Locked Out

The dolls were all out for a walk together when they came home and found their human family had gone out and locked the door. Uh-oh!

"We will just have to wait for our family to come home," said Veronika. She climbed up and sat down on the outdoor couch that sits on the front porch.
The other dolls joined her on the couch.

"I hope they aren't gone too long," Billy said, as he climbed up to join Veronika.
"I'm glad I don't have to pretend to use the bathroom," Jolena added.

"It's good to sit down," Mariah said. "Our legs are so short."

The dolls waited. Dolls are good at waiting. They are good at being patient.

Maybe Billy isn't as patient as the girls. Soon he began to feel bored. "I wish I had something to do," he said.

Veronika looked around to see what was on the front porch. "Look!" she cried. "The recycling is here!"

Veronika was right. The recycling was sitting on the porch, waiting for someone to take it to the recycling bin.

"There's paper in it," she added. "Let's play a game! Everyone think of something we can do with paper."
The dolls thought for a few minutes.
"I have something!" Jolena cried suddenly. 
The other dolls looked at Jolena.
"I like to fly through the air on my skis," she said. "Maybe it would be fun to make a paper airplane and fly it through the air!"

The dolls agreed that would be fun.
"We could make a hat out of a piece of paper," Charlotte suggested. 

"I have an idea, too!" Billy exclaimed. "If we had scissors, a pin and a pencil, we could make a pinwheel!"

"I have pins," said Veronika, "but they are in the house."
"I have a pin in my knitting bag," Mandy said, "and scissors and a pencil."

"Do you take your knitting with you everywhere?" Billy wanted to know.
"Yes," Mandy replied. "You never know when you might have to wait."

"If we have scissors," Veronika said, "we can make a string of paper dolls."

"If we have scissors," Mariah added, "we can make a snowflake."

"If we had some glue or tape," Mandy said, "We could make paper chains."
The dolls all thought that sounded like fun.

The dolls all looked at Mandy's knitting bag.
"I don't keep any tape in there," Mandy laughed, "but I just thought of another thing we can do with what we have. We can make a cootie catcher. There are some fun games you can play with a cootie catcher."

The dolls got busy. Veronika did the cutting, because she is left-handed and can use the scissors with the hand that has all the fingers loose.

They made a paper airplane.
They made a hat.
They made a pinwheel.
They made a string of paper dolls.
They made a snowflake.
They made a cootie catcher.
Just then, Jolena remembered the dog door in the back. "If we can get over the fence into the back yard," she said, "we can get into the house the way the dogs do."
"You're right," Billy agreed. "We're small enough to go in that way. We can get the tape!"
And so they did. Jolena and Billy helped each other climb over the fence and went into the house through the dog door.

They got the tape. Then they went back out through the dog door, carrying the tape, dispenser and all. They helped each other over the fence with the tape, and brought it back to the front porch.

Then the dolls all worked together to make a paper chain while they waited for their human people to get home to let them into the house.

When they were done, they collected all the little scraps of paper they had cut out from the paper and put them into the recycling can.

What would you do with paper if you wanted to have fun?
What would you do if you were locked out of the house but could get in through the dog door?
What do you think the dolls should have done?

Want to make the things the dolls made with paper? Here are some links to directions:Let your parents see these first!
Here's how to make Jolena's paper airplane.
Here's how to make Charlotte's paper hat.
Here's how to make Billy's pinwheel.
Here's how to make Veronika's string of paper dolls.
Here's how to make Mariah's paper snowflake.
Here's how to make Mandy's paper chain.
Here's how to make a cootie catcher.



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

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.

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

Author's page on Amazon. 

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 charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright ©2019, 2025 by Peggy Stuart 

A Snake in the Garden

"Emil, come to the garden!" Pippa implored as she and Pauly climbed up on the daybed, where Emil was reading. 

"There's a snake in the garden!" Pauly exclaimed. "We need you to talk to it and see what it wants."

"We think it wants something," Pippa explained. "We aren't sure what, but it doesn't seem happy."

"We know that you're the only one who can talk to animals," Pauly said, "so we need you!"

Emil thought for a moment. He knew that some snakes are dangerous, the ones that have a kind of poison called venom (VEH-num). Of course, Pippa and Pauly could only pretend to be hurt, because they are made of vinyl. In fact, biting them might hurt the snake. Emil closed his book.

Two of The Writer's grandsons had just been visiting, and they had not been bitten, or Emil and Pippa would have heard about it. With so many dolls living in the house, a child being bitten by a snake would get around. Emil decided that maybe the snake hadn't been there then or the boys hadn't found it or it wasn't the kind of snake that bites or the boys had found it and left it alone... which was unlikely.

Emil also knows that snakes are good to have around. He explained to Pippa and Pauly that snakes eat pests like small rodents and slugs. "They can also be food for birds and other animals," he told them. "I read that in a book about animals that live around here."

"If it's a dangerous snake," Emil said, "it should be removed from the garden by someone who knows what they're doing. I had better go and have a look at it. If it is a dangerous snake, The Writer will call Animal Control to come and get it."

"Come and look at it," Pippa told him. "Then you can find out what it wants."

"Maybe it wants Animal Control to come and take it to another place," Pauly suggested.

The three dolls made their way down the stairs, which is faster than going up, especially for Pippa and Pauly, although they are good climbers because their elbow and knee joints are so flexible.

They went down the hall.

They went through the kitchen and the family room, then out through the dog door.

Pippa and Pauly didn't need any help getting through the dog door, but Emil held the flap open for them anyway. He likes to be helpful.

When they were finally down to the yard, Pippa and Pauly led Emil to where they had seen the snake. It was still there.

Pippa and Pauly looked at each other. They still thought the snake was unhappy.

Emil looked at the snake. He would have smiled, except that his face is made of vinyl. However, he smiled on the inside. This snake would never bite anyone. This snake could only pretend to bite.

"Hello!" Emil said to the snake.

"Ssssssello!" the snake replied. Emil heard the snake. "He says hello," he told the others.

"These dolls think you're unhappy," Emil told the snake and gestured toward Pippa and Pauly.

"Sssssthat's right," said the snake. "Sss I am very unhappysss."

"You were right," Emil told Pippa and Pauly. "The snake is unhappy, but this isn't a real snake, so we don't have to have The Writer call Animal Control to take it away. This is a toy snake."

Turning back to the snake, Emil asked, "Can we do anything to help? What is making you unhappy?"

"I want to go back to my home," the snake said. "Some boys were playing with me and left me here. I miss my bed, where it's cozy. I've been rained on and it gets cold at night. Snakes can't make their own body heat, so I've been lying here, pretending to suffer from the cold all night long, each night."

Emil explained the snake's problem to the two smaller dolls. Then he asked Pippa if she had any idea where the snake is kept. She usually knew what was in each drawer and on each shelf in the house, because Pippa likes to investigate things.

"I don't know about the snake," she said, "but the toys for the grandchildren are almost all in the guest room bookcase or in the guest room closet."

Emil thought about that. Then he turned back to the snake. "Mr. Snake," he said, "if we show you where we think your home might be, will you be able to tell us if that's the right place or not?"

"I could go there by myself," the snake replied, "if I could only move. The boys brought me out here."

"Why can't the snake move?" Pauly wanted to know, after Emil had explained the problem.

"This snake was molded all in one piece," Emil explained to the smaller dolls. "He doesn't have joints like ours, and he doesn't have a flexible backbone like a real snake."

"I think we can carry him, though," Emil said. "Let's take him to the guest room and see if that's the right place."

Pippa and Pauly were overjoyed that they could help the snake. Emil picked up the snake and carried him to the steps to the back deck. Pippa and Pauly helped get the snake up the steps and through the dog door.

Emil carried the snake down the hall to the stairs.

Then they worked together again to get the snake up the stairs.

They walked down the hall to the guest room, with Emil still carrying the snake.

"He says he recognizes the room" Emil told Pippa and Pauly. "He wants us to open the door to the closet." 

Emil put the snake down to help open the closet. Then the snake told Emil which shelf was his home. 

After the dolls had put the snake on his shelf, the snake said, "Thanksssssss ssssssso muchssss!" and Emil told the others what he had said.

"We'll come back and visit you!" Pippa told him and then looked at Emil to see if the snake had understood.

"He says he would like that," Emil told her. "He also says to tell you thank you. He's happy to be back on his shelf. He says his name is Sassafras."

"I'd better go home now," said Pauly when they had closed the closet to let Sassafras rest after his ordeal. "Jeffy should be home from summer camp soon, and he will want me there to play."

"Today," Emil told him, "you will have a lot to tell Jeffy." Adventures you have where you end up helping someone are the best kind, he thought to himself.

As the dolls walked down the hall, Emil heard Sassafras snoring in his sleep. It sounded like "Sssssssssss. Ssssssssss."

Cast--
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

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 and Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble,  BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties 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.

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

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Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart