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.

Friday, April 10, 2020

Making Do

The car wouldn't start. It had to be towed away to be fixed. Emil brought the bad news to the other dolls, one or two at a time. First he told Billy, because he hangs out Billy a lot, so he knew where Billy was.

Then Emil told Veronika, because it's important that you tell Veronika everything. She was in the workroom, picking out thread to go with her fabric.

Then he told Charlotte, because she was nearby, practicing her violin.

Then he told Jolena and Mariah, because they were sitting on the stairs, helping each other with their hair. (He didn't understand why the girls like to have long hair. It's so much trouble.)

He didn't tell Mandy. He didn't want to tell her. The Writer had planned to take him shopping for Mandy's birthday present. The Writer had planned to take each of them to buy their presents for Mandy. Now that could not happen. Each doll had to come up with a "Plan B." A Plan B is what you have to think up when your first plan (Plan A) isn't going to work out.

There are no stores close enough to walk to or to ride their bicycles to. There was no bus that came down their street except the school bus, and Emil could not use the school bus to go to the store.

After Emil had explained the problem to each of the other dolls, he sat down and thought. What could he give Mandy for her birthday? He couldn't think of anything. He wondered what the other dolls were going to do.

He decided to ask them.
First Emil asked Billy. He found him messing with the camera phone in the hall in front of the laundry room, where the light from the laundry room lit up the hall. He had Marmalade with him. The cat was sitting on a chair.

"What do you plan to give Mandy, now that we can't go to the store?" he asked him.

"I came up with a great idea," Billy said. "I'm going to give Mandy a photo of Marmalade."

Emil agreed that was a great idea and told him so.
When Emil went back to Veronika, he found her looking through her fabric.

"What do you plan to give Mandy, now that we can't go to the store?" he asked her.

"I'm going to make Mandy some new leggings," Veronika replied. "I can have them done in time. I just have to find the stretchy fabric."

Emil thought that was a great idea and told her so.
Then Emil went back to Charlotte, who was putting her violin away.

"What do you plan to give Mandy, now that we can't go to the store?" he asked her.

"I've decided to play and record an Irish jig for Mandy," Charlotte said. "I can record it on the phone and send it to her, so she can listen any time she likes. It will remind her of the fun she had in Ireland."

Emil thought that was a great idea and told her so. "That could be just as fun for her as having something from the store," he said. "Maybe even better."

Emil went back down the stairs. Mariah and Jolena were still working on their hair.

"What do you plan to give Mandy, now that we can't go to the store?" he asked them.

"We have been talking about that," Jolena said.

"When you have a problem," Mariah explained, "it helps if you can talk it over with someone. That gives you ideas."

"Yes," Jolena agreed. "We have it all figured out. I'm going to bake Mandy her favorite cookies."

"And I'm going to give Mandy this," Mariah said, holding up a piece of paper with "I.O.U." written on it.

"It will be for the new knitting book Mandy has been wanting," Mariah said. "Then she and I can go to the store together to buy it after the car is fixed."

"What does 'I.O.U.' mean?" Emil asked.

"An I.O.U," Mariah explained, "is something you give someone when you don't have the real thing yet. It means I owe you something and will give it to you later."

Emil thought about that. "I.O.U.," he said. "I owe you. I get it. Clever!"
Emil thought the girls had great ideas for presents for Mandy and told them so.
He decided to go off and think about what each of them had told him. Each doll had solved their problem in a different way. Some of them had used their special skills or talents. They had thought about Mandy and what she enjoys. They had put those things together.

Emil thought about what Mandy was like and what she enjoyed doing. He knew Mandy liked to knit.

Emil knew that Mandy enjoyed being outdoors.

He knew she loved science and liked to do experiments.

Emil knew Mandy loved animals, especially Marmalade.

Emil thought about what he was good at doing. He could listen to animals and tell others what the animals were thinking. Aside from that, he didn't think he had any special talents. How could he use that to give something to Mandy? He thought hard. Then he thought about other things for a while, to see if that helped him come up with an idea.

That worked! "I know what I'll do!" Emil said to himself. "I'll ask Marmalade what Mandy would like!" He went off in search of the cat.
Marmalade was not in the hall with Billy anymore, but Emil found him curled up on one of the windowsills. The cat got up when Emil came in. He seemed to know already that Emil was needing something important from him.

"Marmalade," Emil said to the cat in his head, "What do you think Mandy wants for her birthday? I need something I can get without going out in the car." He looked at Marmalade and thought about Mandy's present.

Marmalade looked back at Emil and showed him a picture of a video playing on the tablet the dolls used. It was a new movie, about a girl who lived long ago.

Emil knew which movie it was. "That's perfect!" he whispered softly. "I can get that for her to watch on the tablet without going anywhere. I'll get The Writer to download it, and I'll give her the money. Thank you, Marmalade!"

Right before the party for Mandy Emil wrote a note telling her that her movie was now in the tablet movie library, and she could watch it any time she liked.

He wrapped the note in birthday paper.
Mandy was thrilled with all of her presents. She was happy that each doll had thought about what she would like and had managed without going anywhere. "Everything is so lovely," she said happily, as they cleared the dishes and wrapping paper. "You've all made my birthday so special. It means a lot to me. Thank you!"

Then she looked at Emil. "I do have one question, Emil. How did you know I wanted to have this movie? I never told anyone."

"A little birdie told me," Emil replied, trying to keep a straight face.

"I think that birdie was more likely a cat," Mandy replied, looking at Marmalade, who was watching from across the room, trying to look...like a cat.

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
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL

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, 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. Coming soon: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook.

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, April 3, 2020

Playing at a Distance

Billy thought Jolena looked sad. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Jolena looked up. "Hi, Billy," she said quietly. She is always glad to see him, but she didn't sound like it today. Billy thought, though, that it must have something to do with whatever was bothering her, not with him. He waited.

"I just found out that my friend Elizabeth is moving away," Jolena said finally. "She is on the Doll Ski Team with me, so I will see her again when we have a competition, but we won't be able to play together anymore."

"That is really sad," Billy agreed. "I'm lucky. Emil is my best friend, and he will never move away, or if he does, I'll go with him, because he's also my brother."

"It's nice to have brothers and sisters who stay with us," Jolena agreed. "I would hate to have to move away from all of you!"
"Do you at least have Elizabeth's phone number or email address?" Billy wanted to know.

"Yes," Jolena said. "I have both of those. I know I can write to her and even talk with her on the phone, but we can't play together."

"Yes, you can!" Billy exclaimed. "I mean, you can't wrestle with her or have a pillow fight with her, but you can play lots of other things with her."

Jolena looked up. "How is that possible?" she asked.
"You can have online play dates," Billy said. "You can use one of the special apps, like FaceTime or Skype," he added, pointing to where The Writer's laptop was.

"Please, Billy, show me how it works!" Jolena exclaimed.

"It's easy," Billy replied. "You call or email Elizabeth to set up a time to get together. Tell her which app you're using and make sure she knows how to use it," he explained.

"Then when the time comes, you call her using the app. It will connect to her app when she answers," he added. "Then you can play. If The Writer will let you use the iPad, you can set it up anywhere. You will see and hear her, and she will hear and see you!"

"That's a great idea!" Jolena exclaimed, looking much happier. "Now, what kinds of things could we play?"
"You're a good dancer," Billy said. "You could dance for her."
"Elizabeth is a good dancer, too," Jolena said. "We could dance for each other!"

"Great idea! Cards would be difficult," Billy went on. "You would both need a deck of cards with all the cards in the same order. I don't see how that could be done." He thought for a moment. "How about hangman?"
"I love that idea," Jolena said. "It would be easy to do. All we need is for each of us to have paper and pencil."

Jolena thought for a bit. "We have some Mad Libs," she said. "I could email her the link to the Mad Libs you can print, and we could take turns writing the words and reading the story!"

Jolena sent her friend Elizabeth an email, explaining what she wanted to do. They agreed on a time.
Jolena asked the Writer if she could use the iPad and promised to be very careful with it. Then Billy showed Jolena how to call Elizabeth using one of the apps he talked about. When he saw that she knew how to do it, and they had Elizabeth on the other end, he went to do boy things.

Jolena and Elizabeth visit online often now. One time Jolena taught Elizabeth how to make a quiche (KEESH), which is sort of an egg-and-cheese pie.

Then they cooked breaded fish in a pan.

They read a book together. The book was called "Little Women," which was the only book they both had, but it's a good book, and they enjoyed it. They took turns reading the chapters. After they finished each chapter, they talked about the story and wondered about what would happen next.

They played with the bear house that Jolena's family had. That was more difficult, because Elizabeth couldn't hold the bears or the furniture, but she told Jolena what she wanted to do with the bears and the furniture. They made up stories about what the bears were doing.

Sometimes they just talked. Elizabeth talked about her new school and new friends she was making. They talked about the school they used to go to together and the friends they both knew there. They talked about ski practice and the next competition, when they would see each other again in person.

Elizabeth's brother, Zachary, sometimes liked to say hello. He had things to talk about, too. He wanted to know about the friends he left behind.

They found out that they could do a lot of the same things they liked to do together when they could be in the same room.

They planned times when they could get together and play a couple of times a week. They were looking forward to when they could see each other for real, but they could still have fun together.
"Next time I see you for ski practice," Jolena said one day, "Let's have a pillow fight!"
Both girls giggled. They had never had a pillow fight before. It would be fun! In the meantime, they had lots of fun things they could do together, even from miles away!

Cast--
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Elizabeth: Götz Happy Kidz Marie
Zachary: Zachary Jr. of Wisconsin

Can you think of any other games you could play online with a friend you can't be with? (Be sure you get your parents' permission to play with friends online.)