they would light one more candle each night on the menorah.

They were happy dreams.

The cast of The Doll's Storybook wishes all their readers a very merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah and a happy Kwanzaa!

If you haven't read the story about Charlotte's Hanukkah celebration, you can read it here. She explains why she lights the candles and tells us all about Hanukkah. (Emil wasn't with us then, so she explained it again for him the next year. Emil had a turn telling the story here.) Hanukkah is a celebration that falls on different dates each year, but Christmas is celebrated at the same time every year. This year Hanukkah and Christmas week come at almost exactly the same time.

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
Mouse: A cat toy.

The dolls were reading The Night Before Christmas. This year's book is a Random House PICTUREBACK book illustrated by Douglas Corsline. The original story is attributed to Clement C. Moore and has been printed in many variations. You can find out more 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.

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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Friday, December 19, 2025

The Week Before Christmas, from Our Favorite Verses

It's the week before Christmas, the shopping's not done,

The cards are not written, no, not even one.

Few gifts have been purchased, and those are unwrapped.

The list of the things the kids want is untapped.

The lights are still sitting alone in their box.

For some reason, the stockings are in with the socks.

The tree is still naked, no wreath on the door,

The house is in shambles, there's dust on the floor.

The laundry needs washing, and drying and folding.

The sink's full of dishes, (though no one is scolding).

No pies and no cookies are being prepared.

The bedrooms are needed, they have to be aired!

The Writer is standing atop of the stairs,

Weeping and wringing her hands in despair.

"I try to start early, I do," she will say,

"But somehow each year the time just gets away."

"I've seen this before," Vroni says to her friends.

"We have to do something! This rant never ends!"

"We all can pitch in," says Mariah with glee.

"It will be lots of fun! I can't wait for the tree!"

We then guide The Writer to sit were it's cozy,

We tell her to stay, not to watch or be nosy.

One of us brings her a nice cup of tea.

We then put a Christmas show on the TV.

Many hands make light work, as the old saying goes,

Even hands that are tiny, as any doll knows.

If the dolls work together the work goes away.

It stops being work and then turns into play.

Two dolls do the laundry and then make the beds.

One doll bakes cookies and pie and then bread.

She washes the dishes now piled in the sink.

It seems to go fast, it is quick as a wink.

Two dolls run the vacuum and one mops the floor.

One doll climbs up, puts a wreath on the door.

One doll addresses the envelopes neatly.

Another puts stamps on and seals them completely.

One doll takes the list and then orders online.

Two-day shipping and gift wrap, he knows will save time.

Then one writes this poem. (You will know who's our poet!)

One chooses the photos. (Who that is, you will know it.)

Now still with one week left before the big day,

The Writer looks forward to guests who will stay,

To singing the carols, to eating the food,

Relaxing, enjoying the holiday mood.

If you find you need help, just look to a doll.

Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas to all!

Special note: This poem is one of those featured in Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook.

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

The dolls were reading The Night Before Christmas. This year's book is a Random House PICTUREBACK book illustrated by Douglas Corsline. The original story is attributed to Clement C. Moore and has been printed in many variations. You can find out more 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.

"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.

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.

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Friday, December 12, 2025

Happy Hanukkah from The Doll's Storybook

Since Hanukkah is just a couple of days away, we thought it would be fun to have a look back at Emil's first time to lead the celebration for the rest of the dolls.

Emil was very excited, but nervous.

This year, he would get to light the candles on the Menorah. Charlotte had always done it each year, but he was ready to have a turn. He was nervous, because he was going to have to explain the story behind the celebration for the other dolls, even though they had heard it before, each year, from Charlotte.

The other dolls didn't mind hearing the story again, because they knew that some of the children who would be reading this story might not have heard it before, and some stories are worth listening to again and again.

Emil only had to tell the story on the first night, before he lit the first candle. While it was still light outside, the dolls got everything set up. Emil put the menorah on the table, and Charlotte got two candles out of the box. That's all they needed for the first night.

Finally, they were ready! They just had to wait for sunset, which arrived at 4:30 PM where they all live.

The dolls assembled around the table. Emil was ready to start his story.

Emil took a deep breath. "Many years ago," he began, looking anxiously at Charlotte, "before dolls like us existed, an evil king took over the temple where people who believe as we do, the Jewish people, held their group prayers and services."

Charlotte nodded, so he would know he was telling it correctly.

"The evil king would not let the people use the temple anymore," Emil continued. "This place was very important to the people, because they felt close to God there."

"The king kept them out of this special place," Emil said, "but the people didn't give up. After a lot of struggle, and led by a brave leader named Judah Maccabee (MAC-uh-bee)," Emil said, "they finally took the temple back."

"When the people had their temple back, they decided to have a special service to make the temple God's again," Emil continued. "They lit the special lamps they used in the temple with the little bit of lamp oil they had left. It was only enough for one day, but it was all they had."

Emil paused in the story, not because he couldn't remember what came next, but for effect (ee-FEKT). He wanted everyone to think about what he had just said. The other dolls all thought about how the service was very important to these people. They thought about how the people must be sad that they didn't have enough oil.

Emil explained, "That was before electricity. The lamps they used burned the way a candle burns, but using olive oil for fuel instead of wax, like a candle."

"So there they were," Emil continued, "with only enough oil for the lamps to burn for one day, so they lit them. Do you remember what happened then?" he asked.

"The lamps stayed lit!" cried Pippa. (She remembered the story from last year. She had expected the lamps to go out, but then the way Charlotte told the story, they didn't. The lamps burned for eight days!) "It was a miracle!" Pippa exclaimed.

"It was a miracle," Emil agreed. He had a feeling he should get on with the story, or Pippa would take over and he would get mixed up. "It was a miracle," he said, finding his place in the story in his mind, "and once a year we celebrate the miracle by lighting candles, one new one each night in addition to the the number of candles lit the nights before, using the Menorah to hold all the candles. We do this for eight nights. There are eight candles, to represent each of the eight nights the oil lasted."

"But there are places for nine candles," Pippa said. "That's because the Menorah has a place for the lighter candle."

"Yes," Emil said. "Do you remember what that candle is called?" When Pippa shook her head, he looked around at the others.

"It's the shamus." Billy said. He remembered that. It was his fourth Hanukkah celebration, one more even than Emil, even.

Then Emil lit a match and carefully used it to light the shamus, the candle in the middle. He knew he had to be very careful with the match. (The dolls knew not to use matches unless The Writer or her husband could be there to watch. No one wanted to melt their vinyl!)

"We always need an adult human person when we use matches," Charlotte told Pippa, in case she had forgotten this rule. (Pippa tends to forget rules sometimes. Rules are not always her highest priority, so it's good to remind her.)

"That's right, Charlotte," said Mandy, "and it's good The Writer is taking the photos."

"That's because Billy has to be in these photos," Pippa said. (She knew that Billy takes a lot of the photos for the stories, using the phone and his tripod. He could set the timer and be in a photo, but he just does that for group photos, where everyone can sit still and look at the camera, not when you're busy doing things.)

Then Emil took the shamus and used it to light the first candle. "We start on the right side," he said, "because Hebrew, the language these people spoke, and that we still use when we worship, is written from right to left."

"That's different from most languages," Mariah pointed out. "We write English from left to right, but Arabic (AIR-uh-bik) is also written from the right." Mariah is learning Arabic, and she and Charlotte have talked about this feature in both of the special languages they were learning.

Emil felt proud, because he was learning Hebrew now, too, and Charlotte was helping him.

The dolls looked expectantly at Emil. They knew he still had more to say. They were ready for him to go on.

"After we light the first candle we say a prayer to thank God for the miracle long ago and to ask for God's protection," Emil said.

Then Emil and Charlotte looked at each other recited a prayer in Hebrew.

"Now we let the candles burn," Pippa said, "right?"

Emil agreed. "We have to let the candles burn all the way down, so we will leave the Menorah here, where it's safe."

It was time for a song. Mariah moved around to where Charlotte was, so the two of them could sing, since they were the only two dolls who can open their mouths. The other dolls hummed along, because you can hum with your mouth closed.

After they were done, the other dolls left the room to get the presents they had for each other.

"Good job!" Charlotte whispered to Emil as she walked by.

Emil would have blushed at her praise, but his vinyl always stays the same color. To make it a different color, the color has to be put in at the factory. He felt pleased, though, and he didn't have to pretend. Feeling pleased was for real.

"Hurry up!" cried Pippa. "It's time to open our presents! We get to play the game with the special top and pretend to eat some chocolate money!"

Emil lit a new candle every night. Charlotte was there to help him in case he forgot anything, but he didn't forget anything. At the end of The Festival of Lights, the menorah looked like this.

On the last day of Hanukkah, Emil looked into the box of candles. "They're almost all gone," he pointed out. "How many did we use? The new box is almost empty!"

Happy Hanukkah to all the children and dolls who celebrate it, or another way to say that is Chag Sameach! It sounds sort of like HAGH sa-MAY-agh, but not exactly. You can find the pronunciation here. It means "happy holidays," and if you learn it, you can say it for any holiday.

Can you figure out how many candles they needed? They started out with two candles. They let them burn all the way down. Each day, they replaced the candles from the day before with new ones and then added one...until they had nine on the menorah on the last day. How many had they used after the last day when the last candles had finished burning? It's important to know, so you don't have to go to the store in the middle of celebrating Hanukkah!

Did you figure out how many candles Emil used? The answer is way down at the bottom of this post, right above where the copyright dates are.

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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