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, June 25, 2021

Look-alikes

Jolena found Pippa in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. She didn't seem to be fixing her hair or even admiring herself. She was just looking intently at her reflection.

"What are you doing, Pippa?" Jolena asked.

"I thought," said Pippa, "if I looked at myself long enough I would start to look like the rest of you."

"What do you mean?" Jolena asked.

"All of the rest of you are alike," Pippa said sadly. "I just look like Pippa."

"But you're just like us, only smaller," Jolena insisted. "There's nothing wrong with being smaller," she added.

Pippa would have rolled her eyes, if she could just get her eyes to move. She tried really hard, but they wouldn't move.

"I know," she countered when she had given up trying to roll her eyes. "I have two arms and two legs. My arms and legs have joints. I have elbow joints," she continued, pointing to her elbow.

"I have knee joints," Pippa went on, pointing to her knee.

"My body is hard vinyl, not soft stuff covered with cloth. I have hair. I have two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth," she continued, "and they are all on my head, just like the rest of you."

" But I don't look like the rest of you. I just look like Pippa," she insisted.

Jolena thought for a moment. "Pippa, look at me," she said.

Pippa did.

"Who am I?" Jolena asked.

Pippa looked at Jolena. "That's a silly question," she responded hotly. "I know who you are! You're Jolena!"

"How do you know?" Jolena asked Pippa. "How do you know I'm not Billy?"

Again, Pippa tried really hard to roll her eyes. She still couldn't, so she threw up her hands instead. "Billy is a boy!" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"So I don't look like Billy," Jolena agreed. "Maybe I could be Mariah."

"Jolena," Pippa said patiently. "Mariah's vinyl looks like milk chocolate. No one would mistake you for Mariah. She even has a different face."

"OK," Jolena agreed, "then how do you know I'm not Veronika? We have the same face."

"Because Veronika has brown hair and brown eyes, and she always wears all of her hair in braids, except for a little curl on each side," Pippa said, even more exasperated.

"See?" Jolena told her. "We're all different, too. Even the dolls who were made just like me at the factory and look just like me are different inside, where you can't see."

"I like to cook," Jolena said. "Some dolls who look just like me don't like to cook. Some don't even know how to boil water, let alone cook pasta."

"I like to fly through the air on my skis," she said. "Some dolls who look exactly like me only like to ski downhill. Some might even be afraid to stand on the bottom of the slide and look down!"

Pippa looked back at her reflection in the mirror. "I know there are other dolls who look just like me," she said. "I just wish I looked more like the rest of you. I wonder sometimes if I really belong."

"Of course you belong!" Jolena exclaimed. "Puzzle pieces are all different, and so are we. Without you, we would be like a puzzle all put together with one piece missing! I hate it when you get done, and all the pieces are used up, but there is still one piece missing!"

Pippa hated that, too. It was frustrating not to be able to finish the puzzle. That's why the dolls were always very careful to put all the puzzle pieces back in the box when they were done.

While Pippa was still thinking about that, Mandy came in and climbed up on the counter to see what the two sisters were up to. "What are you two doing?" she asked them when she had made it to the top of the counter.

Pippa and Jolena explained to Mandy how Pippa was worried that she didn't belong in the cast of The Doll's Storybook because she was so different from all of them.

"It's good that you're different," Mandy said. "We all have to be different, because real children are different, unless they're identical (eye-DEN-tih-kul) twins, and even identical twins aren't exactly alike."

Then Mandy noticed that Jolena was staring at them, first one and then the other. "What?" she asked Jolena.

"I had forgotten," Jolena replied, "that when Pippa first came to live with us, Veronika noticed that you two have the same face, just like she and I have the same face."

"Look in the mirror," Jolena said, "and you'll see that I'm right."

Pippa and Mandy looked at their themselves and each other in the mirror. "That's right!" Mandy cried. "Our faces are exactly alike, except for our hair and eyes, and I have freckles."

"We do look alike!" Pippa agreed joyfully, "except that I'm much smaller than you are," she added. "You look like my big sister!"

"I am your big sister," Mandy pointed out.

Emil came in just in time to hear the girls talking about how Pippa and Mandy look alike. He listened to them talking as he climbed up to the counter. He had something important to say. "I know someone else who looks like Pippa," he stated, once he had reached the girls. "In fact, she looks almost exactly like Pippa, except that she's my size."

The girls all looked expectantly at Emil. He knew they wanted to know who looked like Pippa. He had known they would be interested. "My friend Holly," he said. "She looks just like you, except she is taller if she gets out of her wheelchair and stands up. I never saw her do that much, because she needs the wheelchair to get around, but I noticed that she's my size. Other than that, she looks just like you. She wears her hair differently, but it's parted in the middle, just like yours, and it's the same color, and her eyes are light blue, like yours."

"Goodie!" Pippa exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Next time you write Holly, please tell her her look-alike said hi!"

Emil said that he would. He thought that would please Holly, too.

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

Important note to "followers" of The Doll's Storybook: The entity that notifies followers when a blog on this website posts will discontinue notifications in July. This motivated me to link The Doll's Storybook with Bloglovin'. If you are following The Doll's Storybook want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

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.

"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 is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble, BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment.

Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission with thanks, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.

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Copyright © 2021 by Peggy Stuart

Friday, June 18, 2021

Too Big, Too Small

Pippa is a very curious doll. She always has questions about what's going on, so one rainy afternoon, when she found Veronika standing on the cutting mat in the workroom and looking at some clothes, she naturally had questions.

"What are you doing, Veronika," Pippa asked.

"Hi, Pippa," Veronika said. "I'm just trying to decide what to wear when I go to a friend's house tomorrow to pretend to have tea."

"You have a lot of pretty clothes," Pippa said.

"We all do," Veronika replied. "Well, we girls have a lot of pretty clothes. The boys have some nice shirts and pants, but I'm not sure I would call them 'pretty,'" she corrected. "I think I would call them dapper or natty or handsome." Veronika didn't think the boys would want her to say their shirts and pants were pretty.

"Girls need pretty clothes, don't they?" Pippa suggested.

"Girls like pretty clothes," Veronika countered. "At least most of us do, especially girl dolls. We could live without them, but it's nice we don't have to."

"May I borrow some of your pretty clothes, Veronika?" Pippa wanted to know. "You can borrow my pretty clothes, too, if you like."

Veronika picked up her dresses from the chair and sat down with a sigh. "Well," she said, "I would be more than happy to let you borrow anything you like, but all of my clothes are too big for you. I'm bigger than you are."

Pippa had not yet thought seriously about that. This was a good time to do it, so she did.

She thought about wearing Veronika's shoes. They would be too big. Her feet are too small for the shoes. She might have trouble walking in them. They might just fall off.

Then she tried to imagine putting her shoes on Veronika's feet. That was harder. They would be too small. Veronika's feet are too big for her shoes. She couldn't even imagine getting them onto Veronika's feet, even if she pushed very hard. What she could imagine was Veronika saying, "I told you so!"

Shoes have to fit just right, though. Dresses would be much easier. She tried to think about wearing one of Veronika's pretty dresses.

Pippa thought very hard. She tried to see herself in Veronika's pretty dress. When she had thought until her little doll brain was almost broken, she saw that Veronika's dress would be too big for her. She decided she would look like an old lady who sits in front of the TV all day in her nightgown. It wouldn't be pretty at all.

Then she tried to imagine her own nice dress on Veronika. It would be too small for Veronika. Maybe Veronika would not be able to fasten the dress in the back. Maybe she wouldn't get that far. Maybe she would not even be able to fit her hands through the armholes! Maybe her hands would get stuck!

Maybe sweaters would be easier. You can wrap a sweater around yourself if it's too big. Sweaters stretch, so maybe you can get it on even if it's too small. Pippa tried to close her eyes, so she could see herself wearing Veronika's sweater. That was impossible, though. Pippa's eyes don't close. They don't even move. Some dolls have eyes that open and close, but not Pippa. She knew that was why she needed to wear a mask to sleep at night.

After thinking very hard, though, she thought she could see herself in Veronika's sweater. It would be too big, and maybe she couldn't even get her hands to come out from the bottom of the sleeves. At least it would be warm, though. (Pippa was giving her imagination some exercise!)

Maybe Veronika could wear Pippa's sweater, then. Pippa thought and thought. In the back of her doll brain she could almost see Veronika wearing her sweater. She did not think the fit was good enough for Veronika to want to borrow it. It was too small. It wouldn't even keep her warm. Pippa thought Veronika's tummy would show. Maybe her underwear would show!

Veronika needs bigger clothes than Pippa. She needs clothes that fit her nicely. Clothes that fit are just right. Veronika's dress looks pretty on her. Veronika's shoes don't fall off when she walks.

Pippa needs smaller clothes than Veronika. She needs shoes that stay on her feet when she walks.

Pippa needs a dress that doesn't make her trip and fall.

Pippa needs a smaller sweater than Veronika. She needs a sweater with sleeves that are shorter, so her hands are free.

Veronika noticed that Pippa had gone a long, long time without saying anything. She thought that it was the longest time Pippa had ever not been talking, except when she was asleep. That was very strange. "Are you OK, Pippa?" she asked the smaller girl.

"Yes," Pippa replied quietly. "I just think it's too bad I can't share clothes with you. Everything you have is too big for me. Everything I have is too small for you."

Veronika looked closely at Pippa. She thought Pippa looked sad. Very sad.

"You do need more clothes, Pippa," Veronika said. "Girls like to have more than one pretty dress. Let's make you a new pretty dress! You can help me, if you like."

"Could I, really?" Pippa asked, clapping her hands.

"Of course," Veronika told her. "You are smaller than all of the rest of us, so you need more clothes than we do. There is no way to share with your sisters. Your sisters are all bigger than you are. If I'm sewing for you, you can help me and learn. Let's pick out some fabric right now."

Pippa's bear was sitting in the window where Pippa had left him. He was watching the rain. Pippa's bear is even smaller than Pippa. Pippa's bear is too small to wear Pippa's clothes. Pippa's bear doesn't care. Bears don't need to wear clothes. They have fur.

Shhhh...don't tell Pippa's bear that some bears do wear clothes.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia