Veronika found her three younger sisters writing in the living room. "What are you doing, girls?" she asked.
"We're doing homework," Charlotte said. "We have to write about something that interests us."
"How is it going," Veronika wanted to know.
"I think it's fun. I'm writing about why I like music," Charlotte answered.
"I'm writing about my day at school," Mariah added. "I think school is a lot of fun. I like to write anyway, and writing about what I think is fun is even more fun."
"How about you, Jolena?" Veronika asked.
"Don't ask!" Jolena replied. "I'm having a very hard time."
"Everything I write sounds stupid when I read it," Jolena went on as Veronika came to stand next to her. "Each sentence sounds OK by itself, but when I read the whole thing, it makes my head spin."
"I've started over four times," Jolena continued, pointing to three crumpled-up pieces of paper on the floor.
"Jolena, I hear you saying you're upset that it isn't going better," Veronika said. "We're sisters, and we help each other. Let's see if we can help you."
Veronika thought for a moment. "Mariah doesn't have a problem writing. Maybe she can give you some tips," she said, looking at Mariah, who had continued with her writing.
Mariah looked up. "I would be happy to help if you like, Jolena," she said.
"I would love it!" Jolena exclaimed. "This is really hard."
"Would you read your homework for us, Mariah?" Charlotte asked.
Mariah agreed. She read what she had on her paper. "It isn't finished yet," she said when she was done.
"But it makes sense so far," Jolena said. "Why doesn't mine make sense?"
Mariah came to look at what Jolena had written.
"Each sentence is very nice, Jolena," she said when she had finished reading. Each word is spelled correctly, and your sentences are good. They make sense. The problem is that you seem to be skipping around in your thoughts."
"When we think, our ideas jump around. That make sense to us, but when we write, we need other people to understand. We need what we write to start in one place and go forward to the end," she continued.
"Here's my little trick, and maybe it will help you. Make a list on a separate piece of paper of your ideas about what you're writing, just as they come from your thoughts." Mariah gave Jolena a piece of piece paper to write on. "What are your ideas?"
"It's about snow," Jolena said. "I know the snow is water that comes from the clouds and falls to the ground." She wrote that down.
"And?" Veronika encouraged.
"It's cold, like ice," Jolena went on, writing that down. Then she looked up. "I don't know what makes it fall."
"You could look that up," Charlotte suggested, looking up from her work.
"That's a great idea," Veronika said.
"Yes, you could look that up and put the answer on your piece of paper," Mariah agreed. "You have a good start, now," she added.
"When you have all your ideas on the piece of paper, you look at what you have," Mariah went on. "Then you figure out what should go first, second and third. You put a number next to each. Then you start writing, using your ideas in order, from the first number all the way through to the last number."
"I think I can do it now!" Jolena exclaimed.
"That's wonderful!" Veronika said. "Now we need to talk about what to do with paper you throw away." Veronika pointed to the balled-up pieces of paper on the floor. "We don't throw paper on the floor," she said.
Jolena gathered up the balled-up pieces of paper. "Where do these belong?" she asked.
"We have trash cans for trash," Veronika explained, "but this is clean paper, and most paper and cardboard can go into the recycling bin."
"What's recycling?" asked Mariah.
"Recycling is one way we show respect for the earth," Veronika explained. "What we throw away in the trash goes into a big hole in the ground called a landfill. The more we throw away, the less natural earth we have where we live. That's one reason we try to reuse or recycle what we can. Many things can be turned into new things. That's what recycling does."
"So we don't have to live in a pile of trash?" Jolena asked.
"Yes, that's one reason," Veronika said. "That isn't the only reason, though. Do you know where paper comes from?"
"I know!" Charlotte cried. "Paper is made from trees."
"That's right," Veronika agreed, "but it's also made from old, used paper. When we recycle used paper we can make new paper out of it. We also save trees, and we need trees."
"I love trees," Jolena said. "They are fun to climb, and you can hang a swing from them," she added, remembering climbing trees last summer.
"Yes, but they also make air for people to breathe," Veronika added. "Without people, we wouldn't have the fun lives we have."
Mariah's eyes became very big. "I can't imagine our lives without people," she said.
"That's another reason we recycle paper, but we also recycle plastic, metal and glass or reuse it if it's still good. They all come from the earth, using things that might run out or be hard to find, unless we can reuse them," Veronika explained. "Come! I'll show you where we put the things we recycle."
Veronika brought the other dolls to the closet under the stairs.
"Where we live, we put all the things we recycle except for glass and plastic bags in one bin, so paper, cardboard, plastic containers and cans go in here," Veronika explained. "If a can or container had food in it, we wash it first."
"So do I put the paper in here?" Jolena asked.
Veronika nodded. "This is the place," she said.
Jolena put her balled-up paper in the bin.
"When it's full, we empty it into a big container and leave it out at the street, along with one for trash. On trash day, two different trucks come by to empty them," Veronika said.
"Hey, there are glass bottles and jars in this one," Charlotte said, looking into another bin.
"Yes," agreed Veronika. "Glass gets picked up next week, along with next week's trash."
"We take our plastic bags to the grocery store when we shop." Veronika pointed to a grocery bag full of other plastic bags. "If we can't use them anymore, we put them into a bin in front of the store, but we reuse them if they are still good. Many people have grocery bags out of cloth that they use over and over. That's even better than recycling plastic bags."
"Because everything we have comes from the earth, we show our gratitude to the earth for providing all these things every time we recycle," Veronika continued.
"That makes me think." Charlotte said. "Next week is Thanksgiving. Isn't Thanksgiving about being grateful for what we have?"
"Yes," said Veronika. "
"I'm thankful for my sisters" Jolena said. "I learn new things from each of my sisters, and learning is fun."
"We all learn from each other, Jolena," Mariah said. "and I know something you can teach me. I would like to learn to ski!"
"I would love to teach you, as soon as we have enough snow," Jolena replied. "That reminds me. We need to finish our homework, and I have some things to add to my list. I just realized that snow is recycled water!"
"We're doing homework," Charlotte said. "We have to write about something that interests us."
"How is it going," Veronika wanted to know.
"I think it's fun. I'm writing about why I like music," Charlotte answered.
"I'm writing about my day at school," Mariah added. "I think school is a lot of fun. I like to write anyway, and writing about what I think is fun is even more fun."
"How about you, Jolena?" Veronika asked.
"Don't ask!" Jolena replied. "I'm having a very hard time."
"Everything I write sounds stupid when I read it," Jolena went on as Veronika came to stand next to her. "Each sentence sounds OK by itself, but when I read the whole thing, it makes my head spin."
"I've started over four times," Jolena continued, pointing to three crumpled-up pieces of paper on the floor.
"Jolena, I hear you saying you're upset that it isn't going better," Veronika said. "We're sisters, and we help each other. Let's see if we can help you."
Veronika thought for a moment. "Mariah doesn't have a problem writing. Maybe she can give you some tips," she said, looking at Mariah, who had continued with her writing.
Mariah looked up. "I would be happy to help if you like, Jolena," she said.
"I would love it!" Jolena exclaimed. "This is really hard."
"Would you read your homework for us, Mariah?" Charlotte asked.
Mariah agreed. She read what she had on her paper. "It isn't finished yet," she said when she was done.
"But it makes sense so far," Jolena said. "Why doesn't mine make sense?"
Mariah came to look at what Jolena had written.
"Each sentence is very nice, Jolena," she said when she had finished reading. Each word is spelled correctly, and your sentences are good. They make sense. The problem is that you seem to be skipping around in your thoughts."
"When we think, our ideas jump around. That make sense to us, but when we write, we need other people to understand. We need what we write to start in one place and go forward to the end," she continued.
"Here's my little trick, and maybe it will help you. Make a list on a separate piece of paper of your ideas about what you're writing, just as they come from your thoughts." Mariah gave Jolena a piece of piece paper to write on. "What are your ideas?"
"It's about snow," Jolena said. "I know the snow is water that comes from the clouds and falls to the ground." She wrote that down.
"And?" Veronika encouraged.
"It's cold, like ice," Jolena went on, writing that down. Then she looked up. "I don't know what makes it fall."
"You could look that up," Charlotte suggested, looking up from her work.
"That's a great idea," Veronika said.
"Yes, you could look that up and put the answer on your piece of paper," Mariah agreed. "You have a good start, now," she added.
"When you have all your ideas on the piece of paper, you look at what you have," Mariah went on. "Then you figure out what should go first, second and third. You put a number next to each. Then you start writing, using your ideas in order, from the first number all the way through to the last number."
"I think I can do it now!" Jolena exclaimed.
"That's wonderful!" Veronika said. "Now we need to talk about what to do with paper you throw away." Veronika pointed to the balled-up pieces of paper on the floor. "We don't throw paper on the floor," she said.
Jolena gathered up the balled-up pieces of paper. "Where do these belong?" she asked.
"We have trash cans for trash," Veronika explained, "but this is clean paper, and most paper and cardboard can go into the recycling bin."
"What's recycling?" asked Mariah.
"Recycling is one way we show respect for the earth," Veronika explained. "What we throw away in the trash goes into a big hole in the ground called a landfill. The more we throw away, the less natural earth we have where we live. That's one reason we try to reuse or recycle what we can. Many things can be turned into new things. That's what recycling does."
"So we don't have to live in a pile of trash?" Jolena asked.
"Yes, that's one reason," Veronika said. "That isn't the only reason, though. Do you know where paper comes from?"
"I know!" Charlotte cried. "Paper is made from trees."
"That's right," Veronika agreed, "but it's also made from old, used paper. When we recycle used paper we can make new paper out of it. We also save trees, and we need trees."
"I love trees," Jolena said. "They are fun to climb, and you can hang a swing from them," she added, remembering climbing trees last summer.
"Yes, but they also make air for people to breathe," Veronika added. "Without people, we wouldn't have the fun lives we have."
Mariah's eyes became very big. "I can't imagine our lives without people," she said.
"That's another reason we recycle paper, but we also recycle plastic, metal and glass or reuse it if it's still good. They all come from the earth, using things that might run out or be hard to find, unless we can reuse them," Veronika explained. "Come! I'll show you where we put the things we recycle."
Veronika brought the other dolls to the closet under the stairs.
"Where we live, we put all the things we recycle except for glass and plastic bags in one bin, so paper, cardboard, plastic containers and cans go in here," Veronika explained. "If a can or container had food in it, we wash it first."
"So do I put the paper in here?" Jolena asked.
Veronika nodded. "This is the place," she said.
Jolena put her balled-up paper in the bin.
"When it's full, we empty it into a big container and leave it out at the street, along with one for trash. On trash day, two different trucks come by to empty them," Veronika said.
"Hey, there are glass bottles and jars in this one," Charlotte said, looking into another bin.
"Yes," agreed Veronika. "Glass gets picked up next week, along with next week's trash."
"We take our plastic bags to the grocery store when we shop." Veronika pointed to a grocery bag full of other plastic bags. "If we can't use them anymore, we put them into a bin in front of the store, but we reuse them if they are still good. Many people have grocery bags out of cloth that they use over and over. That's even better than recycling plastic bags."
"Because everything we have comes from the earth, we show our gratitude to the earth for providing all these things every time we recycle," Veronika continued.
"That makes me think." Charlotte said. "Next week is Thanksgiving. Isn't Thanksgiving about being grateful for what we have?"
"Yes," said Veronika. "
"I'm thankful for my sisters" Jolena said. "I learn new things from each of my sisters, and learning is fun."
"We all learn from each other, Jolena," Mariah said. "and I know something you can teach me. I would like to learn to ski!"
"I would love to teach you, as soon as we have enough snow," Jolena replied. "That reminds me. We need to finish our homework, and I have some things to add to my list. I just realized that snow is recycled water!"
Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kids Vroni
Veronika: Götz Classic Kids Vroni
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
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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.
Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.
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Copyright © 2018, 2023 by Peggy Stuart
"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.
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 © 2018, 2023 by Peggy Stuart
