A Picnic by the Lake

 Charlotte and Jolena decided to go to the lake for a picnic and a pretend swim. They made their own lunch: peanut butter and jam sandwiches. 

(The Writer was surprised that Charlotte managed to spread the peanut butter with such a big knife.)

While Charlotte made the sandwiches, Jolena wrapped them in paper.

They added a box of raisins for dessert. One napkin was enough for both of them, because it was so big.

They packed their food in the picnic basket and grabbed their chairs and towels. Then The Writer drove them to the lake, where they found a nice spot on the dock. "This is perfect," Jolena said, as she settled into her chair.

"We'll pretend to eat now, and then we can pretend to swim," Charlotte said, as she picked up the picnic basket to hand out the sandwiches. (You don’t have to wait to swim after you eat, if you’re just pretending.)

"Eat your sandwich, Jolena," The Writer said.

"But you're watching. I can't open my mouth while you're watching."

"Yum! I love peanut butter and jam!" Charlotte said happily. "Why aren't you eating, Jolena?" she asked.

"She's still watching!" Jolena replied.

"Mmmfgh!" Charlotte said, talking with her mouth full of sandwich. When she had pretended to swallow, Charlotte looked around. "It isn't a picnic without ants," she pointed out.
"Oh, but we will have ants," Jolena replied. "I invited Ant Martha and Ant Mathilda."
"We have aunts named Martha and Mathilda?" Charlotte asked.
"No, silly! Ant Martha and Ant Mathilda! Here they come now, and they've brought their own lunch."

We'll leave them all to it, so Jolena and the ants can eat. Charlotte is almost done with her sandwich.

Cast--

Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen 2015
Ant Martha and Ant Mathilda: Themselves

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 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.

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 © 2018 and 2023 by Peggy Stuart

Hair Today, Curly Next Week: Part Two

When we last saw Mandy and Veronika, they were looking at their hair in the mirror in the bathroom.

Veronika's hair was the same as always. Mandy's hair was in little braids all over. Veronika thought it looked interesting. Mandy wasn't sure, but she hoped she would have curly hair when they took the braids out.

Veronika had brushed and combed and washed Mandy's hair for her. She had been very careful not to get water into Mandy's eyes.

Then they had gone back to the workroom, where Veronika got out the stretchy bands from the box with the hair things. Then Veronika braided the wet hair.

Then they had gone back to look in the mirror again and talked about Mandy's roots. They also talked about Veronika's roots, which are different, because Veronika was made to have two braids with a part in the middle. That's where we left off.

When Mandy and Veronika came back to the workroom again, the boys had come in and were relaxing on the new daybed. The Writer had put the daybed there so when company comes, there will be another place for real people to sleep.

Emil and Billy looked up when the girls came in. "What's that on top of your head, Mandy," Billy asked. "It looks like you're wearing an octopus!"

"I think it looks more like a spider," Emil countered. "A big one. Maybe a tarantula (tuh-RAN-cha-la). He had been reading about the spiders as big as a doll's head.

Mandy didn't bat an eye. She wouldn't have, even if her eyes could close. She was not surprised at the comments. She was not offended. She knew they were just being boys, and she thought it did sort of look as if she had some kind of many-legged creature on her head. "Too many legs." she pointed out. "A spider has eight legs. So does an octopus."

"Maybe this one is a mutant (MEW-tent)," Emil suggested. "Maybe it hatched with too many legs." Emil said it with a straight face. He always said everything with a straight face. It is how he was made.

Mandy had to keep her hair in braids for a week. It didn't stop her from doing things.

On Monday Mandy went bird-watching with Billy and Emil. They took turns carrying the bird book, because it is heavy, even though there are only birds inside it.

On Tuesday Mandy sat with Veronika and listened to Charlotte play her violin. Charlotte was going to have to play at something called a recital (ree-SYE-tul). She was going to perform with other dolls who took music lessons from the same music teacher. She wanted practice playing in front of an audience, so she wouldn't be nervous.

On Wednesday Mandy walked with Pippa to the lake. Pippa had to carry her own towel and her pail. Mandy carried her towel and a basket with water, a snack and her knitting.

On Thursday Mandy and Mariah rode the bicycles to the library. They wore their backpacks, because they needed to take some books back and planned to check out some others to read. Mandy told Mariah she planned to look for a book about tarantulas. Mariah said that she sensed a story there.

On Friday Mandy helped Jolena make a corn salad for supper.

On Saturday Mandy helped Emil learn to balance his checkbook. Being able to balance your checkbook is an important life skill! While she was helping him he did not mention tarantulas.

Whatever she had to do, Mandy went on about her life as a busy doll. Everywhere she went, her braided hair went with her. Everything she did, she did wearing her hair in braids.

When it had been a week, Mandy asked Veronika to help her undo the braids and brush her hair.

Veronika was very happy to do that. She was interested to see what it would look like. 

When all the braids were taken out and the hair brushed, they tried to style Mandy's hair. 

"What do you think?" Mandy asked Veronika when it was all combed out. The hair was now so thick and curly, that it was difficult to manage.

"It looks interesting," Veronika said, "but what do you think?"

Mandy was more concerned about being able to see her knitting.

They finally got it into a style they thought looked nice. Then the girls went to look in the mirror again. 

They looked for a long time. Then Mandy finally said, "That was fun, but it was a lot of trouble. I'll put on a nice dress. Let's get Billy to take some photos, so I can remember." 

"Good idea," Veronika agreed.

Here's the photo Billy took.

After they were done with the photo shoot, the girls went back to look in the mirror again. Emil helped Billy put the camera equipment away and then went back to the bathroom to eavesdrop on the girls. That means they planned to listen to what the girls were saying, even though they were not part of it. 

"That was fun," Mandy said, looking at herself in the mirror, "but it's a lot of trouble for everyday hair."

"Now let's wash it out," Veronika said. "Let's get our bathing suits back on!"

"Aren't you glad we have wigs and short hair?" Billy asked Emil.

"Yeah," Emil agreed. "I would hate to have to wear a mutant tarantula on my head for a week!"

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

Learn to braid your dolls' hair. You can start with grass. Here's how.

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 and Our Favorite Verses: Poems 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.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2021, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

A Picnic by the Lake

Charlotte and Jolena decided to go to the lake for a picnic and a pretend swim. They made their own lunch: peanut butter and jam sandwiches. 

(The Writer was surprised that Charlotte managed to spread the peanut butter with such a big knife.)

While Charlotte made the sandwiches, Jolena wrapped them in paper.

They added a box of raisins for dessert. One napkin was enough for both of them, because it was so big.

They packed their food in the picnic basket and grabbed their chairs and towels. Then The Writer drove them to the lake, where they found a nice spot on the dock. "This is perfect," Jolena said, as she settled into her chair.

"We'll pretend to eat now, and then we can pretend to swim," Charlotte said, as she picked up the picnic basket to hand out the sandwiches. (You don’t have to wait to swim after you eat, if you’re just pretending.)

"Eat your sandwich, Jolena," The Writer said.

"But you're watching. I can't open my mouth while you're watching."

"Yum! I love peanut butter and jam!" Charlotte said happily. "Why aren't you eating, Jolena?" she asked.

"She's still watching!" Jolena replied.

"Mmmfgh!" Charlotte said, talking with her mouth full of sandwich. When she had pretended to swallow, Charlotte looked around. "It isn't a picnic without ants," she pointed out.
"Oh, but we will have ants," Jolena replied. "I invited Ant Martha and Ant Mathilda."
"We have aunts named Martha and Mathilda?" Charlotte asked.
"No, silly! Ant Martha and Ant Mathilda! Here they come now, and they've brought their own lunch."

We'll leave them all to it, so Jolena and the ants can eat. Charlotte is almost done with her sandwich.

Cast--

Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen 2015
Ant Martha and Ant Mathilda: Themselves

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 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.

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

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2018 and 2023 by Peggy Stuart