Heat Wave

It was very hot. The dolls were sitting on the workroom table with the fan running. Veronika was helping Mandy put up her hair, because she was pretending her long hair felt hot on her neck. 

"Nothing fancy," Mandy told her. "I just want it up off my neck."
"Why is it so hot," Charlotte asked.

"It's hot because it's summer," Billy observed.

Charlotte tried to roll her eyes, but it's hard to do, because her eyes don't move. "I know that, silly," she said. "I mean, why is it hot in the summer?"

The dolls all looked at Mandy, because it was a Mandy kind of question.

"Remember," Mandy began, "when we talked about the seasons? We pretended the old tether ball was the sun, and my ball of yarn with a needle through it was the earth."

The dolls all thought back.

"Yes," said Mariah, enjoying the breeze from the fan on her neck. "The needle was the earth's axis, except you can't see the real one."

"You can't knit with it, either," Billy added, which caused Jolena to poke him with her elbow.
"You said the axis in the part of the world we live in comes out at the North Pole," Mariah explained. "It's tipped more toward the sun in the summer. I remember, because I got to be summer when we were taking turns being the seasons. I got to hold the earth with the North Pole tipped toward the sun."

"That's right," Mandy said. "Now, think about what happens if the axis at the North Pole is tipped toward the sun. Remember that the air surrounds the earth. It's as if the earth is a ball inside a ball of air."

"I think maybe there is less air for the sun to go through in the summer," suggested Jolena.

"Very good, Jolena!" exclaimed Mandy. 
"I have to use the air when I do my tricks on skis," Jolena said. "The air helps me, so I have to know a little bit about it." She could feel the moving air from the fan blowing her hair across her face.

"I can tell that you have been thinking about it," Mandy told her. "Now," Mandy went on, "the air that covers the earth is called the atmosphere (AT-mus-feer). When our part of the earth is tipped toward the sun, there is less atmosphere for the sun to have to shine through."

"But why is that?" asked Billy.

Mandy thought for a moment. "OK," she said, "just imagine you are standing on the diving board over the center of a pool. Suppose you dive straight down through the water to a point on the bottom that is right under the diving board."

"At the same time," Mandy went on, "Jolena is standing over on the side of the pool, away from the board. She dives toward the same spot on the bottom of the pool, but from the side. Who will get there first?"

"I will get there first," Billy said. "Boy dolls are faster than girl dolls."

Jolena gave Billy a playful swat. "No they aren't," she cried.

Mandy laughed. "You're right about who gets there first, but not about why."

Mariah had been looking thoughtful. "I think Billy had less water to go through than Jolena," she said.

"That's right," Mandy agreed. "When you dive at an angle, you have to go through more water before you get there. That's how it is with the sun's rays. In the summer the sun's rays are like Billy's path through the water in the pool. They don't have to go through as much atmosphere."

"I thought," Charlotte said, "that maybe it's hotter in the summer because the days are longer."

"Having longer days in the summer does add to how hot it gets," agreed Mandy, "because the sun heats up the earth during the day. We have to add that to how the sun has much less atmosphere to get through."

"So how can we cool off," Charlotte wanted to know. "I'm tired of pretending to be too hot."

"I feel cooler when I go for a bike ride," Billy said.

"Good point!" Mandy exclaimed. "That's because you're moving through the air. The air moving across your vinyl cools it off and makes you feel cooler, the way this fan cools us," she explained, "so riding your bicycle is a good way."

"We could play in the sprinkler," Veronika suggested, "but we will have to wear swim goggles if we're going to get our faces wet. We don't want water to get into our heads and make the inside moldy."

"Yes," agreed Jolena. "They will have to take your head off to clean out the mold!"

"That's right," Veronika said. "I'd like to keep my head on!"

"How does playing in the sprinkler cool you," Billy asked.

"There are two things," Mandy said. "First, the water coming out of the pipes in the ground is cool, because not so much heat from the sun can reach it. The water makes you feel cooler right away." 

"Second," Mandy continued, "when you get your vinyl wet, the water evaporates (ee-VAP-er-ates). It turns back into a gas and goes into the air. It uses the heat from your vinyl to do that, so that cools you off."

"I remember," Charlotte said, "when we did the experiment where we took the salt out of the salt water. We made the water evaporate."

"Yes," Billy agreed. "We used the sun's light to do it." They thought about that fun experiment.

"That's right," Mandy agreed. "It's the same thing that happened in our pan of water. The sun warmed the air under the plastic wrap. That made the water in the pan evaporate. Then it condensed back into water when it reached the plastic wrap covering the pan."
"If we get tired of playing in the sprinkler," Mariah said, "we could go to a movie. They have air conditioning, so it's cool inside."

The dolls talked for a bit about what movie they would like to see. They decided on the Disney movie "Frozen."

Then Charlotte had another idea. "We could make popsicles," she said. "We could sit in the shade and pretend to eat them. That would make us cool inside, because the popsicles are frozen."

"I have a good recipe for popsicles," Jolena said. "I pour the mixture into plastic cups and put them in the freezer. Later, after it starts to freeze, I put a plastic spoon in it." Then she smiled and continued, "but I don't have to worry about the heat for a while."

All the dolls looked at Jolena. She could tell they wanted to know why, so she told them.
"I'm going to fly to Argentina (are-jen-TEEN-uh) tomorrow," Jolena said, "with my skis and the other dolls on the Doll Ski Team. It's winter there, because that part of the earth is tipped away from the sun. We're going to practice skiing in real snow for a week."

"I had better finish packing," Jolena added. "I have to go tomorrow."
"We'll help," Mariah suggested.

The dolls all helped Jolena pack her clothes and her ski equipment.

That gave Jolena time the next day to mix up some juice and yogurt in a bowl for popsicles, so her friends could use them to cool off while she was gone. 

"Now we'll keep cool," said Billy. "We know lots of ways we can cool off when it's hot."

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

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 © 2029, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

Anticipation

“Pam,” Pippa told her friend, “you are going to love it when the weather warms up and the snow is gone!” Today was a pretty day. The sun was shining, and most of the snow was gone, but it was cold and windy, so the dolls were staying indoors. (They only pretend to feel the cold, but when it’s windy, it’s hard for them to stay on their feet outdoors.)

Pam thought about what her new friend said. She had heard about warm weather, but she hadn’t experienced it yet. When she came out of her box at Maryanne’s home, it was cold.

Maryanne’s dad even had to get out the snow blower to clear the driveway and sidewalks. He also cleared the sidewalks in front of The Writer’s house, because they are neighbors.

All Pam had to wear back then was what she had on in her box.

“The snow is fun,” she said, thinking about how Maryanne’s dad had complained about having to clear the snow before they could drive to work. Pam couldn’t understand why he didn’t enjoy playing in the snow.

“It is fun,” Pippa agreed, thinking about all the fun she has with the other dolls in the snow.

“But there’s a lot we can do when the weather is warm,” she told her friend. “We can go out through the dog door. Do you have a dog door?”

“No,” Pam replied. “Maryanne’s family doesn’t have a dog, but I’ve seen the dog door here.”

“Well,” Pippa continued, “it’s real easy to go out and in through the dog door. Then we can play outdoors in the warm sunshine.”

“What do you do when the snow is gone?” Pam wanted to know.

“Lots of things,” Pippa replied. “For one thing, we can lie down in the grass and watch the clouds.” She thought for a moment. “We’re very lucky dolls,” she continued. “We can lie down and watch the clouds or look at the stars, because we don’t have sleeping eyes. That’s why we need sleep masks to sleep, but it’s a small price to pay for being able to watch the clouds.”

“Sometimes we climb trees,” Pippa continued. “If you go high enough, you can see for a long way.”

“One time Mandy set up a swing in the backyard,” Pippa said. “We took turns swinging on it. Mandy got the first turn, because she was the one who climbed up and tied the strings to the tree limb in two places.”

“Sometimes,” Pippa went on, “we make sandwiches for a picnic.”

“What’s a picnic?” Pam asked.

“A picnic is where you make a lunch, go somewhere interesting and sit outdoors to pretend to eat,” her friend answered. “It’s fun!” she added.

“Sometimes,” Pippa explained, “we take a picnic lunch and go on a hike. It’s fun when Mandy is along. She recognizes lots of different kinds of birds, and she tells us what their names are.”

Pam nodded. The way Pippa explained it, it sounded like a lot of fun.

“There are lots of games you can play outdoors,” Pippa explained, “like hopscotch (HOP-skotch). We can only play that outdoors, because we have to draw these boxes on a sidewalk or driveway with chalk. We can’t draw on the floors in the house. That isn’t allowed, and we have to set a good example for children!”

“The bigger dolls,” Pippa said, “can ride bicycles. That looks like a lot of fun, but the bicycles are too big for us, and you have to wear a helmet that fits. They don’t make them in our size yet.”

“Maybe,” Pam suggested, “if everyone reading this story would write their favorite doll manufacturer and ask for bicycles and helmets in our size, we could ride, too.”

“That’s a great idea!” Pippa agreed enthusiastically. “You sure are a smart doll! Actually,” she went on, “we could ride on the back or on the handlebars when one of the bigger dolls is working the pedals, but that would be very dangerous for real children, even with a helmet, and we’re supposed to set a good example for them, so we don’t ever do that!”

“Then,” Pippa went on with the list she had in her head of things the dolls liked to do outdoors when it’s warm, “there’s a slide in the backyard. We climb up to the top and slide down. Mandy says something called gravity (GRA-vih-tee) is what makes us go down the slide so fast.”

Pam’s eyes would have been big and round at that, but she can’t move her eyes, so she just looked at Pippa and wondered what gravity was.

“Sometimes Mariah and Charlotte set up some kind of a net in the backyard,” Pippa said, “and they play a game called tennis (TEN-is). They use special paddle things called rackets (RAK-ets) to hit a ball back and forth.”

“That must be fun,” Pam pointed out, “or they wouldn’t go to so much trouble.”

Pam wondered what it would be like to hit a ball with a racket and make it fly through the air.

“Then one time,” Pippa continued with her list, “Pauly and I found a snake in the backyard. We got Emil to come out and talk to it, and he told us it was a toy snake The Writer’s grandsons had played with and left out in the backyard. He couldn’t go back into the house by himself, so we helped him. That was a lot of fun. It’s nice when we can help someone.”

“When it gets hot in the summer,” Pippa continued, “Jolena sometimes makes cold, yummy ice cream for us to pretend to eat. She uses a machine that has a bowl that stays in the freezer until she needs it. The machine runs on electricity.”

Pam continued to listen intently. 

“Sometimes we make popsicles, too,” Pippa recalled. “They’re easier to make.”

“In the Spring,” Pippa said, still with her list in mind, “we plant seeds in little cups.

“Then,” she explained, “when they get too big for the cup, and it's warmer, we plant them outdoors. Toward the end of the summer, we have vegetables for The Writer and her husband to eat, and we can pretend to eat some, too. Emil loves to work in the garden.”

Pam tried to imagine vegetables growing in the backyard.

“Another thing about the summer,” Pippa went on, “is we get to wear our bathing suits to lie in the sun on the deck…”

“…or play in the sprinkler (SPRING-kler). (That’s a thing they attach to the water hose outdoors to water the grass and other plants.)”

“I like to wear my bathing suit to play in the sandbox in the backyard,” Pippa said. “I pretend I’m at the beach.”

“One time,” Pippa told her friend, “Mandy and I were going to go to the beach, but it rained. The beach is dangerous if there is lightening and thunder, so we couldn’t go.”

“Mandy and I drew a picture of the beach with the sun shining and had a pretend beach trip in the workroom. We had to use our imaginations.”

“Lightning? Thunder?” Pam asked. 

“Lightning is a sudden bright light and then a big boom. That’s the thunder. They go together. It comes from electricity in the air,” Pippa explained. “It’s very dangerous,” Pippa warned her. 

“A pretend trip to the beach sounds safer,” Pam pointed out.

“It might not be quite as much fun, but it was more fun than not doing anything,” Pippa agreed. “Later on, though,” she remembered, “The Writer took Pauly and me to the real beach on a warm, sunny day. We played in the sand and watched the real human people.”

“It sure sounds like Spring and Summer are a lot of fun,” Pam said, “but what’s a ‘bathing suit?’”

Pippa tried to think of how to explain a bathing suit to her new friend. Pam must not have one, or she would know. “Well,” she began, “it’s sort of a sock you wear over your body so you aren’t naked, but your arms and legs stick out, so you can run and play.” Then she thought for a moment.

“The Writer,” she said, “made me one out of a little girl’s sock. Maybe we can get her to make you one, too. She said it’s pretty easy.”

“That would be wonderful!” Pam cried. Just think! A bathing suit all her own! 

Then Pam looked out the window at the wind blowing the trees. She had a lot to look forward to when the rest of the snow was gone.

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

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

Pam: Götz Little Kidz Springtime, from My Doll Best Friend

Bathing suit pattern and instructions are here.

Photo of Pam right out of her box from My Doll Best Friend.

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 © 2024 by Peggy Stuart