“Why is Jolena packing?” Emil asked as he and Billy looked in through the door of the workroom. “Is she going somewhere?”
“It’s time for her yearly ski trip,” Billy replied.
The boys got up on the table to watch Jolena pack. They could see that she had her pajamas and sleep mask in a small bag, and was putting her ski clothes in the larger bag, with her ski boots. Her skis were sticking out of a long, black bag. They thought her poles must be in there, too. Jolena was looking at her special T-shirt. All the dolls would be wearing their Ski Team T-shirts under their ski clothes. She must be thinking about seeing her friends.
Emil was confused. “Doesn’t she need snow to ski?” he asked. “It’s summertime. There’s no snow right now.”
“She’s going to Chile (CHEE-leh),” Billy explained. “It’s winter there right now. They have lots of snow.”
The boys left Jolena to her packing and went down the stairs. It took a while, and while they were making their way down the stairs, Emil was thinking.
“It must be chilly in Chilly if they have snow.” he said.
Billy laughed. It’s chilly there,” he said, but the country is named Chile,” and he pronounced it again for Emil, CHEE-leh. “It’s winter there now. It’s in South America,” Billy added. “South America is a continent, like North America, where we live. Come, and I’ll show you on a map where Chile is.”
The Writer’s laptop computer moves around the house a lot. Sometimes it goes outside, too, but Billy always seems to know where it is. Emil followed Billy Into the dining room, and there was the laptop. Billy turned it on. Then he hit a few keys on the keyboard. (Billy is allowed to use the computer whenever The Writer isn’t using it. He uses it to fix the photos he takes for these stories. He knows to be careful with it.)
A map of South America appeared on the computer screen. Billy pointed to where Chile was on the map. “That’s Chile,” he said. “It’s this very long, skinny country on the western side of the continent, right along the coast.”
The boys looked at the map. The human people who made the map made each country a different color, so you could see where the borders were, but if you looked down from a satellite, the countries wouldn’t be those colors. They would all be white where there was snow, green if there were forests, yellow or brown if nothing was growing and blue where there was water.
The map looked like this:
If you look at the map you can see Chile. It’s colored brown on this map. Can you find the name of the country? It's out in the ocean, next to it.
“There are some mountains along almost the whole west coast of South America,” Billy explained. “They’re some of the highest mountains on earth. They’re called the Andes (ANN-deez).
“Jolena’s going to a ski resort here,” Billy continued, as he pointed to a place on the map about halfway down the country. “It's very high up in the mountains, and they have snow to ski on right now.”
“Wow!” Emil exclaimed. “Is she going all alone?”
“She’s going with the whole US Doll Ski Team,” Billy replied. “They’re all flying together in a plane to Chile to practice. While they’re there, Jolena will fly through the air on her skis.”
“That’s a lot of flying,” Emil said.
“I’m wondering, though, how can it be winter there when it’s summer here?” Emil wanted to know.
“Mandy explained it to us when spring came last year,” Billy said. Billy hit a few keys on the computer. It went to The Doll’s Storybook blog. Billy found the story “It's Spring.”
“Let’s read it,” Emil suggested.
“That’s a great idea,” Billy said, “but let’s use the tablet to read it, so we can get comfortable.” The boys settled down in the big beanbag chair and read the story. Emil paid special attention to the part about how the earth goes around the sun and how that makes the seasons in the different parts of the world.
When they were done reading the story, Emil understood how it could be winter in part of the world when it was summer in another part.
While the boys were reading the story, Jolena finished packing. She would need to take warm clothes with her, as well as her skis and ski equipment. That means a lot of luggage. The boys had just finished reading the story when Jolena appeared in the living room. “It’s almost time for my ride to get here,” she said. “I want to say goodbye.”
The dolls gathered in the front hall. Jolena said goodbye to each of her sisters and brothers. Each doll got a hug, because they all like hugs.
“I think your ride is here,” announced Billy, who had been watching out the window.
“I think I’m missing something,” Jolena said, putting her skis down and looking around. “I am! I forgot my helmet and my goggles! I can’t ski without those.”
“We’ll take your things out to the car,” Mandy suggested, “while you go get your helmet and goggles. That way your ride won’t have to wait.”
As the dolls were just finishing putting Jolena’s luggage into the car, Jolena rushed to the door with her helmet. “My mittens were in my helmet,” she cried. “If I had left those behind I would have frozen my little vinyl fingers off!”
After Jolena got into the car, the girls started back up the stairs, but the boys watched as the car drove away.
Emil watched out the window for a long time after the car was gone.
The other dolls would miss Jolena, but it would be nice to imagine her in all that snow in Chile.
“Who’s going to cook for us while Jolena is away?” Emil asked Billy.
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
Map of South America is from Geology.com and is found here.
Photo of skier by Felipe Giacometti on Unsplash, cropped.
"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.
Copyright © 2020, 2025, 2026 by Peggy Stuart
