Peggy Stuart's Blog, page 9

May 31, 2024

The Spelling Test

One warm afternoon the dolls were doing their homework. Jolena found herself struggling.

"Can you help me, Mariah?" Jolena asked. "You're so good with words and writing."

Mariah closed her book. "I will if I can," she said. "What do you need help with?"

"Well," Jolena began, "I have to know these words for spelling."
Mariah looked at the list.

Here's the list.

bough
bought
brought
cough
dough
enough
rough
though
thought
through
tough

"They are all spelled almost the same," Mariah pointed out.

"Yes, but they don't sound the same," Jolena sighed. "It makes them hard to spell. I can read them when I see them, but when I need to write them, I can't remember. I could probably figure out what goes with the 'o-u-g-h' for each word during the test, but I want to be able to remember them when I need them for real!"

"I understand," Mariah said. "It's because the English language has changed since the words came about. We don't say them the same as dolls did hundreds of years ago, but the spelling often has stayed almost the same."

"Why do we have to keep the old spelling, then?" Jolena wanted to know.

"Well," Mariah began, "if we kept changing the spelling, then someday dolls couldn't read books and stories that were written today, like the book Mandy is reading, and that would be too bad."

Mariah looked at the list again. "Maybe it would help if you put them in groups and then used each one in a sentence," she suggested. "Group them the way they sound. Thought, brought and bought all rhyme, but cough ends differently. Without the 't' on the end of that word, the 'gh' sounds like 'f'. It sounds like the others except for that."

Jolena wrote each of those words down on her paper. She and Mariah checked the list to be sure that Jolena had spelled them correctly.

"Now for a sentence," Jolena said. "I thought I could do a triple flip," she said and then wrote it down next to the word 'thought'.
"Charlotte brought me a glass of water," she said and then wrote it out, too.

"I bought some flour to make some bread," she said as she wrote it out.
"Billy has a cough," she wrote.
"That's great," Mariah said. "Now let's see if there's another set we can put together.

"How about 'though' and 'dough'?" Jolena asked.
Mariah looked at the list. "Those go together, but I don't see any others that sound the same," she agreed.

Jolena wrote out, "Billy doesn't have a fever, though." Then she wrote out, "I need the flour to make bread dough."
"That's good," Mariah told her. "Do you see any other words that we can put together?" she asked.
"What about 'rough' and 'enough'?" Jolena asked.
"Yes," Mariah agreed, looking to see if she could find any others that sounded the same. "I see one more," she said.
Jolena looked at the list of spelling words. "I see it! 'Tough'!"
she exclaimed. "These words have that funny 'f' sound at the end again, even though the letter 'f' isn't in the word! It's like 'cough,' except that the rest of the word doesn't sound the same."

Then she wrote out each word in her notebook. "This spelling lesson is tough!" she wrote.

Then she though for a moment. "I will do well if I study enough," she wrote. After another moment she wrote, "The boats came back home because the sea was rough."
Mariah nodded her approval. "Those are good sentences," she said. "Now let's see if we can group any more."
"It's easier now that we have used some of the words," Jolena said.
Both dolls looked at the list. There were three words left, but none of them sounded like any of the others.

"Well," said Mariah, "let's just do each of them separately."
Jolena thought about 'bough'. "There was a bird's nest on a bough in the tree," she wrote. Then she looked up.

"Good!" Mariah said.
Jolena thought about 'thought'. "I thought this spelling test was hard," she wrote.
The two dolls looked at each other and smiled. "See?" Mariah said. "It isn't that difficult. We just needed to take it in small bites."

"It will be easier when I am through studying," Jolena wrote.
"There are a lot of words in English that are spelled funny," Jolena said. "I guess writing them, saying them and using them a lot makes it easier to remember them. I thought learning these words would be difficult, but you have made it easy. Thank you for helping me!"

"It's always easier to learn something," Mariah said, "if you can figure out how to use what you are learning. That's why you wrote the sentences."

"Like the word, 'flour'," Jolena agreed. It sounds like 'flower' but is spelled differently. I don't have any trouble remembering, because it's in my recipes when I bake, and sometimes when I cook other things."

Mandy looked up from her book. "Flower and flour. Those are homophones (HAW-muh-fohnz)," she said. "That's what we call two words you say the same but that have different spellings and different meanings, like 'bough' from your spelling list and 'bow' like when you take a bow after you are done performing."

"I do this," Jolena said, "when I'm done performing a dance." She got down to the floor and bent over to show them.

"When I am done performing a triple flip, though, I do this."
Jolena said as she threw her arms in the air. "Only I'm holding my ski poles," she added.

"That isn't a bow," Mariah said. "That's saying, 'Hooray! I made it!" They all agreed.
Jolena climbed back up into the big chair. "How do you know about...homophones?" she asked Mandy.

Mandy picked up a book she had on the box she was using to sit on. "One of our readers sent me this book," she said. "It tells all about it, and it's fun to read."

"Let's read it together," Mariah suggested.

The three dolls settled on the couch to read.

"I just thought of something," Jolena said. "I thought my spelling list was tough, but at least I don't have to spell 'homophone'!"

Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

The book How Much Can a Bare Bear Bear? by Brian P. Cleary can be found in libraries, online here, on Amazon and elsewhere. Mandy wishes to thank reader and fellow knitter Cheryl B. Waters for her generous gift of the book.

Note to children: Dolls sometimes forget to take off their shoes when they get onto a bed, couch or chair, but children play outdoors in their shoes and should always take their shoes off before putting their feet on the furniture.

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.

View more on Peggy Stuart's website »

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Published on May 31, 2024 13:00

May 24, 2024

The Patch

“What’s that thing on your arm?” Pippa asked Pam. The dolls had been sitting on the big bench at the side of the trail and chatting, when Pippa noticed something new.

Pam and Pauly both looked where Pippa was pointing.

“This is my patch,” Pam replied proudly. “Maryanne made it for me, so I would have one like hers.”

The three smaller dolls had offered to walk Pierre and Freckles, because Charlotte and Billy had orchestra practice after school. Now the dogs were getting bored with the smells in that one spot and were impatient to move to a new location, so the dolls climbed down from the bench and continued their walk.

Pam noticed that both of her friends seemed puzzled by what she had said, so she continued her explanation of the patch. “You remember how I told you Maryanne was going to start wearing a patch for her diabetes?” she asked.

Pauly and Pippa nodded. They thought back to when Pam first came into their lives a few months ago. Pam had been worried because the child she came to live with, Maryanne, was unhappy. Nico had brought Pam, his neighbor, to visit the dolls who lived with The Writer and her husband. He thought she should talk with Veronika.

Maryanne had just learned that she had diabetes (DY-uh-BEE-tees). She was afraid she had done something wrong and was being punished for it, or that she had made herself become diabetic by what she ate and did. Mandy had helped Pam find out that children who have diabetes aren’t being punished for something they did, and that human children can’t make themselves diabetic by what they do. It’s something they are born with. Mandy knows which websites have good information about health, so she knew where to look. She chose a trustworthy website, for a place called the Mayo Clinic. (She knows that not everything you read online is true; sometimes human people are helpful and sometimes they make things up.)

Veronika had helped Pam understand a doll’s job and how to help Maryanne.

When Maryanne had learned to hear Pam talking to her, Pam told Maryanne it wasn’t her fault that she had diabetes, and that she hadn’t made herself be this way.

“I think she felt a lot better after that,” Pam said.

“So why did she give you the patch, that thing on your arm?” Pippa asked, as they stopped on the trail so the dogs could sniff around, doing what dogs do.

“Remember when we got together to play that game?” Pam asked. “What was it called…” she tried to remember. “Slides and Stairways or something like that?”

“Chutes and Ladders,” Pauly reminded her. “It’s a fun game.”

“Yes!” Pippa exclaimed. “I remember now! When you came to play Chutes and Ladders, you told us Maryanne got some kind of thing to go on her arm to give her the medicine she needs.”

“Insulin, (IN-suh-len)” Pam said. “That’s the medicine. It’s a patch that gives her insulin when she needs it. It’s called an insulin pump. She wears it all the time. She can even wear it in the shower and in the swimming pool.”

“So is that thing on your arm is pretending to be an insulin pump?” Pauly asked.

“Yes,” Pam replied. “Maryanne made it for me, so we could pretend I have diabetes, too. Maryanne’s mother helped her cut up one of those plastic things that holds the bread shut.” Pam said.

“Maryanne decorated it with a pen and then used some of that tape that’s sticky on both sides and put it on my arm,” Pam added. “But she doesn’t keep it in one place all the time. She has to move it to a different place on her body every few days, so she moves mine at the same time.”

Pam went on talking as the dolls continued their walk. “Maryanne tells me all the things she has to do: watch her diet and exercise, and test her blood and stuff.”

“I think it helps her remember everything when she tells me,” Pam explained. “She’s teaching me and looking after me, so it makes it easier for her to remember what she has to do for herself.”

“Mariah told me,” Pippa said, “that when you teach what you know to someone, you learn it even better, and you don’t forget it as soon.”

“Veronika told me the same thing,” Pam told them. “Maryanne knows a lot now.We went out to eat the other day. We were eating lunch at the coffee shop down the street.”

“I think I know the one you mean,” Pauly said. “Jeffy took me there once when his family ate out.”

“Well,” Pam went on, “you’ll never guess what happened,” she told them, as they all sat on some rocks to pretend to rest.

Pippa and Pauly wondered how they could guess, since they weren’t there. They looked at Pam. Maybe it was one of those things dolls say just to introduce what they are going to say next or to make sure you’re paying attention.

“We were sitting at the table in the coffee shop,” Pam said, “just the three of us. Maryanne and her mother were looking at the menu and talking about things Maryanne might like to eat that would work with her diet. They’re still getting used to it, you know.”

“Suddenly,” Pam continued, “this tall lady came over and started shaking her finger at Maryanne’s mother. She said she had heard us talking. (Well, she heard Maryanne and her mother talking. I don’t think she’s the type of human person who can hear us dolls when we talk. I don’t think she listens that well.)”

“This lady was scolding Maryanne’s mother,” Pam explained. “Scolding, yes, that’s what it was. She said it was all the fault of Maryanne’s mother that her daughter has diabetes. She should never have allowed Maryanne to have candy, and that was why she was diabetic.”

“Well, you’ll never guess what happened next,” Pam went on. “Maryanne stood up and looked up at this tall lady. She told her that it wasn’t true that eating candy caused her to have diabetes, and besides, she hardly ever had candy, because she had to brush her teeth afterwards, and it wasn’t always convenient. I just watched her. I couldn't believe she was teaching a grownup person something that lady didn’t know.”

“Then,” Pam said, “Maryanne said that she couldn’t help having diabetes any more than she could help having blue eyes. It just was, so the lady should just please mind her own business. Then she sat down and looked at her menu. She asked her mother if a hamburger would be OK, and her mother said it would, if she had it with salad instead of fries. The nosy lady just stood there for a bit and then turned around and walked off.”

The dolls got down from the rocks and continued on their walk. “We had a nice lunch,” Pam said. “Maryanne let me pretend to eat part of her hamburger. It was fun. I think the hamburger was tasty, at least I pretended it was.”

“You’ve come a long way,” Pippa pointed out, “since you first came to our house and didn’t know what to do.”

The three dolls and two dogs walked on in silence.

“I’m lucky to have such good friends,” Pam replied as they reached The Writer’s house. “All of you have been a great help.”

Pippa invited her friends in when they reached the door, but Pam explained that Maryanne and her parents were going to the movie tonight. “I have to go home to have Maryanne change my clothes,” she explained. “She’s taking me along!”

After Pippa and Pauly had brought the dogs inside and Pippa had closed the door behind them, the two dolls turned and watched Pam make her way back down the stairs and walk to the sidewalk that led to her home.

Pauly turned and looked at Pippa. “Maryanne brushes her teeth after she eats candy,” he said. “That reminded me that Nico says Frankie’s sister wears jewelry on her teeth now. It looks like a little bracelet on each tooth.”

“I wonder what it’s like to have teeth,” Pippa said.

“I wonder what it’s like to have blood and have to test it all the time,” Pauly added. “What’s blood, anyway?”

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Chosen MariahPippa: Götz Little Kidz LottaPauly: Götz Little Kidz PaulNico: Götz Hannah-Zoé at the BalletPam: Götz Little Kidz Springtime, from My Doll Best Friend
This is based on a true story.The Mayo Clinic is a good source of health information you can trust.
Girl wearing an insulin pump photo from Doctor Visit.Mother looking at menu photo from WebMD.Teeth with braces: Holistic Smile Care.
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.

View more on Peggy Stuart's website »

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Published on May 24, 2024 13:00

May 17, 2024

Getting the Answers

Billy looked for Veronika as soon as he got home. He found her reading a book.

"Veronika," he said, "we need to talk."

Veronika put the book she was reading down on her chair. "What is it, Billy?" she asked.

"I want to know what's the right thing to do," Billy began. "I know you say we should help people in need if we can, but I'm not sure about this, so I didn't, but now I feel bad."

"Tell me about it," Veronika urged.

"Today we had a science quiz," Billy explained. "We had to know all the planets in order of their distance from the sun. I knew them, because Mandy helped me study for the quiz. She taught me a sentence where each word starts with the first letter of the name of the planet. Then I just had to remember that Mercury is the first 'm' and Mars is the second one, because there are two that start with the letter 'm'. That way, it's easy," Billy explained. "Mandy showed me in a book what each one looks like through a telescope. It showed where each planet is in our solar system. (That's what we call our sun with all the planets circling around it.) That way, I can see it in my head. It isn't just a word," he added.

Veronika nodded encouragement. "It sounds as if you didn't have any trouble with the quiz," Veronika said. "So who needed help?"
"The boy behind me––I don't know his name yet, because he wasn't in my class last year––anyway, the boy behind me asked me quietly to hold my paper so he could see as I wrote my answers."

"I wasn't sure if that was a good idea," Billy went on, "so I shook my head. He was mad at me."

Veronika got down from her chair and climbed up on the box with Billy. "I can see why you didn't want to, Billy," she said, "but tell me why you didn't think it was a good idea?"

"Well," Billy said, "I think Mr. Jackson, that's the teacher, wants to know if we have learned what we were supposed to learn. He didn't want to know if we could just copy the words when we see them."

Veronika nodded.
"I also think," Billy went on, "that the boy behind me didn't want the teacher to know he was asking to copy from me. He asked me in a way that made me think it should be a secret."

"You did the right thing, Billy," Veronika told him. "What he wanted to do is called cheating, and cheating is wrong. It would be wrong for him to copy your paper and wrong for you to let him."

"Cheating!" Billy said. "There's even a word for it. I didn't know that." Then Billy looked down at his hands.

"I felt sorry for him, though," Billy said. "He told me out on the playground that he was going to be punished for failing the quiz. I wish I could have helped him."
"You have helped him, Billy," Veronika explained. "He has learned that you won't let him copy your paper. He has learned that he needs to study for quizzes and tests if he wants to get a good grade."

"If he didn't ever learn that, he would someday find himself with a problem he couldn't solve by cheating, and that problem probably would be a much bigger one than a quiz."

Billy thought about that. "I see what you mean," he said. "I still feel sorry for him and wish I could help."

"It isn't cheating to help someone study," Veronika suggested, "the way Mandy helped you. If you really want to help him, you could do that."

"How do I do that?" Billy asked.

"You could work together on your homework," Veronika said. "It isn't cheating if you don't give him the answers but just discuss the question with him and show him how to find answers for himself. You could even quiz each other about what the teacher says will be on the test or quiz. That will help both of you."

"That sounds like a good way for me to learn, too," Billy said. "That's just what Mandy did. We talked about the planets, not just the names. Then she had me draw a picture of the sun and all the planets with their names. She knows so much!" he added.
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "When we teach someone else, we learn what we're teaching even better."
"Maybe," Billy said "that's why you're so good at knowing how to help people, and what's right and wrong. You teach the rest of us."

For once, Veronika was speechless. She didn't know what to say.

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

View more on Peggy Stuart's website »

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Published on May 17, 2024 13:00

May 10, 2024

The Spelling Test

It was a sunny afternoon, but the dolls were indoors, doing their homework.

"Can you help me, Mariah?" Jolena asked. "You're so good with words and writing."

Mariah closed her book. "I will if I can," she said. "What do you need help with?"

"Well," Jolena began, "I have to know these words for spelling."
Mariah looked at the list.

Here's the list.

bough
bought
brought
cough
dough
enough
rough
though
thought
through
tough

"They are all spelled almost the same," Mariah pointed out.

"Yes, but they don't sound the same," Jolena sighed. "It makes them hard to spell. I can read them when I see them, but when I need to write them, I can't remember. It's hard enough to figure out what goes with the o-u-g-h for each word during the test, but I want to be able to remember them when I need them for real!"

"Why do we have to keep the old spelling, then?" Jolena wanted to know.

"Well," Mariah began, "if we kept changing the spelling, then someday dolls wouldn't be able to read books and stories that were written today, like the book Mandy is reading," she pointed out, gesturing to where Mandy was sitting, across from them, "and that would be too bad."

Mariah looked at the list again. "You know the words when you read them, so maybe it would help if you put them in groups and then used each one in a sentence," she suggested. "That way you're working back from what you already know––reading––to what's hard––writing them. Let's group them the way they sound, so it makes more sense. Thought, brought and bought all rhyme, but cough ends differently. Without the 't' on the end of that word, the 'gh' sounds like 'f'. It sounds like the others except for that."

Jolena wrote each of those words down on her paper. She and Mariah checked the list to be sure that Jolena had spelled them correctly.

"Now for a sentence," Jolena said. "I thought I could do a triple flip," she said and then wrote it down next to the word 'thought'.
"Charlotte brought me a glass of water," she said and then wrote it out, too.

"I bought some flour to make some bread," she said as she wrote it out.
"Billy has a cough," she wrote. Then she laughed. It was hard to imagine Billy trying to cough, when he couldn't even open his mouth and only had pretend lungs, anyway.
"That's great," Mariah told her. "Now let's see if there's another set we can put together.

"How about though and dough?" Jolena asked.
Mariah looked at the list. "Those go together, but I don't see any others that sound the same," she agreed.

Jolena wrote out, "Billy doesn't have a fever, though." (Billy with a fever was funny, too.) Then she wrote out, "I need the flour to make bread dough."
"That's good," Mariah told her. "Do you see any other words that we can put together?" she asked.
"What about rough and enough?" Jolena asked.
"Yes," Mariah agreed, looking to see if she could find any others that sounded the same. "I see one more," she said.
Jolena looked at the list of spelling words. "I see it! Tough!"
she exclaimed. "These words have that funny 'f' sound at the end again, even though the letter 'f' isn't in the word! It's like cough, except that the rest of the word doesn't sound the same."

Then she wrote out each word in her notebook. "This spelling lesson is tough!" she wrote.

Then she though for a moment. "I will do well if I study enough," she wrote. After another moment she wrote, "The boats came back home because the sea was rough."
Mariah nodded her approval. "Those are good sentences," she said. "Now let's see if we can group any more."
"It's easier now that we have used some of the words," Jolena said.
Both dolls looked at the list. There were three words left, but none of them sounded like any of the others.

"Well," said Mariah, "let's just do each of them separately."
Jolena thought about bough. "There was a bird's nest on a bough in the tree," she wrote. Then she looked up.

"Good!" Mariah said.
Jolena thought about thought. "I thought this spelling test was hard," she wrote.
The two dolls looked at each other and smiled. "See?" Mariah said. "It isn't that difficult. We just needed to take it in small bites."

"It will be easier when I am through studying," Jolena wrote.
"There are a lot of words in English that are spelled funny," Jolena said. "I guess writing them, saying them and using them a lot makes it easier to remember them. I thought learning these words would be difficult, but you have made it easy. Thank you for helping me!"

"It's always easier to learn something," Mariah said, "if you can figure out how to use what you are learning. That's why you wrote the sentences."

"Like the word, flour," Jolena agreed. It sounds like flower but it's spelled differently. I don't have any trouble remembering, because it's in my recipes when I bake, and sometimes when I cook other things."

Mandy looked up from her book. "Flower and flour. Those are homophones (HO-muh-fohnz)," she said. "That's what we call two words you say the same but that have different spellings and different meanings, like bough from your spelling list and bow like when you take a bow after you are done performing."

"I do this," Jolena said, "when I'm done performing a dance." She got down to the floor and bent over to show them.

"When I am done performing a triple flip, though, I do this."
Jolena said as she threw her arms in the air. "Only I'm holding my ski poles," she added.

"That isn't a bow," Mariah said. "That's saying, 'Hooray! I made it!" They all agreed.
Jolena climbed back up into the big chair. "How do you know about...homophones?" she asked Mandy.

Mandy picked up a book she had on the box she was using to sit on. "One of our readers sent me this book," she said. "It tells all about it, and it's fun to read."

"Let's read it together," Mariah suggested.

The three dolls settled on the couch to read.

"I just thought of something," Jolena said. "I thought my spelling list was tough, but at least I don't have to spell 'homophone'!"

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Published on May 10, 2024 13:00

May 3, 2024

On the Wing

"That was a butterfly," Jolena said.

"I thought that creature was called a moth," Charlotte replied.

"It looked just like the butterflies on my shirt," Jolena pointed out, "only yellow and black, not pink and silver."

"Let's ask Mandy!" both girls exclaimed together.

They found Mandy knitting. Mariah was reading to her as she worked.

"Mandy," Charlotte began, "we have a question."
Mariah stopped reading, and Mandy took off her glasses and put her knitting down.

"We saw a creature flying around in the garden," Jolena said. "I thought it was called a butterfly, just like the ones on my shirt."
"I thought it was called a moth," Charlotte said.

Mariah was interested, too. "I know there are some flying insects that have big wings," she said.

"I've heard them called butterflies," Mariah continued, "but I've also heard them called moths. I thought there were just two names for the same thing. I thought a butterfly was just a pretty moth," she added.

"They are very close to the same thing," Mandy said. "That's because they are related. They are insects that belong to the order Lepidoptera (leh-pih-DOP-ter-ah), which means 'scaly wings,' but they are different from each other in some ways. You're right, Mariah. We think of butterflies as pretty, because most butterflies are more colorful than most moths, but not always."

"If I don't know anything about what you saw," Mandy continued, "I would have to guess that it was a moth, because there are many more kinds of moths in the world than butterflies." Mandy paused and thought. "On the other hand, if you saw it just now, and it was flying around, it was probably a butterfly," she said.

"You see, butterflies usually are awake in the daytime, like us," Mandy explained. "Moths usually come out at night, but there are some that like to be out in the daytime."
"It was definitely awake," Jolena said.
"We saw it flying around," Charlotte said, "so it must have been awake."
"Or flying in its sleep," Jolena pointed out. Then she giggled.
"Did it stop flying while you were watching it?" Mandy asked.
Charlotte and Jolena looked at each other and thought.

"Yes," they both cried at once.
"It landed on a flower in the garden," Jolena said.

"Yes," Charlotte agreed. "It crawled around on the flower and then stopped for a little bit."
"Then," Jolena added, "it went to another flower and did the same thing."
"It was probably drinking," Mandy explained. "Most butterflies and moths drink nectar (NEHK-ter), which is a sweet liquid found in flowers. They drink it the way hummingbirds do. Now tell me, when the creature stopped, what did it do with its wings?"

The two girls looked at each other and thought. They tried to remember what they saw. They would have closed their eyes to remember better if they could have, but their eyes don't close, so they had to pretend. They remembered something like this.

"When the wings stopped moving," Charlotte began, "the creature sort of held them like this." Charlotte put her hands up over her head and back as far as she could reach.

Jolena nodded.
"That sounds like a butterfly," Mandy said. "Most moths rest with their wings covering their sides."

"Some, though," she explained, hold their wings flat against whatever they are resting on."

"What did its antennae (an-TEH-nee) look like?" Mandy asked.
"What's that?" Mariah asked. (As a writer, Mariah is always interested in new words.)

"Antennae are something like ears," Mandy explained, "but they do more than just hear. They can smell and feel. There are two of them."
Mandy asked Mariah if she could use her pencil and notebook. Mariah agreed and handed them to her.

Mandy drew two pictures on it. She drew a line with a little ball on top. It looked like a line with a little ball on top. Then she drew another line and some little lines coming off of it. That one looked sort of like a skinny feather.

She showed the pictures to Jolena and Charlotte, while Mariah looked on.

"Did your creature's antennae look like this," she asked, pointing to first of the pictures, "or was it more like this?" She pointed then to the second picture.
Charlotte and Jolena both pointed to the first picture. They pointed to the one that looked like a line with a little ball on the end.

"Then it was a butterfly," Mandy said. "There are moths that are awake in the daytime and butterflies that are awake at night. There are moths that hold their wings more like butterflies when they rest and butterflies that hold their wings more like moths. There are moths with antennae that are more like those of butterflies and butterflies with antennae more like moths, but if your creature had all of these features, it had to be a butterfly."

"That's interesting," Charlotte said.
"There's one more way butterflies and moths are different," Mandy went on. "You see, both of them start life as caterpillars (KAT-uh-pill-ers)."

"But caterpillars" objected Jolena, "don't look anything like moths or butterflies! They look like worms with little legs!"

"That's true," Mandy agreed, "but caterpillars are baby moths or butterflies. They change shape when they grow up. They shed their skins several times as they grow. Then they go to sleep to change and grow wings."
"How do they do that?" Mariah asked.

"The caterpillar makes itself a little changing room," Mandy explained. "Here's another way moths are butterflies are different. The kind of changing room it makes depends on whether the caterpillar is a moth or a butterfly."
The dolls all looked at each other, trying to imagine a caterpillar in a changing room.

"A moth caterpillar will attach itself to a branch, twig or leaf in a safe spot," Mandy said. "It will spin a cocoon (cuh-COON) for itself."

"A cocoon is like a sleeping bag out of yarn from the moth's own body," Mandy continued. "In fact, the silk we sometimes use for clothes is made from the cocoon of a very special caterpillar."

"On the other hand," Mandy went on, "after a butterfly caterpillar attaches itself to a branch or twig in a safe spot, it sheds its skin for the last time, and its outside hardens to make something called a chrysalis (KRIS-ah-liss)."

Either way, the caterpillar goes to sleep for a long time. When it wakes up, it has wings and a skinny body. During this in-between stage, while it's sleeping and changing, it's called a pupa (PEW-pah), no matter whether it is a moth or a butterfly," Mandy said.

"I wonder what it's like," Charlotte said, "to wake up and find you have wings and a skinny body."
The dolls thought about that.
"In poetry and stories,"Mariah said, "a butterfly is often used to mean the beginning of a new life. Now I think I know why. I guess that's because it starts out as one thing and changes to another."
"Yes," Mandy agreed. "It's like how a ball of yarn can become a sweater."

"It's like how waffle batter can become waffles," Jolena suggested.

"Or," Charlotte added, "how a bunch of notes on a piece of paper can become music!"

"Or how words we write can become a story," Mariah suggested, "like this one."

"Will we change into anything?" Jolena wanted to know.
"No, Jolena," Mandy said. "We will always be dolls. Our purpose is to help children change and grow up to be adults who can look after themselves and their families. We teach them to be kind to others, and to know how special they are."

"That's good," Jolena said. "I don't want to change into something else. I like what we are and what we get to do."

"That means we're special, too."

Cast--

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

More information about butterflies and moths can be found here.

Photos from UnSplash.com are: First butterfly photo by Sean Stratton. Second butterfly (closeup) photo by Richard Lee. Moth with closed wings photo by Tim Goedhart. Caterpillar photo by Sara Codair. Chrysalis photo by Suzanne D. Williams.

Silk cocoon photo by Emily Peters through UIHere.

Mandy's T-shirt design adapted from an image found on UIHere.

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.

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Published on May 03, 2024 13:00

April 26, 2024

Money in a Jar

Veronika was concerned when she found Billy looking sad.

"What's the problem, Billy?" she asked. "You look as if you just lost your best friend."

Billy gave a big sigh. "I need a new Lego set," he said. "I've put this one together a million times already. It's no fun anymore. I would buy a new one, but I don't have any money."

Veronika sat down next to Billy. "I understand how you feel, Billy," she said. "You remember how much fun it was to put it together when it was brand new, and you want that feeling again, but now it's too easy, so it isn't fun anymore."

Billy nodded.
"You get your allowance tomorrow, don't you?" Veronika asked.

Billy nodded again. "But it won't be enough for the set I need," he said.

Veronika climbed back up on the table, so she could look at Billy. "A Lego set isn't something you need, Billy," she explained. "It's something you want. That isn't the same thing."

"Something you need is a place to live, people and dolls who love you, clothes to wear and food you can pretend to eat. It's pretend dog food for Freckles and visits to the vet if she pretends to get sick. Those things come first."
"I have all that, though," Billy said, "and a lot more, too."

"Then you're a very lucky doll," Veronika said. "Some dolls don't have all that. Some dolls are still in their boxes, waiting for a home. Some dolls are stored away in boxes because no one plays with them anymore."
"I still want the new Lego set, though," Billy sighed.

"If you don't have enough money for something you want," Veronika suggested, "you can save until you do, or you can work to earn money. You can do extra chores or do things for people and dolls who would rather pay someone to do something than to do it themselves."

"I could do that," Billy agreed, "but what if the Lego set is gone when I have enough money? That would be horrible!"

"That could happen," Veronika agreed, "but I have an idea for that, too."

"You do?" Billy asked.
"Some stores have something called 'Lay-away,'" Veronika explained. "You pay part of the cost of something, then each week you go and make a payment on it. When you have paid all the money, you can take it home."
"That's a great idea!" Billy exclaimed.

"You need to find out," Veronika said, "if the store that has this Lego set will do that and how much money you will have to pay for them to keep it for you."

"I'll call them and ask," Billy said.
"That's a good idea," Veronika said. "That will save you a trip in case they say no. Now, I have a suggestion to help you so you don't get into this fix again."
"Tell me," Billy pleaded.

"Well, you need to learn to save money, Billy," Veronika explained. "Here's what I do. When I get my allowance, or get money as a gift, or because I worked for it, I divide it up and put it into two jars. I like to put half into one jar and half into the other."

"One jar is to spend as I like," Veronika continued. "The other jar is to save. I don't touch the money in the savings jar unless it is something very, very special. Then I only take out what I need to spend for the special thing."

"I want to do that, too," Billy exclaimed.
"That's fine, and I can get you some jars to use," Veronika agreed, "but you have to decide for yourself how you are going to divide up your money. The more you put into savings, the easier it will be when there is something you really want or need to spend money on."

"I'll do that," Billy agreed. "Maybe I can think of a way to earn money, too, but I don't think anyone would let a doll babysit for them or walk their dog."

Veronika laughed. "I can just see even a small dog dragging you off down the street," she agreed, "but maybe you could walk a toy dog, or babysit a younger doll. Maybe you can sell some of your photographs," she suggested.

"You can also save money by not buying new things you don't need," Veronika pointed out. "You can often repair broken toys or torn clothes rather than throwing them out and buying new. That can save you money before you even have it. It's like getting paid not to spend."

"I wish I had a lot of money," Billy said. "I'll bet dolls who have plenty of money are happy."
"I'm sure you aren't alone in wishing that," Veronika agreed, "but money doesn't make us happy. It's important to have enough to meet our needs, but if you can buy everything you want, you lose out on a lot of the fun of life. Remember why you want a new Lego set?"

Billy thought about that for a moment. "Yes," he said. "This set is too easy, because I've put it together a million times. It's no fun anymore."
"Well," continued Veronika, "that's what it must be like to have a lot of money. Spending it stops being fun."
"I'll bet it would be fun for a while, though," Billy said.

"Maybe," Veronika said, "it would be fun for a while, but then you might start to feel like you needed more, because the things you have to buy to get that good feeling get more and more expensive. We are made to enjoy working for something," she continued. "If you don't need to work and save for the things you want, a lot of the fun goes out of life. You might stop being careful about what you spend and then not have enough later on."

"You might find you need to spend more and more to feel good about yourself," Veronika continued, "and soon you don't have enough. Some dolls go the other way," she added. "They start to love the money just for itself, and that isn't good either."

"You mean," Billy suggested, "like a doll who pretends to eat too many cookies, and it makes him pretend to be sick?"

"Maybe," Veronika said, "but more like when you see someone who has more money than you have, and you don't like them because you're jealous," she explained, "or you stop wanting to help others who have no money, even if you have plenty, because it would mean giving up some of your money."

"Like helping real children who are sick?" Billy asked. "I remember when we took all the bottles and soda cans to recycling. We took the money and sent it to people who help real children who are sick. That was one of the most fun adventures I've had so far!"

"That was fun," Veronika agreed. "We should do that again. Real children need a lot of things. Some things you can't buy with money, but some things you can."
"Well," Billy said, "I just had an idea!"
Veronika looked at him and waited, because she knew he would tell her if she waited.

"Can you get me another jar?" he asked. "I need a jar to hold the money I want to save, a jar to hold the money I can spend AND a jar for money to help children in need. I want to divide my money up evenly between the three jars."

Veronika was silent for a moment. Finally, she clapped her hands and said, "Billy, that's a great idea! I want to do that, too. You are a real treasure!"

"Thanks, Veronika," Billy said. "Now I have a new thing I can work on. This will be fun!"
"We both have a new thing to work on, and it will be fun," Veronika agreed.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
T-shirt image from UIHere.

Note to parents: Here is a good article by Warren Buffett about when and how to start teaching your children about money.

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.

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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Published on April 26, 2024 13:00

April 19, 2024

Good Friends

The doorbell was ringing and there was tapping on the door, both at the same time! Billy rushed to the door. It must be some kind of emergency, for someone to ring the bell AND knock on the door.

When he got the door open, there was Nico, and Pam was climbing carefully down from the porch couch. Billy figured out who had been ringing the doorbell and who was tapping on the door.

“I have big news!” Nico exclaimed after the visitors had been let into the front hall.

“What’s up, Nico,” Billy asked.

“I was so excited,” he said, “I had to tell you right away!”

“He wouldn’t even tell me until we got here,” Pam said, “He said he wanted to tell us all at once.”

By then. Mariah and Pippa had shown up in the hallway. They could hear the excited voices and wanted to know what it was all about.

Veronika came in next and invited Nico and Pam to come and sit in the living room. “I’ll get us some tea,” she said.

From what she had heard from the kitchen, Veronika had a feeling Nico wasn’t going to be able to say what he wanted to say in a couple of words and then leave.

Nico can get up onto the couch by himself, but it takes him a long time, because his knees and elbows don't bend, so he let Billy help him climb up. By the time the dolls had settled in the living room with the others, Veronika had the tea ready; it doesn't take long to fix pretend tea.

“Well, it's about Frankie’s family,” Nico began when they were all settled and everyone had some pretend tea just the way they like it. (Frankie is the boy Nico lives with.) “You know how Frankie’s dad runs a landscaping business. The people who work for him cut the grass for people. They plant things and prune their bushes. In the winter, they come and remove the snow from the walks and driveway.”

The dolls remembered this.

“And you know,” Nico added, “that he has lots of customers and the employees who work for him depend on his business.”

The others agreed that they remembered this, too.

“And you know,” Nico went on, “that Frankie’s dad was afraid he going to have to leave his business, and we would have to leave our home because Frankie’s parents don’t have something called ‘papers.’ They were afraid they would have to pack up and move away.”

The other dolls nodded. Some of them imagined the family would have a lot of bags to pack, even more than Jolena has when she travels for skiing.

“It isn’t like the papers that go into the recycling,” he explained, because that was what he had thought at first. He had wondered why they couldn’t just keep these papers instead of throwing them out.

“These are special papers that say they are allowed to be here in town and live in our home,” he explained. “It has something to do with laws. I found out that laws are like rules everyone has to obey, not just the dolls in your class.”

“So this is where the big news comes in,” Nico went on. “One of the customers of Frankie’s dad,” he said, “is something called a lawyer (LAW-yer).” He said it carefully, because it was a new word for him.

Pam thought he was staring at something across the room. She looked to try to figure out what he was looking at that was so interesting, but she realized he was really just trying to concentrate, so he could remember how it was explained to him.

“A lawyer is a person whose job it is to know all about laws,” Nico explained when he had his thoughts collected. “If someone breaks a law and gets into trouble, or if they didn’t break the law, and the police think they did, they might need a lawyer to help them, or if they need to do something and want to be sure that what they do doesn’t break any laws, a lawyer can tell them if they can do it and how to do it without breaking any laws. You go to their office and sit in a chair. You answer their questions, and then they tell you if there is a way they can help.”

“So this lawyer is going to help?” Billy asked.

“Sort of,” Nico agreed. “I found out that there are lots of different kinds of lawyers, just like lots of different kinds of doctors. This customer is the kind of lawyer who works with people who have problems with their taxes (TAK-ses).”

“Taxes are money human people pay the government so the government can take care of things everyone needs,” Nico explained. Nico’s boy, Frankie, had explained all this to him, and Nico knew someone had explained it to Frankie. “Taxes aren't a problem for Frankie’s dad, though.”

“So how can this lawyer help Frankie’s dad?” Pippa wanted to know.

“Well,” Nico said again, “this lawyer knows another lawyer who is the kind that does immigration (im-uh-GRAY-shun) law. She helps people who want to come to this country or who are here and don’t have the right kind of papers to stay or who don’t have any papers at all.”

“It will cost some money,” Nico told them. “It isn’t just the lawyer, but the court costs something. (The court is the part of the government that takes care of making sure everyone obeys the law.) It could cost more money than Frankie’s family has, unless they sell their car.”

“The lawyer who is a customer,” Nico went on, “talked with the other customers he knows, and they are all going to donate some money to help pay the costs of the immigration lawyer.”“Then,” Nico continued, “I found out that the people who work for Frankie’s dad are going to have a car wash to raise money to help pay, too. People whose cars need washing can pay them to do it.”

“It sounds to me like Frankie’s dad has a lot of friends,” Veronika pointed out.

“Yes,” Nico agreed, “but it’s more than just being friends. The landscaping business looks after people’s trees, bushes and lawns in the spring and summer,” he said. “If Frankie's family has to go away, people might have to mow their own lawns. If they’re to busy or can’t do that kind of work, they have to pay someone to do it for them.”

“The company makes sure the sprinkler system is working in the spring, too,” Nico explained, “and in the fall, they come and blow all the water out, so it won’t freeze and bust the pipes. I don’t know how people can do that for themselves. You need special equipment, I think.”

“In the winter, they come to your house and plow the snow,” Nico continued, while everyone listened. “Sometimes the city pays them to plow the streets, too, if we get more snow than the city snowplows can handle.”

“The customers and the city would have to find someone else to do that, if Frankie’s family moves away, or do it themselves. That’s hard work, if you don't have your own snow blower machine,” Nico pointed out.

“You told us the employees need Frankie’s dad, too,” Billy pointed out. “They would have to get new jobs. Most of them have families to feed.”

“Yes,” Nico agreed, “and they really like working for Frankie’s dad.”

“When is the carwash?” came a voice from the kitchen. It was The Writer. She had been listening to the conversation going on in the living room.

“It’s next Saturday,” Nico called out. They’re doing it in the driveway in front of our house, where the office is.”

“My car needs washing,” said the voice. “I’ll be there!”

“Thank you!” Nico called out.

“I see why you’re so excited, Nico,” Veronika said. “It’s a big problem, and it looks like Frankie’s family might have some hope of a solution now.”

All of the dolls thought about that. It would be nice to know Nico would still be here for a while. They all liked Nico, but also it would be nice to know that Frankie’s family might not have to worry about having to leave.

It would be nice to know that the people who worked for the landscaping business wouldn’t need to look for new jobs.

It would be nice to know that the customers of the landscaping business wouldn’t have to cut their own grass in the summer or shovel their own snow in the winter.

It would be nice to know that sprinkler systems all over town wouldn't burst when winter comes again and everything freezes.

It was nice to know that lots of people were kind and liked to help.

Those people must have grown up with wonderful dolls who set good examples for all of them.

“Let’s tell all our neighbors about the car wash,” Mariah suggested then. “I’ll make some flyers for us to share. Those are sheets of paper with information on them,” she told the other dolls. “If we let lots of people know about it, the carwash will make lots of money! I’ll run them off on the printer, and Pippa and Pam can help me fold them.”

The two smaller dolls nodded and said that they would love to help.

Nico said he would see if Pauly would help him take the flyers to the houses he could walk to around his home (you have to bend your knees to ride a bike, and Pauly was too small for a bike), and Billy said that he and Emil could put the flyers into the baskets of their bicycles and deliver them to all the houses in the neighborhood that were farther away, on the other side of the woods. They could take their favorite shortcut through the woods.

It made all the dolls feel good to know that they could help Nico’s family!

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz EmiliaPippa: Götz Little Kidz LottaNico: Götz Hannah-Zoé at the BalletPam: Götz Little Kidz Springtime, from My Doll Best Friend

Packed bags photo from Missy’s Weblog, cropped.

Newspapers photo from Recycling Works, cropped.

Immigration law office photo from Woog Law, cropped.

Money photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash.

Carwash photo from Automobile Hive, cropped.

Man mowing lawn photo from Live Strong, cropped.

Sprinkler blow out photo from 4 Seasonal Services, cropped.

Truck plowing snow photo from 4 Seasonal Services, cropped.

Landscaping truck in front of house photo from 4 Seasonal Services, cropped.

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Published on April 19, 2024 13:34

April 12, 2024

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.

View more on Peggy Stuart's website »

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Published on April 12, 2024 13:00

April 5, 2024

Ice Cream Social

Billy and Mariah found Jolena in the kitchen. "How was your week in South America, Jolena?" Mariah asked.

"It was fantastic," Jolena said, looking up from what she was mixing. "I learned a lot!"
"What did you learn?" Billy asked.

"I perfected my triple flip," Jolena replied. "It's good practice when you land in the pool during summer workouts, but it isn't quite the same as landing on snow."
Jolena was stirring something in the bowl.
"What are you making?" Mariah asked, eyeing the bowl.

"All that snow made me think of ice cream," Jolena answered, "so I decided to make some as soon as I got back."
"You're making ice cream?" Billy asked in surprise. I thought ice cream only came from the store!"

"We have a special ice-cream freezer," Jolena explained. "I'll show you. I'm making this with yoghurt (YO-gert)." Jolena stirred her mixture a little bit more. Then she was satisfied. "We need the ice-cream freezer now," she said. "I'm glad you're here. It takes more than one doll to carry it in from the freezer in the garage."

Billy and Mariah helped Jolena carry the ice-cream freezer container to the kitchen. It was comfortable to hold by the handle and the outside, but it was very cold on the inside. They were careful not to touch it there, because they didn't want to freeze their vinyl fingers.

Mariah held the container while Billy helped Jolena connect the paddle to the motor. They followed Jolena's instructions to help attach the motor to the container.

Jolena plugged in the ice-cream freezer and turned it on. The paddle started turning. Then she poured the ice-cream mixture into the container through the hole in the cover.

"Why do we need to use this machine?" Billy asked.
"Well, Jolena began, "a lot of this ice-cream mixture is water, and when water freezes, it makes ice crystals. If you just put the mixture into the freezer and leave it until it's frozen, you will end up with something you can't eat with a spoon or put into a cone. It will be hard, like an ice cube."
"Like a popsicle?" Mariah asked.

"Yes," Jolena said. "That's why, when you make popsicles, you pour the mixture into plastic cups and put a popsicle stick or plastic spoon into each one."
"What's an ice crystal?" Billy asked.

"We saw some on the car windows during the winter, Billy," Mariah said.
"Yes, Jolena agreed," and I saw some in Argentina last week."
Billy pretended to close his eyes and tried to remember the windows of the car during the winter. He thought about the car and how cold it was. Then he thought about how one of his human family members used a scraper on the windows. He saw this with his mind:

"So what does the ice-cream freezer do?" Billy asked, pretending to open his eyes again.
"Watch," Jolena said, as she showed the other two dolls what the ice-cream freezer was doing.

They could see the paddle going around and around. "The container is made with two layers," Jolena explained. "Between the layers is a special liquid that can freeze so it's very, very cold. That's why it was in the big freezer in the garage."

"After you put the ice-cream mixture into the container and turn on the motor," Jolena continued, "the paddle scrapes the inside of the container over and over, as the cold from the container freezes the mixture. The paddle keeps mixing the ice cream, so the ice crystals can't form."

"That's interesting," Mariah said.

Billy nodded.
The three dolls left the ice-cream freezer working and went to do some other things. From time to time, one of them would check on it.

"Hey," called Billy from the kitchen when he checked on the ice cream. "It's getting bigger!"

Jolena and Mariah came back in to see.
"It always does that," Jolena said. "I don't know why, but it grows."
"I'll bet Mandy knows why," Mariah said."

The dolls could hear from the other room when the ice-cream freezer stopped. That meant it was done. Mariah and Billy helped Jolena remove all the ice cream to freezer containers.

"Now we have to let it sit in the freezer for several hours to let it harden before we can eat it," Jolena said. "Thank you for your help!"
After the dolls carried the containers of ice cream to the freezer, they washed the countertops because they had been walking all over them. When they finished cleaning up, they went back to what they had been doing before.

When the ice cream was ready, Jolena invited the other dolls to help pretend to eat it. They sat out on the porch in the shade.

"Now maybe we can find out why the ice cream grew when it was freezing," Jolena said, as they all enjoyed their ice cream.

Billy turned to Mandy and said, "Yes, Mandy! We noticed that the ice cream grew while it was freezing. Do you know why?"

"Water grows when it freezes," Mandy said, "but that isn't the main reason the ice cream grows."

"Churning the ice cream––that means letting the paddle stir it around and around while the ice cream freezes––churning mixes the air in with the ice cream, so it grows."

"Like blowing up a balloon?" Billy asked, sliding off his perch on the back of the couch so he could pay attention to Mandy.

"Well, maybe," Mandy agreed, "if you think of thousands of tiny balloons making up the ice cream."

"That's really cool," Billy said.
"No," Mariah said. "That's really cold!"

Their mouths were really cold when they had finished pretending to eat the ice cream.

(Veronika would like to remind real children that they should not stand on the countertops, but if they ever do have to, they should not be wearing their shoes and should wash the countertops afterwards.)

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
Ice Crystals photo by Osman Rana (@osmanrana) on Unsplash.

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.

View more on Peggy Stuart's website »

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Published on April 05, 2024 13:00

March 29, 2024

Veronika Sews

On a warm, sunny Saturday, Veronika took a trip with The Writer to an outdoor quilt show. There were quilts hanging all over town. They were hanging outdoors and inside many of the buildings.

Veronika asked to have her picture taken with some of the quilts.

She looked at each one. She was interested in the fabrics the quiltmaker had chosen and the design that person had used.

She especially enjoyed seeing some quilts that were made for children.

At lunchtime, Veronika and The Writer sat in a shady spot in the grass and ate lunch. Well, The Writer ate and Veronika pretended to eat, because she's a doll.

When they had seen all the quilts, they went into the quilt shop. It's a big store that sells fabric and everything else you need to make quilts. The fabric is also good for dresses, and Veronika wanted to pick out some fabric for a new dress.
"I would like this one, please," she said, when she found a pretty blue fabric with scissors all over it. "It looks like something that a quilter would wear."

Veronika picked out a red plaid to go with it, because she wanted to use two fabrics for the dress. (Quilters like to put lots of different fabrics together when they sew.)
She went to the cutting table and told the lady who was cutting fabric how much she wanted. She told the lady she already had thread and hook-and-loop tape for the dress. All she needed was the fabric.While Veronika watched, the lady cut and folded the fabric neatly.

Then she handed them to Veronika.

Another person was taking money and credit cards. The Writer let Veronika use her credit card for the fabric. The lady who took the money had to speak to Veronika several times when she was done with the card. Veronika couldn't stop looking at all the quilts hanging in the shop and all the fabrics everywhere.

A few days later, Veronika was ready to sew. Charlotte found her trying to decide which shoes to wear with her new dress. They talked about the colors, and Charlotte helped Veronika decide.

Charlotte asked if she could watch Veronika sew. She was very interested in how a dress is made. Veronika was happy to have company while she worked, so she offered to teach Charlotte about sewing.
Veronika washed the newbfabric first and put it into the dryer. While the fabric was in the dryer, Veronika showed Charlotte the tools she used for sewing. She showed her the little scissors she uses and her special pincushion.

The pincushion is made from a bottle cap. It's just the right size for a doll. "Pins are very sharp," Veronika said. "You have to be very careful with them."

"We use regular sewing needles when we sew by hand," Veronika explained, "but these are special needles that we use in the machine."

She took out one of the needles and showed Charlotte the difference between the sewing-machine needle and a hand-sewing needle.

"The machine-sewing needle has a hole right above the point. That hole is called the eye of the needle. You put the thread through the eye. The other end, the thicker part, is where it attaches to the machine. When we sew by hand, we use the other kind of needle. The eye of that needle is at the other end, away from the point."

"I will be using a special cutter for cutting out the skirt," Veronika said. "The skirt for this dress is a long rectangle, so all the edges are straight. It's faster to cut straight lines with a rotary cutter. It's called a rotary cutter, because the little blade is round, and it cuts as it goes around, as it rotates." Veronika showed Charlotte two tools.

"They look like pizza cutters," Charlotte said.
"They work the same way," Veronika agreed.
Veronika explained that she likes to use the yellow one, because she's left-handed. The handle of the yellow cutter is the same on both sides, so you don't have to move the blade to the other side for left-handed dolls. You just turn it over.

Most people and dolls are right-handed, which means they write and use scissors with their right hand, but some some people and dolls use their left hand. Veronika uses her left hand, so she is left-handed.

To use a rotary cutter, you need a special mat to cut on. Veronika has one just her size.

You also need a special ruler to guide the rotary cutter as you cut. Veronika has two. They have lines on them that help you know where to cut.

When the fabric was dry, Veronika pressed it on the pressing mat with her little craft iron. She was careful not to get her fingers close to the part of the iron that does the pressing, because it's very hot, and she didn't want to melt her fingers.

Then Veronika showed Charlotte how to cut fabric with the rotary cutter, ruler and mat, being very careful to keep her fingers out of the way of the blade and keeping her weight on the ruler, so it wouldn't slip. She used the rotary cutting tools to cut out the skirt.

She pinned the other pattern pieces onto the fabric and showed Charlotte how to cut them out. Then she let Charlotte cut out some of the pieces, so she could practice cutting fabric.

Veronika threw the tiny scraps into the trash, but she saved any pieces that were as big as the one-inch marks on the pressing mat. "I have plans for these," she said.

Soon they were ready to sew.
"Billy will help," Veronika said. "My feet don't reach the floor, and you will need to be up here with me, if you want to watch."
Billy is always happy to help Veronika sew with the sewing machine. He thinks machines are fun.

Veronika will tell Billy "Go," and "Stop."
Billy knows it's important to pay attention, because the machine has to stop when Veronika wants it to. It makes him feel important to help Veronika with something she can't do for herself, and he feels good that he can do this job well.
Veronika turned on the machine, and Billy helped her run the machine to wind a bobbin. The bobbin holds the thread that comes up from underneath. Billy held down the foot pedal until Veronika said, "Stop." They filled one bobbin with red thread and one with blue, because they would need them both.

Then Veronika took the bobbin with blue thread and put it into the little space for it underneath. "You see," she explained, "the machine takes the thread from the spool on top and the thread from the bobbin underneath."

"The machine wraps the threads around each other where the needle goes into the cloth to make a stitch," Veronika explained. "That makes the seam that holds the fabric together." She showed Charlotte on two pieces of scrap cloth she had sewn together. She folded it so they could see both sides.

"It's very different from hand-sewing," Veronika went on. "Hand-sewing uses only one thread. It goes over the top, then underneath and back up again." She showed Charlotte what she meant.

When the machine was ready to sew, Veronika picked up two pieces they had cut out. "This is for the top of the dress. We call this the bodice (baw-diss), and this is the bodice lining," she explained. She matched up the edges of the front and back at one shoulder of the bodice. Then she sewed while Charlotte watched, and Billy worked the foot pedal.

Then Veronika let Charlotte have a turn. Charlotte sewed the shoulders of the pieces that were supposed to line the bodice. Charlotte told Billy, "Go," and "stop."

The front of the sash was a folded strip of the red fabric. Veronika used basting (BAY-sting) stitches to attach it to the front of the bodice at the waist. She told Charlotte that basting stitches are big stitches she will take out later. Veronika let Charlotte take the blue bobbin and the blue thread out of the sewing machine. She watched while Charlotte put in the red bobbin and threaded the needle.

Veronika took the two long strips of red fabric she had cut for the sash and finished the edges. After that, she sewed the two pieces of the collar together. She trimmed the edges, turned the collar to the right side and pressed it with her craft iron. Then Charlotte took out the red thread and put the blue bobbin and thread back into the machine. She could do it by herself now.

When the thread was changed, Veronika sewed the neck and back of the bodice with the collar between the two pieces. Then she sewed the red border onto the skirt. "Now we will use a zigzag stitch," Veronika said. "It's one of the special stitches the machine can make. The zigzag stitches look like this." She showed Charlotte some fabric she had sewn together with red thread using the zigzag stitch.

Veronika finished the edges of the seam with the zigzag stitch. "This is so we don't have a lot of loose threads along the cut edges of the fabric on the inside of the dress," she explained. "It keeps the inside tidy."

Then she made two lines of the big basting stitches along the top, where she wanted the skirt to be gathered. "We use basting stitches," she explained, "because they are loose and easy to pull on to gather the fabric, and because we're going to take them out later."

When she finished making the basting stitches, she took the two bottom threads that came from the bobbin and pulled on both of them together. This made the fabric gather. She did this at each end, instead of just one end, so the gathers would meet in the middle of the skirt, and the thread wouldn't come out at one end.

Veronika did the same thing to gather the sleeves at the top and the bottom. Then she used a lot of pins to hold the top of the sleeve to the sleeve opening on the bodice. She sewed carefully, pulling out the pins as she came to them. Next, Veronika pinned the cuff onto the bottom of the sleeves and sewed it on carefully. She pinned the sash pieces in place and sewed up the sides of the bodice and the sleeve.
Veronika used a lot of pins to fasten the bodice to the skirt, and then she sewed them together. She was very careful as she sewed over the pins. Charlotte only watched all of this, because this part is harder to do. This is what it looked like when she was done.

Veronika finished all the edges inside the dress with the special zigzag stitch. She showed Charlotte the inside of the dress, so she could see what the finished edges looked like.

Then she used some red thread to sew the inside of the cuff to the inside of the sleeve. She used a regular hand-sewing needle for this, and Charlotte watched how she made the stitches. Veronika made each one so it didn't show.

After she sewed the hook-and-loop tape onto the back of the dress, Veronika pressed it, and it was ready to wear. The girls thanked Billy for his help, and he went off to play. Charlotte helped Veronika put the dress on in front of the mirror.

"I think this dress is very flattering, Veronika," Charlotte said as they looked in the mirror.

"I think it would look good on you, too," Veronika said.

"Let's make mine in pink!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"I think you should get to pick out your own fabric for your dress, Charlotte," Veronika agreed. "We should go to the fabric store. Billy wants me to show him how to make some pants for hot weather. He can go, too." Veronika changed back into her play clothes and hung up the dress."You only used half of the fabric," Charlotte said. "It looks as if you might have enough for another dress."

"I have other plans for it," Veronika said, nodding. "I'm saving fabric for a quilt. I can even use the little pieces we didn't throw away. The quilt show gave me lots of ideas!"
"That sounds like fun," Charlotte sighed.
"Let's do it together!" Veronika exclaimed.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Here's how to make a pincushion like Veronika's. You can make it so it fits on your finger with a piece of elastic, or you can leave off the elastic, and the dolls can use it. Remember to be careful with the pins!

A special thanks to The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon, for cooperating with our photo shoot.

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.

View more on Peggy Stuart's website »

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Published on March 29, 2024 13:00

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