How Emil Came to The Doll's Storybook, Part One

The dolls were studying and doing their homework when Veronika came into the room.

"Everyone, you need to listen to this," Veronika said, waving a piece of paper so they would see what she had.

The dolls gathered around Veronika. "It's a letter," she said. Then she began to read. 

Here is what the letter said:

Dear Veronika and Cast of The Doll's Storybook,
I heard you were looking for another boy doll, and I am hoping you will choose me.

Before you accept me, you should know something about me. I'm not perfect. It isn't the fault of the factory where we were made. Sometimes these things just happen. Anyway, I wanted to be sure you knew about this before you decide.
First of all, I'm very nearsighted. That means I can't see very far from my nose. This isn't too bad, though, because my special glasses correct my sight to almost normal. I just need to wear my glasses all the time, except when I'm asleep.
My other problem is more serious. I'm almost deaf without my hearing aids. Fortunately, they were able to build my hearing aids into my glasses. I can talk with other dolls with no problem without my hearing aids, because, like other dolls, I talk by sharing my thoughts and listening to yours, but I need the hearing aids so I don't get hurt by things like cars and bicycles, and so I know when water is running and when an alarm goes off. I can't hear those things in my head without the hearing aids in my special glasses.
If you accept me as a new cast member, I promise to try very hard not to let these things make problems for you. I will also try to be the best doll I can be.

Sincerely,
Emil

"It's a good letter," Mandy said when Veronika had finished reading the letter.

Mariah, who had been looking over Veronika's shoulder, pointed at the letter. "There are no words misspelled," she said. "The ideas are easy to understand. He must be smart. He must have worked hard on the letter."

"He could have used Autocorrect," Billy said. "Autocorrect will fix the spelling."

"Yes," agreed Mariah, "but Autocorrect just changes something that isn't a word to something that is. It may not be the right word."
"Sometimes," put in Jolena, "Autocorrect gives you something silly, and it makes you laugh, and the letter looks as if he might have written it out instead of using a computer, and Autocorrect only works if you're using a computer or a phone."

"That's right," Mariah agreed. "You have to know if the word is the right one, and you still have to write what you want to say so it's easy to understand."
The dolls all smiled and nodded. They could remember times when they had seen this happen, and they agreed the letter looked as if it might have been written by hand. "Emil must have had to use a dictionary to check the spelling of all the words he wasn't sure of," Mariah concluded.

Charlotte had been very quiet. Now she had something to say. "I like that he sounds honest," she said.
The other dolls looked up at Charlotte.

"How do you see that in his letter, Charlotte?" Veronika asked.
"Well," Charlotte began, "he wants to be chosen, doesn't he? He could have just told us how wonderful he is, and how he's the best one for the job. He could have left out the part about his problems."

"You're right," Mandy said. "Then we wouldn't have known until he arrived, when it was too late."

Veronika turned to Billy. "What do you think, Billy?" she asked. "If we choose him, he will be your pal. You need to be satisfied with the choice."

"I like the letter," Billy said. "He sounds interesting. He says he isn't perfect, but none of us is perfect. He's different, but we're all different, even though we are alike in lots of ways."

"Like that our eyes don't close," Jolena said, "and we each have one hand with two fingers stuck together."

"It sounds to me," Billy said, "like he can do everything I like to do. I think we will have fun together."

"Let's vote on it," Veronika said, "unless anyone has something else to say."
The dolls shook their heads. They were ready to vote.
"All right," Veronika said, "who wants to choose Emil to be our new brother? Raise your hand if you do."
All the dolls raised their hands.

"Good," said Veronika. "It's unanimous (you-NAN-ih-mus)! That means we all voted the same. Then I don't have to ask who doesn't want Emil to be our new brother. I will write back and let him know."
"Veronika," Billy said, "there is something I would like you to ask him. You said his name like 'eh-MEEL.' How do we know it isn't 'EE-mul' or something else? It's an unusual name. Would you ask him how he says it so we can say it correctly when he comes?"

Veronika said she would ask. It was an important part of helping him feel at home when he arrived.

"When you write, please ask him what kind of food he likes to pretend to eat best," Jolena said. "I want to fix him his favorite food when he gets here."

"I want to find out," Mariah added, "what kinds of books he likes. We can go to the library right before he arrives and check out some things."
"Ask him if he can hear music," Charlotte said. "If he can, please find out what his favorite song is, so I can learn to play it for him on my violin."

"I have something for you to ask him," Mandy said. "Ask him if he needs to plug in his hearing aids at night or if his hearing aids use batteries, and please ask him if he needs anything else we might not think of."

That night, Veronika wrote a letter to Emil and told him that he had been chosen to be their new brother. She wrote that they liked his letter and thought he sounded nice. She asked him how to say his name. She used Autocorrect to make sure she had spelled the words correctly, and when Autocorrect changed something, she looked to see if Autocorrect was just being silly.

Veronika asked Emil what kind of food and books he liked best. She asked him if he could hear music with his special glasses, and if so, what was his favorite song. She asked him if he needed batteries or a charger for his glasses, or if there was anything else he might need. Then she added that they could tell he was special from his letter, and that was good. Then she printed off the letter and signed it. She put it into an envelope. She put a stamp on the letter.
Then all the dolls went to the mailbox together to mail the letter to Emil.

They could hardly wait. They knew Emil would be special.

We are all special, and so are you.


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

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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, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

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