Stars

Jolena loves to be outdoors, no matter what the weather is like. She wants to share her enjoyment with her new friend, Mariah.

The two dolls took a towel out to the backyard, so they could lie down on the grass, which was slightly damp.

"I love that we can lie on the ground and look at the sky," Jolena told Mariah. "Did you know that some dolls can't keep their eyes open when they lie down?"

"No, I didn't know that," Mariah answered. "I'm glad we can see the sky. Please show me where the stars are."
Jolena looked at the sky a long time. "Stars are bright, twinkly things in the sky, right?" she asked. "I don't see anything like that. That's the kind of thing we should ask Mandy. Mandy knows all kinds of things about how the world works."

Jolena could see in her mind, a picture of Mandy in a special school that teaches you everything about how things work in the world. In her mind, that must have been long, long ago, because Mandy has already been out of her box for nearly two years! Jolena thought perhaps Mandy might even have been a teacher at that school.

"Let's go find Mandy," Mariah suggested.

The girls got up from the grass and went to find their friend who knows so much. They found her lying on the bed, reading a book.

"Mandy," Jolena began. "Aren't there supposed to be stars in the sky? Mariah and I were lying in the grass, looking up at the sky, and we couldn't see anything bright and twinkly."

"Yes! I really want to see the stars," Mariah added. "Where are they?"
"The stars are there, Mariah," Mandy answered. "We will just have to wait until it gets dark to see them."

"Do they turn off in the daytime?" Jolena asked.
"No," said Mandy. "They are on all the time. We just can't see them."

"Where do they go?" Mariah wanted to know.
"They don't go anywhere," Mandy began. Then she stopped and thought. "Well, actually they are moving all the time, and so are we, we all move together, sort of, so we can find each one in close to the same place in the sky every night at the same time of night. You just can't see them in the daytime, except for our own star, the sun."

"The sun is a star?" asked Mariah.
"Yes, but the sun is much closer and the other stars are far, far away. Our star, the sun, is one reason we can't see the stars in the daytime," Mandy explained. "Because the sun is so much closer, we get a lot more light from it."

"The blanket of air that covers the earth is the other reason we can't see the stars," Mandy continued.

Mandy looked in the dog toy box for a ball. "Let me try to show you how it works," she said.

Mandy handed Jolena a flashlight.
She told her to hold the flashlight so it shone on the ball. "Pretend the ball is the Earth," she said. Then Mandy turned the ball slowly. "As the earth turns, the sun shining on it makes daytime where the sun is shining and nighttime where the light can't reach." The dolls could all see one dark side and one bright side of the ball.

"Now, this is where the air that surrounds the Earth comes in," Mandy explained. "The blanket of air is very big. It goes from down here where we are to way up in the sky, and when the sun shines on it, it lights up like the inside of a light bulb, from the top of the blanket of air all the way to the ground. You can look up in the sky and see clouds, birds and airplanes," Mandy said.
"And the sun!" said Jolena.
"Yes, but people...children and adults...should never look directly at the sun, even with sunglasses on, because their eyes could be damaged," Mandy said. "Sometimes you can see the moon in the daytime, but it's safe to look at the moon, because it doesn't have light of its own. You can see everything in the sky that's near enough, but you can't see the stars."

"When it gets dark, like on the back of the ball...which is the Earth...then we can see the stars, because the blanket of air isn't lit up by the sun."

When it became dark outside, the three dolls went out and looked at the stars, which were now twinkling in the sky, along with the glowing moon.

"On the moon," Mandy said, "there is no blanket of air. Astronauts stood on the moon long ago. Even when the sun was shining on them, they could still see the stars in the sky."
"Isn't that interesting!" Exclaimed Mariah.
The dolls looked at each star and imagined how it was a big sun, but a long way away.

"I'm so glad we're the kind of dolls who can look up at the stars, and our eyes don't close," sighed Jolena.
"We're very lucky dolls," agreed Mariah.

The two dolls lay there on the towel and watched the stars wink at them.

"I wonder why the stars twinkle," Mariah said then. They would have to ask Mandy.

Cast--

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

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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 and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 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 St. Jude. Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author for $20 including shipping. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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