Flying or Lying?

 Veronika found Jolena looking sad.

"What's the matter," she asked.
"We were training in the gym for doing flips," Jolena told her. "We need to train for freestyle skiing all the time, you know, even when there is no snow."
"And?" asked Veronika.
"Shawn is a new kid. He has been bothering me. Today he said I was lying when I said I was flying." Jolena looked down at her hands. "I know he meant I did a bad thing, but I don't know what."

Veronika thought for a minute. "Tell me what you did and said," she suggested.
"Well," Jolena began, "when it was my turn to do a flip, I said I was flying. Then Shawn started making fun of me. He said I wasn't flying, I was lying. I don't understand, but it made me feel bad."

Veronika smiled. "I think I know what's going on," she said. "First of all, you weren't lying."
"I wasn't?" Jolena asked. 
"You were just saying how you felt," Veronika explained. "You didn't mean you were actually flying.”

"What is lying anyway?" Jolena asked.
"Well, let's say you took the last cookie on the plate and ate it," Veronika began.

"Then Mandy came along and said, 'Hey, who took the last cookie?’ You were afraid Mandy was going to be mad at you, so you said you didn't take it."

"Let's say that you said you saw Charlotte take it," Veronika said. "That's lying."

Jolena nodded. "That would be bad."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "It would be a lie, because you said something that wasn't true, and you did it to protect yourself. It's a bad lie, because you hurt someone else at the same time."
"I wouldn't want to hurt Charlotte!" Jolena exclaimed.
"No, of course you wouldn't!" Veronika agreed. "But lying is saying something that isn't true. We should always tell the truth. Truth is very important. You would feel bad, because you knew you had done something that was wrong. And you hurt Charlotte with your lie, so that's even worse," Veronika went on. "And you would feel bad."
"Yes, I would," said Jolena. "That would be worse than having Mandy mad at me."
"And maybe Mandy would notice the crumbs on your face," Veronika suggested.

"And maybe I would have crumbs on my pants, too," Jolena agreed. "So Mandy would know. That would be worse than having Mandy mad at me for taking the cookie.”

"But pretending or using our imagination to explain how we feel isn't lying. And there are other things we can say that are not really true but are not really lies," Veronika said. "Let's say I ask you if my new dress looks good on me."

"Maybe you think pink isn't a good color for me, but you don't want to hurt my feelings, so you say I look beautiful in the dress," Veronika said. "That isn't exactly a lie, because I look beautiful to you, because you love me. It would be better, though, if you suggested another color might be better, and say it in a kind way, because it would help me, but it wasn't a bad lie.”

Jolena nodded. "I think I understand," she said. "When I said I was flying, I didn't really mean I was flying. I was just saying it felt like flying. But why did Shawn say I was lying, then?”
"I'm not sure," Veronika replied. "Tell me about Shawn."
Jolena explained that Shawn is new in class and isn't very good at the exercises yet.
"Jolena, you're very good at what you do," Veronika suggested, "so maybe he's jealous of you. Maybe he wants to be as good as you are, and it makes him feel bad that you are better than he is, so he's trying to make you feel bad, too."
"So what should I do?" asked Jolena.
"I think maybe if you encourage Shawn and point out his improvement as it happens, you'll find that he will start to feel better about himself," Veronika suggested. "However, you have no reason to feel bad about what you said, and he can't make you feel bad if you don't let him."

"That's what I'll do," Jolena said. "I'm lucky to have such a wise sister, only your example about the cookie doesn't really make any sense."
"Why not?" Veronika asked.
"Because dolls don't really like to eat cookies," Jolena replied. "We like to pretend to eat cookies. If I said I ate the cookie and said it to help myself and hurt someone else, then I would be lying!"

The dolls looked at each other and laughed. "Besides, you do look good in pink," Jolena added. "And that's the truth!"


Cast--

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Veronika: Götz Happy Kidz Vroni

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.

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

Copyright © 2018, 2023 by Peggy Stuart

The Boy Doll Who Cried "Wolf!"

Once upon a time there was a boy doll who lived out in the country. He didn't like to go to school, and dolls are not required to go, so he didn't.

He had to do something, though, because not all dolls can stand around on a shelf and look beautiful, so he decided to tend the toy sheep that had come to the backyard and were pretending to graze.

The boy doll had to lead the toy sheep to the pasture each day, so they could pretend to eat the green grass. Then it was his job to keep them safe, because he was their shepherd (SHEH-perd).

Day after day, the boy doll watched the toy sheep. Each day was just like any other. Nothing interesting ever happened.

No one came to play with him. The other dolls went to school and then read or did homework when they came home. The toy sheep never did anything interesting. The boy doll was very bored.

One day, the boy doll had an idea. He decided he would have some fun with the two dolls who lived in the house with him. 

He left the toy sheep in the pasture and went into the house. "Wolf!" he cried, trying to sound upset and frightened. "There's a wolf after the toy sheep!"

The other dolls in the house heard him and came running. They followed him back out to the pasture, where the toy sheep were peacefully pretending to graze on the green grass. 

"Where's the wolf?" smaller of the two dolls asked.

"I don't see a wolf," the bigger one said.

The boy began to laugh. "Ha-ha!" he exclaimed. "I played a trick on you, and you fell for it!"

The other dolls did not think that was very funny, and they told him so. They left him there and went back into the house.

The next day, the boy became bored again. "That was so much fun yesterday," he said to himself. "Their faces looked so surprised, or they would have, if they weren't made of vinyl."

He decided to try the same trick again. He left the toy sheep and went back into the house. 

"Wolf!" he yelled, using his upset voice. "There's a wolf after the sheep!"

Again the dolls in the house came running. They followed him back out to the pasture, where the toy sheep were still pretending to eat the green grass. 

"I don't see a wolf," the little doll exclaimed in exasperation.

"I don't see a wolf, either," the larger one said.

Then they heard the boy doll laughing. "I fooled you again!" the boy doll laughed.

The other dolls turned around and stomped back to the house, clearly displeased.

"That wasn't nice!" they both yelled at him. "That was a mean trick!"

The next day, while the boy doll was out in the pasture with the sheep a real wolf came along. At least, the boy doll thought it was a wolf. The creature had sharp, pointed teeth and a taste for stuffed toys, so it must be a wolf.

The boy doll ran into the house. "Help!" he cried. "There's a wolf after the sheep!"

"Right!" the larger doll said, turning a page in her book.

"Very funny, smaller doll said, not moving from her seat.

Neither one of the dolls would come and help him protect the toy sheep. No amount of pleading did any good. They would not budge.

The boy doll was really worried about the toy sheep, because no one would help him. He ran back to the pasture, where he expected to see all the toy sheep with their stuffing pulled out, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen. The sheep were still pretending to eat grass.

The boy ran down to the pasture to check to see if each sheep was OK. 

"You're very lucky this time," a voice behind the boy doll said.

The boy turned and saw the biggest toy sheep standing there.

"The unthinkable could have happened," the biggest toy sheep said. (He meant that it could have been so horrible, you couldn't even bear to think about it!) "You could have come back out and found nothing but bits of fluff all over the grass," he explained, clearly having thought about it, in spite of the horror.

"Where is the wolf?" the boy asked. 

"Someone––one of the human people from the house––threw a ball," the biggest toy sheep replied. "After that, the wolf forgot all about us. You were lucky this time, but next time might be different."

"But I was bored," the boy doll said. "Sitting around watching toy sheep is very boring."

"Pretending to eat grass," the biggest toy sheep pointed out, "isn't exactly fun. You should try it."

The boy doll sat down thought about that. "Trying to get other dolls to help chase a wolf away isn't fun, either," he said, "especially when they wouldn't come."

The boy doll was relieved that the toy sheep hadn't been eaten by the wolf, but he was very sad that the other dolls might never trust him again. "Maybe I'm not meant to be a shepherd," he said to the big sheep. "Maybe school isn't so bad after all!"

Just then, the bigger girl doll came out of the house. "There's a doll at the door," she called. "She's asking for you! It's about the sheep!"

The boy doll left the flock of toy sheep and ran through the house to the front door. There was a girl doll there, standing in the front hall. 

"Hi!" said the girl doll. "I got a text from Rambo. He says that he and the other sheep are all here at your house, pretending to eat your lawn."

"I've left them alone long enough," the girl doll explained, "but now it's time for them to come home, wagging their tails behind them."

The boy doll went out and brought all the toy sheep from the backyard, leading them to the front door. There was a lot of tail-wagging. The girl doll handed the boy doll her shepherd's crook*, so she could take the toy sheep with the floppy legs.

"Thank you," the girl doll said. "They are very afraid of wolves, but I'm sure they felt safe here. You must have taken very good care of them, or Rambo would have texted me sooner."

When all the sheep who could walk were out the door, and the girl doll had the sheep with the floppy legs comfortably in her arms, the boy doll gave her shepherd's crook back.

Then the boy doll opened the door again, because the girl doll had her hands full, carrying the sheep with the floppy legs and her crook, and the door knob was very high up.

After the girl and all of her toy sheep were gone, the boy turned and looked at the other two dolls. "I think that girl doll is in my class," he told them. "I think her name is Bo. I've decided that I want to start going to school again."

"Yes," agreed the larger girl doll. "You still have a lot to learn."

*Shepherd's crook: A tool used by shepherds to guide and catch sheep, to look for sheep in deep bushes and for balance on steep slopes.

Cast--

The Boy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London (Billy, who would never tell a lie or play mean tricks but is good at acting)
Bo Peep: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen (Jolena)
The Other Dolls: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris (Charlotte) and Götz Little Kidz Lotta (Pippa)

The Sheep: Themselves

The Wolf: Dusty Stuart (not a real wolf, but related to wolves, and a real, live creature, not a toy)

Apologies to Aesop's Fables and the unknown original writer of "Little Bo Peep," now part of our collective oral tradition, for changing the details of their stories.

This story is found in our book "Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook."

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

Flying or Lying?

Veronika found Jolena looking sad.

"What's the matter," she asked.
"We were training in the gym for doing flips," Jolena told her. "We need to train for freestyle skiing all the time, you know, even when there is no snow."
"And?" asked Veronika.
"Shawn is a new kid. He has been bothering me. Today he said I was lying when I said I was flying." Jolena looked down at her hands. "I know he meant I did a bad thing, but I don't know what."

Veronika thought for a minute. "Tell me what you did and said," she suggested.
"Well," Jolena began, "when it was my turn to do a flip, I said I was flying. Then Shawn started making fun of me. He said I wasn't flying, I was lying. I don't understand, but it made me feel bad."

Veronika smiled. "I think I know what's going on," she said. "First of all, you weren't lying."
"I wasn't?" Jolena asked. 
"You were just saying how you felt," Veronika explained. "You didn't mean you were actually flying.”

"What is lying anyway?" Jolena asked.
"Well, let's say you took the last cookie on the plate and ate it," Veronika began.

"Then Mandy came along and said, 'Hey, who took the last cookie?’ You were afraid Mandy was going to be mad at you, so you said you didn't take it."

"Let's say that you said you saw Charlotte take it," Veronika said. "That's lying."

Jolena nodded. "That would be bad."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "It would be a lie, because you said something that wasn't true, and you did it to protect yourself. It's a bad lie, because you hurt someone else at the same time."
"I wouldn't want to hurt Charlotte!" Jolena exclaimed.
"No, of course you wouldn't!" Veronika agreed. "But lying is saying something that isn't true. We should always tell the truth. Truth is very important. You would feel bad, because you knew you had done something that was wrong. And you hurt Charlotte with your lie, so that's even worse," Veronika went on. "And you would feel bad."
"Yes, I would," said Jolena. "That would be worse than having Mandy mad at me."
"And maybe Mandy would notice the crumbs on your face," Veronika suggested.

"And maybe I would have crumbs on my pants, too," Jolena agreed. "So Mandy would know. That would be worse than having Mandy mad at me for taking the cookie.”

"But pretending or using our imagination to explain how we feel isn't lying. And there are other things we can say that are not really true but are not really lies," Veronika said. "Let's say I ask you if my new dress looks good on me."

"Maybe you think pink isn't a good color for me, but you don't want to hurt my feelings, so you say I look beautiful in the dress," Veronika said. "That isn't exactly a lie, because I look beautiful to you, because you love me. It would be better, though, if you suggested another color might be better, and say it in a kind way, because it would help me, but it wasn't a bad lie.”

Jolena nodded. "I think I understand," she said. "When I said I was flying, I didn't really mean I was flying. I was just saying it felt like flying. But why did Shawn say I was lying, then?”
"I'm not sure," Veronika replied. "Tell me about Shawn."
Jolena explained that Shawn is new in class and isn't very good at the exercises yet.
"Jolena, you're very good at what you do," Veronika suggested, "so maybe he's jealous of you. Maybe he wants to be as good as you are, and it makes him feel bad that you are better than he is, so he's trying to make you feel bad, too."
"So what should I do?" asked Jolena.
"I think maybe if you encourage Shawn and point out his improvement as it happens, you'll find that he will start to feel better about himself," Veronika suggested. "However, you have no reason to feel bad about what you said, and he can't make you feel bad if you don't let him."

"That's what I'll do," Jolena said. "I'm lucky to have such a wise sister, only your example about the cookie doesn't really make any sense."
"Why not?" Veronika asked.
"Because dolls don't really like to eat cookies," Jolena replied. "We like to pretend to eat cookies. If I said I ate the cookie and said it to help myself and hurt someone else, then I would be lying!"

The dolls looked at each other and laughed. "Besides, you do look good in pink," Jolena added. "And that's the truth!"


Cast--

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Veronika: Götz Happy Kidz Vroni

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, 2023 by Peggy Stuart