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.

Showing posts with label letter. Show all posts

Friday, May 2, 2025

Changes at School

Billy tried very hard to slam the door when he came into the house. He was upset. He leaned against the door, trying to gather his patience.

The boys went in and sat down in the living room. None of them looked too happy.

"I'll get us some cookies," Veronika told them as she slid off the couch.

"It's going to ruin everything," Billy complained. "They could at least have asked us if it was OK with us."

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Emil suggested. "I mean, school has been pretty good so far. The dolls who run the school seem to know what they're doing."

"It just won't be the same!" Billy countered.

Veronika put the cookies on the couch in front of the boys, who each took one.

"I'm pretending this cookie tastes yummy," Pauly said. "Having something yummy often makes Jeffy feel better." (Jeffy is the human child Pauly lives with.)

"Why don't you tell me what's going on," Veronika suggested.

"They're going to let other kinds of dolls into the school next year," Emil explained.

"What do you mean by 'other kinds,' Emil?" Veronika asked. "Other than what? Help me understand."

"Dolls without elbow and knee joints," Emil replied, gesturing to his own knees, which Pauly suddenly found very interesting. He hadn't thought too much about his joints before. They were just there, a part of him and his friends.

"And with sleeping eyes!" Billy exclaimed. "They're going to let dolls with eyes that close come to our school."

"How do you know?" Veronika asked the boys.

"They told us at the playground," Emil explained. "Jacky and his friends were there, and they told us."

"Jacky and his friends would have heard it from someone," Veronika pointed out. "They don't run the school. Before we get upset about something, it's good to check and see if it's really true and, if it is, what the details are."

Veronika thought for a moment. "The Writer got a letter from the school yesterday," she continued. "It might have something to do with this. She said I should read it. It's in the pile of mail on the table, but I haven't read it yet. Let's have a look at it."

Veronika got up and went to the table, where there was a little pile of letters and catalogs. The boys reluctantly left the cookies and followed her. The dolls climbed up into the chairs at the table.

Veronika looked through the mail. "Here it is," she said, pulling out an envelope. "Yes, this is it! Let's see what it says."

Veronika took out the letter and began to read it to herself. The boys tried to look at it and read it, too, but Veronika reads very fast, and she was done before they got through the first paragraph.

"Well," she said, "it's true. The letter says that they have decided to open the school up to all dolls from 14-20" in height. That includes all of us, of course, but there are a lot of other dolls that will now be able to come and learn. Isn't that a good thing?"

"But the classes will be full of them!" Billy exclaimed. "There are a lot more of them than us!"

"The letter says," Veronika pointed out, "that over the summer the school is building new classrooms and hiring new teachers, so they can keep class size the same as before."

"Will the new dolls be in our classes?" Emil asked.

Veronika looked back at the letter. "According to the letter, they will. It looks like they think all the dolls will benefit from learning from each other, as well as from the teachers."

Billy put his head down on the table. "That's awful!" he complained.

Veronika looked at him and waited.

"Dolls without knee joints," Billy pointed out when he saw that Veronika expected him to explain, "will have to sit with their legs sticking out from under the desk. We will have to watch where we step when we walk by." He climbed up on the table, so he could demonstrate how these dolls had to sit.

"I can do that," Pauly pointed out. "I mean, of course I can sit the same way as dolls with no knee joints, but I mean, I can watch where I walk and climb over any legs that are lying around on the floor."

"Dolls without knee joints and elbow joints," Billy went on, not willing to be distracted, "they have trouble doing things like picking up something off the floor. They fall down a lot, and, well, then they have trouble getting up again without help." He lay down on the table to demonstrate what he was talking about, as if the others had never seen a doll lacking knee joints lying on the floor.

"And if they fall on their backs," Emil pointed out, "their eyes close, and then they can't see." He tried to demonstrate on Billy, but, of course, Billy's eyes don't close, even with Emil's help.

"Sometimes they just go to sleep," Pauly put in. He had seen this happen. "When their eyes close, they sometimes just go to sleep."

The other dolls could remember seeing this, too. They agreed, it could be a problem.

Veronika suddenly had a thought. "Are you saying," she asked the boys, "that they shouldn't be allowed to go to our school just because they can't do many of the things the four of us can do?"

The boys looked at Veronika while they thought about that. They thought about dolls who couldn't bend their elbows or knees, sitting or standing or lying down at home, while dolls like Billy and Emil got to go to school and learn things.

Emil and Billy looked at each other while they thought about all the things their elbow and knee joints let them do.

"You know," Veronika said sort of dreamily, "I've always been a little jealous of dolls without elbow and knee joints."

The boys looked back at Veronika. They were surprised.

"Their arms and legs are so lovely," she explained. "We have these odd-looking joints that don't look anything like the joints that real human children have."

"I'm glad for the joints, though," Veronika went on, "because they let me do the things I like to do, but if I wanted to look more like a real human child, maybe I would be very happy to be like them."

"I guess we're all different," Emil said. Then he thought for a moment. "I guess I can watch where I step when I walk by them," he added finally.

"I guess," Billy said slowly, seeing a new side of the situation, "that if they fall down, I can help them get up again."

"And I can hold their eyes open for them if they fall on their backs," Pauly exclaimed, wanting to join in, "so they can stay awake."

"I suppose new dolls could be fun to get to know," Billy conceded.

"Sometimes," Emil pointed out, "dolls who are unable to do what other dolls do turn out to have some special ability they wouldn't have had otherwise. That could be interesting."

Billy knew Emil was thinking about himself, and how he was able to communicate with animals, even though––and maybe because––he was made wrong in the factory and couldn't see or hear properly without his special glasses. He looked at his best friend and thought about how much he enjoyed his company.

Pauly just looked from one to the other. "Cool!" he exclaimed.

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

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

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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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Friday, June 2, 2023

Growing Up

Pippa and Pauly were looking for someone to play cards with them.

After looking around, they found Emil in the dining room, writing a letter. Emil looked up when the two smaller dolls climbed up into a chair close to him.

"We need one more person to play cards with us," Pippa told him. "Will you be through with your letter soon?"

"I'm just finishing," Emil told them. "I was just going to read it through to see if it sounds OK, and then I need to put it with the letters for The Writer to take to the mailbox. I'd be glad to play with you then."

"Why don't you read your letter to us," Pippa suggested. "If it isn't too personal, that is," she added.

"Are you writing to Holly?" Pauly asked. He knew Holly was Emil's friend.

He remembered that she uses a chair with wheels on it, called a wheelchair, to get around. It was hard to imagine a doll who couldn't run around on her own!

Emil nodded. "I wanted to update Holly on how the new puppy is doing," he told them.

"Well," Pippa urged him, "let's hear it!"

Emil began to read from his letter.

Dear Holly,

It was interesting to find out about the wheelchair basketball tournament. I'll bet it was fun! I'm glad Sam has made friends with someone from one of the other teams. New friends are good.

You will remember, in my last letter, I told you The Writer and her husband picked up a puppy during our trip with the trailer.

His name is Sandy. Well, Sandy has grown! I mean a lot! He went to get a haircut, and we found out that most of him was hair, but he's still bigger than he was.

Billy and I keep checking to see if we have grown, but our clothes always fit the same, and we're always the same height.

Puppies grow very fast, but this growing thing, you don't see it happening. I mean, you can't watch it. You just notice one day that someone is bigger. Maybe their clothes don't fit them anymore, or in the case of a puppy, the collar has to be made bigger, so it won't be too tight. You pull one part of it more through the buckle thing to make it bigger. The Writer does that every week.

Soon Sandy will need a whole new collar, because this one can't get any bigger.

It isn't just his neck, though. Sandy is getting taller, too. The Writer used to keep her outside shoes and the puppy's leash on the tray table in the family room by the back door. When we first came home from our trip, the puppy couldn't reach them. (He likes to investigate new things, which is pretty much everything.)

Then a few days ago, we noticed that the puppy had one of The Writer's outside shoes in his mouth and was running around with it. We tried to catch him, but if you run after him, he thinks you're playing a game. It's OK if it's a dog toy or a ball, but if it's something you don't want him to have, it's a problem. The Writer said to ignore the puppy, and he would drop it. He did. He brought it back into the house and dropped it on the floor. He was trying to tease her into chasing him. The Writer ignored it until the puppy started to play with something else. Then she picked it up and put it up higher.

The Writer's husband cleared a shelf in the bookcase that was high enough that Sandy couldn't reach it. Now she keeps the leash, her outdoor shoes, Sandy's leash and a jar of treats on the shelf. She also now has a hook next to the door for her jacket, because Sandy was taking the jacket off the chair and dragging it around.

We had to move the tray table, because Sandy can stand up on his hind legs, like a person or a doll, when he wants something. (I don't know why the stool was there, too!)

When we look at the photos Billy took of the two dogs together when we first got home, Sandy was a lot smaller than Dusty, and more of him was hair. He also wouldn't stay still to have his picture taken. This was the best Billy could do. The puppy is a little blurry, because he was moving.

Now when we see them together, Sandy is still smaller than Dusty, but there is less difference than there was. He almost understands "stay," now, so he isn't as blurry in the picture.

As you know, I can hear the animals when they talk. Listening to Sandy is very interesting. He knows I can hear him, so he comes and tells me things.

Sandy wonders why everything he finds on the sidewalk or next to it when they go for walks is called a "leave-it," but the same kind of thing he finds in the backyard is called a "pine cone."

Or another kind of leave-it is called a "stick" if it's in our backyard.

He thinks things should have the same name when he finds them on walks. He finds that confusing.

I told him "leave it" means "leave it alone," or "don't touch it." He said he would try.

When we first came home with Sandy, he had to sleep in a green box called a crate. It was big enough for him to stand up in and turn around if he wanted to.

Sandy grew to be too big for the crate. He can't stand up and turn around if he needs to. It has become too small. Now he has to sleep in a bigger crate at night. The new crate is brown. He likes sleeping in a crate. He knows he's safe there.

When he is awake, Sandy stays in a big cage called a playpen if our humans are too busy to play with him or to watch him.

I remember you said that Sam had to get new clothes because she "grew out of" her old ones. I remember you said Sam's wheelchair could be adjusted so it could be made bigger as she grows. We have never watched someone grow before. The Writer and her husband don't grow. If they need new clothes, it's because their clothes wear out. It will be interesting to see how big Sandy is when he stops growing. I wonder if he will be the same size as Dusty then. Dusty has been the same size as long as I have lived here.

Sandy used to want to chew my fingers, but I told him "Ow!" and he stopped. His teeth are very sharp. The Writer says it's because they are tiny for a puppy mouth, which starts out small.

They will start falling out soon and his new teeth will be much bigger, like Dusty's.

They don't need to be as sharp, because they have bigger, stronger jaws. The Writer brushes the dogs' teeth every night. For Dusty, it's so he can keep his teeth to use all his life. For Sandy, it's to get him used to having his teeth brushed. It's training. She sings a song called "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" to make sure she brushes long enough on each side. They have special toothpaste they like. Dogs don't rinse their mouths. They would swallow toothpaste made for people, and it would be bad for them. (I wonder what it's like to have teeth.)

I think Sandy isn't just getting bigger; he's also beginning to act like an older dog. He's starting to learn which things he can play with or chew on and which things are not for him. If he gets something that doesn't belong to the dogs, our human family members take it away and give him something that does. They say, "not yours," when they take it away, and then give him something he can have. I'm glad all of us dolls are "not yours." I don't think we want to be chewed on.

Sometimes he still forgets, though. He likes things our human people have used. He ran off with the script for this story. The Writer had printed it off and given it to Billy, so he could take the photos. Billy forgot and left it on the edge of the table. When the puppy brought it back into the house, it looked like this.

It was OK, though. Billy only had two more photos to take, and he remembered what they were.

It’s almost time for summer vacation. When do you get out of school? Do you have any special vacation plans this year? I'm not sure what we're doing yet, but I hope to spend some time in the garden. It's fun to plant seeds and watch them growing up into vegetables for our human family.

I hope you and Sam have a great summer. Please write when you can. I enjoy reading your letters.

Your friend, Emil

"That's an interesting letter," Pippa told Emil when he was done reading.

"I'm glad you think so," Emil replied. "Let me put it into the envelope, and then we can play cards."

After Emil put his letter into an envelope and addressed it, he left it with mail that needed to go to the mailbox, which was way up high on a shelf by the door, where Sandy couldn't reach...ever! Then the dolls played cards at the dining room table.

When they were through playing, they put the cards away in the card box.

Then they put the box of cards away in the drawer, so the puppy wouldn't find it and chew it up. They didn't want Sandy to chew something that could make him sick, and they wanted to use the cards again.

Pippa and Pauly heard a sound like "thwap!" The dogs were coming in from the backyard through the dog door. They quickly decided to look for a higher place to sit.

Cast--

Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

Sandy: Himself

Dusty: Himself

Photo of Sam's new friend by Danny Nee on Unsplash