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 size. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2026

Baby Doll

"What are you looking at, Mandy?" Pippa asked, looking up at the older doll from the floor.

"I was just looking at this photo," Mandy said. "It's of a doll The Writer gave a young relative as a gift."

Pippa climbed up to look. "It's a baby!" she cried.

This is what she saw on the screen.

"Yes," Mandy agreed. "It's a baby doll. The young relative is very young, almost still a baby herself. She loves the baby doll. Her mother said it was her favorite present."

"Is the doll a girl or a boy?" Pippa asked.

"I don't know," Mandy said. "I guess the little girl the doll lives with will decide."

"What does it do?" Pippa wanted to know.

"Well," Mandy replied thoughtfully, "it doesn't really do anything. It's up to the little girl to do things with the doll. She can hold it, dress it and put it to bed."

"What's this thing in the box with it?" Pippa asked, pointing to the screen.

Mandy looked where Pippa was pointing. "That's a pacifier (PA-sih-fy-er). It something for the doll to suck on."

Pippa had to think about that. Pippa's mouth doesn't open, so it was hard to imagine sucking on something.

Pippa was quiet for a long time, thinking. "I don't think I would want to be a baby doll," she said finally. "I like doing things. I don't think I would like lying in bed or just being carried around and held. I mean, those things are nice, but I would get bored after a while if that was all I got to do. Even sucking on a pacifier wouldn't make up for that."

"That's because you are a child doll, Pippa," Mandy explained. "Child dolls were made to pretend to play and do the other things that real children do. A baby doll just wants to be held and carried. They're made just for that. They like to be pretend fed and changed, and to suck on a pacifier if they have one."

That was a lot to think about, so Pippa did just that. "So lying around makes baby dolls happy?" she asked.

Mandy realized that she hadn't really thought about it like that. "I guess they are like real babies in that way," Mandy decided. "Real babies like to be held, fed and changed."

"So do real babies spend their lives being held, fed and changed?" Pippa asked.

Mandy laughed. "Only when they are still babies. Real human babies grow up. They get bigger and become children. The children grow up to be grown-up human people."

"Charlotte told me I wouldn't grow any bigger," Pippa said.

"That's right," Mandy agreed. "Real babies and children grow, but dolls don't. You won't get any bigger than you are, and I will always be this size."

"That means," Pippa mused, "that you and Veronika don't have to worry that I'll grow out of the clothes you made for me." That thought made Pippa happy. "I wouldn't mind being as big as you are, but I'm glad I can always wear my new clothes."

"Making clothes for you was a challenge at first," Mandy said, "because all of the patterns we had were for dolls our size, but you're shaped the same as the rest of us, just smaller all over. We figured out how much smaller you are, and Veronika reduced her sewing patterns on the computer so they would fit you. She made them smaller by setting the printer to print smaller. Then she checked to make sure they would be the right size."

"Is that what you did with the knitting patterns?" Pippa wanted to know.

"Knitting is a little different," Mandy said. "Changing the size isn't that hard, but you have to do some math. (Math is like arithmetic, only more complicated.) I had to rewrite the patterns so they had fewer stitches and fewer rows of stitches in each section. That's what I did with the dress you're wearing."

"What are you making now?" Pippa asked, leaning over to look at Mandy's work."

"This is a sweater for you," Mandy said, holding it up. "It won't fit me. It won't fit any of your other sisters and brothers. It will only fit you."

"I like it!" Pippa cried. "It's beautiful! Thank you!" Pippa took Mandy's knitting from her and hugged it.

"You're welcome, Pippa," Mandy replied. "Be careful of the needles, though! I'm glad you like it, but it isn't ready to wear yet."

"I promise never, ever to grow out of it." Pippa said.

Pippa is right. She will never grow out of her new sweater!

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

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.

Do you like our stories? Some of them are available in print:

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties and Distraction.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Our book of poems, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook includes Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Available now from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook. The Stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. 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. Find our books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your library to get them 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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Friday, December 5, 2025

Pippa

This story tells of how Pippa came to live with The Writer and the dolls from The Doll's Storybook.

There was a tapping sound that echoed down through the downstairs hall. The dolls, who were all in the living room, turned to look.

"I think someone's knocking," said Jolena, listening intently.

"It sounds like someone with vinyl knuckles," said Emil excitedly, whose hearing was different from that of the other dolls because of the hearing aids in his special glasses. Sometimes he notices things the other dolls don't.

"That explains why they didn't ring the doorbell," Mandy observed. "The doorbell is very high up. It's too high for dolls to reach without climbing on something. It must be a doll at the door. Maybe it's our new family member!"

Billy put down the Legos he was holding. "I'll get it," he said, as he jumped down and ran to the door. He opened it, which isn't easy, because the door knob is so high up, but dolls have ways to do that. He looked out the door. He didn't see anyone, but he had the feeling he was being watched.

Then he looked down.

There, just on the other side of the storm door, stood a very little doll. "You're tiny!" Billy exclaimed before he could stop himself.

"No," said the very little doll, as Billy let her in. "Tiny went to New York. I saw her last in London." Then the little doll held out her hand "I'm Phillipa," she said, "but you can call me Pippa. Howdy-doo!"

Billy shook Pippa's hand. "Nice to meet you, Pippa" he said. "Come in and meet everyone else."

Because Billy was the first one to the door, he made the introductions, the way he had been taught to do.

"I'll make tea," Jolena said after they had all been introduced, and then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Billy helped Pippa get up on the couch. She needed help, because she was smaller than the others. (Pippa was glad for the help, although she could have done it by herself. It just would have taken longer.)

"Well," said Mariah, "You must be our new addition. We were told you were different. Now we know how you're different from the rest of us." Pippa introduced her teddy bear to Marmalade, while Mariah and Billy looked at each other. They were both thinking that Pippa was not what they had been expecting.

"I didn't know," Pippa said, "that all of you would be so much bigger than I am!"

"May I see your hands?" Mariah asked, and Pippa put one hand into Mariah's, while she held out the other one.

"Our hands are alike," Mariah concluded. "Your fingers are just like ours. You have two fingers stuck together on your right hand. Your hands and fingers are just like ours, only smaller."

Pippa looked at her right hand. Then she looked around at the other dolls' right hands, which they were holding up for her to see.

"You have blue eyes, like Jolena," Charlotte said.

The dolls turned and looked at Jolena, who had just brought the tea.

"Pippa," Jolena said as she passed out the cups and poured the pretend tea, "I also see you have blonde hair like Charlotte and me."

"You know," Veronika said, looking intently at Pippa and then around at the other dolls, "Pippa looks a lot like Mandy, don't you think?"

The dolls all looked intently at Pippa and then at Mandy, trying to decide if Veronika was right. Pippa looked at Mandy, too.

"She does!" Emil agreed.

"She looks like Mandy, but with blue eyes and blonde hair," he said.

"And no freckles!" Mandy added.

"I love your freckles!" Veronika exclaimed. "Your freckles are part of who you are."

"Do you love my freckles, too?" Billy asked, looking at Veronika. "Of course I do!" Veronika said. "You wouldn't be Billy without them!"

"Well," said Pippa, "I may be like all of you in some ways and several of you in other ways, but it's clear I'm different from all of you in one important way. All of you are much bigger than I am."

"That is only a problem," Veronika said, "because we are going to have to find clothes that with work for you until I can sew something and Mandy can knit you a sweater that fits."

When the dolls had finished pretending to drink their tea, Charlotte suggested, "Come with me, Pippa! Let's go see what we can find, so you can change your clothes."

Charlotte came up with a cardigan that was a little snug on Jolena. With the cuffs turned up, it wasn't too bad. Emil's pants that went through the hot-water wash and were a little too tight to fit his feet through for now. They still a bit big in the waist for Pippa, but not too long with the cuffs turned up so she doesn't trip.

For sleeping, they came up with a T-shirt. It was too big, but it would do for now for the littlest doll in the family. "When I grow bigger," Pippa said, "I can share clothes with the rest of you, and they will fit."

"No, sweetie," Charlotte said. "Dolls don't grow. You will always be the size you are now. Don't worry, though. We will buy and make you some clothes that will fit just fine."

Pippa thought about that for a moment. "Well, that's OK," she said. "I'm sort of already used to being this size, and I will have clothes that are all mine. I will just have to be patient."

While Charlotte was upstairs finding clothes for Pippa, Billy turned to Mariah. "Howdy-do?" he asked her.

"It means, 'How do you do,'" Mariah explained. "Who knows where she picked that up!"

"Maybe it was from Tiny," Billy said. "Tiny went to New York."

Maybe Pippa will tell them.

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
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL