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.

Friday, February 20, 2026

Winter Games

"Jolena's up next!" Pippa cried excitedly as Jolena appeared on the TV screen.

The dolls at home watched. They shouted, "Go, Jolena!" and "We're with you!" and "Don't fall!" and "You can do it!" (although there was no way Jolena could hear).

Jolena stood ready at the top of the run. She was busy pretending she could feel her heart beating fast.

Jolena jumped onto the course. She turned around on her skis, so she was skiing backwards, then sped down the slope, looking over her shoulder to see where she was going. Suddenly, she went up into the air, flipped over and spun around, grabbing one of her skis with one hand.

Then she straightened out and landed, facing forward and on both skis, continuing down the slope, ending the course on the edges of her skis, throwing snow up into the air, all while the dolls watched her on the TV at home.

"That was magnificent," Pippa exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight.

It was pretty magnificent, they all agreed. On the TV, they could see Jolena taking off her skis, goggles and helmet. Then she stood and waited.

Finally, they announced that Jolena had made a score of 78. She seemed happy with it. She waved at the camera and then left.

"She qualified (QUAH-lihf-eyed)!" Mandy exclaimed.

"What does that mean?" Pippa asked.

"It means she got a high enough score to go on to the finals," Mandy explained. "Everyone who got a 70 or above gets to go on to the second run."

At the end of each skier's turn, some dolls called judges gave the skier a score. Then the scores of all the judges were averaged. That means they were all added up and divided by how many judges there were. All of the skiers went up in the air. Some did the kind of trick Jolena did. Some did something different. Each one received a score from the judges.

The dolls at home watched as the other dolls who were competing came down the course. They were from all over the world. They were made by different companies. They all did amazing tricks. Some held onto their skis for longer than others and got more points. Some spun and flipped in the air more times than others and got more points. Most of them landed correctly, but some washed out, which meant they landed on their side or their rear ends or some part of their body other than their skis. If they did that, they ended up with a much lower score. (The judges didn't like to see that.)

All the dolls who received 70 or above got to run the course again. This time, the winners would be announced. The TV camera paused to show each doll who qualified as they stood just outside the warming hut.

"Look!," Pippa cried. "There's Jolena!"

After a quick break for a commercial, the final runs began.

At home, the dolls watched as each qualifier went down the course a second time. "They do different tricks this time," Billy said.

"Jolena forgot her poles!" Pippa cried when Jolena got into position for her run with no poles.

"It's OK," Mandy told her. "For these events you can use your poles or not. Jolena told me the special trick she planned to do if she made the finals was easier for her without the poles."

"I hope she doesn't wash out!" Pippa exclaimed. "Don't wash out, Jolena!" she shouted, waving her finger at the TV, as if she were scolding Jolena.

Jolena started down the course as all the dolls at home watched. Suddenly, she went up into the air. She spun around and then flipped over....

....and over....

....and over as she fell through the air, finally coming down onto the snow with her skis under her, while the other dolls watched at home, terrified. (They remembered that Jolena once had a nightmare, in which she landed on her head so hard that it came off her body and then rolled off the course, still in her helmet. That would be embarrassing!)

Jolena's landing was fine, though. She did not land on her head. Her head remained attached to her body. She skied to the bottom of the course with a big spray of snow and came to a stop. She took off her skis, helmet and goggles again to wait for her score.

Finally, the score was announced. "She got 82!" Emil shouted, as they watched Jolena smile, wave to the camera again and leave. "That puts her in first place!" he added.

"Yes," Mandy agreed. "That's a great score, but some of the best skiers still have their turn."

When all the other skiers had had a turn, Jolena's score put her in fourth place, a great position, but not enough for a medal. The dolls at home were disappointed for her.

"Let's give her a call," Veronika suggested, "so she knows we thought she was great."

They all thought that was a good idea.

Jolena answered on the first ring. She was ready for their call. "Did you see me?" she shouted at the phone.

Veronika had Jolena on speaker, so they could all talk to her. They all said that they had seen her. They told her how wonderful her performance had been.

"That's the best I've done that trick," Jolena told them. "Coach said so!" (Coach is what Jolena calls her ski teacher.)

"Were you disappointed not to get a medal?" Veronika asked.

Jolena thought for a moment before answering. "Well," she said, "you always think about how nice it would be go get a medal, but the most important thing is to do your best."

"That's the first time I've had a score over 80!" she told them excitedly.

"You were in first place for a while," Billy said. "That was good."

"Yes," Jolena agreed. "That was fun, but I knew the best skiers still had their turn. Still, when I walked off to the warming hut, where we all got together after our runs, the others looked at me with respect. Some of them gave me high fives and hugs, even the skier who had been in first place before my turn."

"They sound like great competitors," Mariah said.

"Good sports," Charlotte added.

All the dolls thought about that.

"Let's have a party to celebrate!" Pippa suggested, after they had ended the call with Jolena.

"That's a great idea," Billy agreed, "but let's wait until Jolena comes home."

"Yes," Pippa agreed. "We will need her to make the food for the party. Then we can all wash out after the party."

"No, Pippa," said Mandy. "We can wash up, but we should fix the food, too. Jolena will be the guest of honor. Besides, she will be pretending to be tired from her trip. She will pretend to have jet lag, because she has been in another part of the world, where the time is different."

All the dolls were happy, because they had something else fun to look forward to. Jolena would be home soon, and they would have a party.

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
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL

Freestyle Photo of Jolena by Jörg Angeli on Unsplash

Freestyle Photo 2 by Jörg Angeli on Unsplash

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.

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

Friday, February 13, 2026

Valentines!

"I can't believe they're out of valentines!" Billy said to Emil as they climbed the steps to the house.

"Maybe they will have more before the 14th," Emil pointed out.

"That's only two days, and what if they don't?" Billy exclaimed. "Then we'd be stuck with no valentines to give out."

"Maybe we can make some," Emil suggested.

"Yes," Billy agreed. "We can't have Valentine's Day without valentines!"

Emil thought about that while taking off his jacket and scarf. "I'll see what I can find for us to use," he offered.

"I'll come and help," Billy agreed, "but first I need to walk Freckles before I take my jacket off."

"I promised Charlotte we would walk the dogs together," Billy explained. He went off to find Charlotte and the dogs.

Emil started looking for paper, scissors and something to color with.

When Billy came back from his walk, he found Emil at the dining room table, already sorting through the things he had found.

"How should we start?" Emil asked Billy as Billy joined him.

"Most valentines have a picture," Billy replied, "and they have some writing on them that say something like 'Be my valentine!'"

"Sometimes they have a poem," Emil observed. "Maybe we could start there."

"I know one," Billy agreed, and he started to write. He wrote this:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Sugar is sweet...

Then Billy stopped. "I don't remember the last line," he said.

"Let's make something up," Emil said then, "what could come next?"

"But it can rot your teeth?" Billy asked.

Both boys laughed. You can't tell from this photo, but they really were laughing. Their faces don't move, as you know, but they thought it was very funny, and they they could hear each other laughing, inside. Their little vinyl bodies shook with laughter. They knew they didn't really have any teeth to rot.

"It's supposed to be a valentine poem," Emil pointed out, when they were done laughing. "How about, 'But I think you're even sweeter?'"

"That's better for a valentine," Billy agreed, "but it doesn't really sound like a poem. I wish I could remember how it really goes."

"Where's Mariah?" Emil asked. "She would know how it ends."

The boys looked for Mariah. They found her talking with Pippa at the top of the stairs.

"Mariah," Billy said, "we need your help. We're trying to write something pretty for our valentines."

"Sure," she said, jumping to her feet.

Mariah and Pippa followed Billy and Emil to the dining room. When they were all settled around the big table, Billy showed Mariah what he had written. Pippa looked over Mariah's shoulder. Well, she tried to look over Mariah's shoulder, so she could see, but she is very small.

"We don't remember the last line of the poem," Emil explained. "We tried to come up with something to end it with, but it didn't sound right."

Mariah read:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Sugar is sweet...

"And so are you!" She said, looking up at the boys. "That's the last line of the poem."

"That's it!" cried Billy, and he wrote out the last line. "I knew you would know what it was!"

"Now it sounds like a poem," Pippa said. "Why is that?"

"Well," Mariah began, "A poem is something written that makes you feel something or that sounds pretty. Many poems have a form to them. Often they rhyme (RIME). That's when a word in one line ends with the same or similar sound as another line, like blue and you, but that isn't needed to make it a poem."

"Often it has rhythm (RIH-thum)," Mariah explained. "That means there's a beat that's repeated in some other lines in the poem, but not all poems have that."

"This one repeats the same rhythm in each line," she said. Mariah tapped on the table as she recited the poem.

"Roses are red." Tap-tap-tap-tap.

"Violets are blue." Tap-tap-tap-tap. (She said "violets" like "VY-lets.)

"Sugar is sweet." Tap-tap-tap-tap.

"And so are you." Tap-tap-tap-tap.

"The word violets actually has an extra sound in it," Mariah pointed out, "VY-oh-lets," but it's one you almost don't hear, so the word only gets two beats."

The dolls all thought about that.

Then Pippa decided she had thought long enough. "Would it be OK if we help you make valentines?" she asked.

"Sure," said Billy. "It will be more fun with more of us working on them." He moved the supplies to where Pippa and Mariah could help themselves.

"Pippa is, too," Pippa said as she picked out what to use.

"Is what?" Emil asked, pausing in cutting out the heart he wanted to make.

"Sweet," she replied. "I gave the poem a new ending. 'Pippa is, too.'"

It had the right number of beats, although a poem doesn't need that. The last word rhymed, although a poem doesn't need that, either. No one could argue with the idea that Pippa is sweet.

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta