"What kind of plants are these, Mandy?" Emil asked, showing her a picture in the book he was looking at.
"Those aren't really plants, Emil," Mandy replied. "Those are mushrooms."
"They sort of look like plants," Emil said. "They look more like plants than animals."
"It's true," Mandy said, "that mushrooms stay in one place, just like plants.
"Unless the plants are in a pot," Emil pointed out.
Mandy laughed. "You're right," she said. "Someone can move plants. They can take a plant from a little pot and put it into the ground, or they can move a potted plant from one window to another, but the plants don't move themselves. They can grow bigger, but they don't pick up their pots and walk away. It's the same with mushrooms. Come, I'll show you," Mandy added.
Mandy has started growing mushrooms in the house. She started out with a big lump of something that is sort of like a root system for the kind of mushrooms she wanted to grow. She put it into a dishpan.
Veronika came along to look. "It doesn't look like much," she said.
"The mushrooms haven't grown yet," she said. I have to keep it damp."
"Like watering the plants?" Emil asked.
"Just like watering the plants," Mandy agreed, "but this isn't sitting in dirt like plants."
Mandy picked up a spray bottle with water and sprayed the lump.
"Why are mushrooms not plants, then?" Emil wanted to know.
"Well," Mandy began, "partly because their cells are made up of different things," she said, "and partly because plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. Mushrooms, on the other hand," take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide the way human people do."
"Do we do that, too?" Emil asked. "We look like human people."
"We pretend to breathe," Mandy replied, "and when we pretend to breathe we pretend to change oxygen into carbon dioxide, but I don't really think about it. Do you?"
Emil decided he didn't really think about it.
"Another difference between plants and mushrooms," Mandy explained, "is how they get their food. Plants make their own food using the light from the sun. Mushrooms need to eat, the way people need to eat."
"What do they eat?" was Emil's logical next question.
"They eat dead plants, mostly," Mandy said.
"In nature they help clean up the forest floor," Mandy continued. This lump is made up of clean, ground-up wood that has had mushrooms growing in it. The roots are there, and new mushrooms will come out. It will take a while, though," she added.
Mandy sprayed the lump with water several times every day. Sometimes the other dolls would come and watch. After a few days, some little bumps started to appear. Then they grew.
Every day they were bigger. Then they started to change shape.
In less than a week, the mushrooms were nearly two inches across. Mandy wanted everyone to see the mushrooms. There were two big ones and several more just starting. Emil came to see.
Jolena came to see. She was wondering when the mushrooms would be ready to pick. She wanted to cook with them.
There are mushrooms growing out in the backyard, but Jolena knows that some mushrooms can make you sick, so she only cooks with the mushrooms from the store. Now Jolena can cook with Mandy's mushrooms when they are ready.
It was amazing how fast the mushrooms grew. Emil admired the mushrooms. "They grow fast, don't they?" he said.
"They do," Mandy agreed. "We can almost see them grow."
"I know that children grow, too" Emil said, looking up from the mushrooms. "Will I grow?"
Mandy thought for a moment. "Not really," she said finally. "We can get taller sometimes, if our joints get loose, and sometimes we have to be restrung, if it's really bad. They have to take you apart to do that. When they put you back together, you will be the same size you are now."
"That's OK," Emil said. "I like how I am. It's fun watching other things grow, though."
The next day the dolls could pick one of the mushrooms. It looked like this underneath.
Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
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.
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Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.
Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. 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, or ask your library to get our books 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.
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