Peggy Stuart's Blog

  Vroni sat, serenely sewing, while outside the wind was blowing,

Stitching calmly at her place in the window by the street,

Making all her stitches neatly, ending all her seams completely,

Knowing seams must all be tidy, sturdy and, of course, complete!

On the windowsill beside her was a meal for her to eat,

With a cookie for a treat.

On the shelf there sat a vulture, wise observer of our culture,

Preening feathers of one wing, and making sure that they were neat.

From outside there came a clatter, giggles and a bit of chatter,

Clearly something was occurring out there, on the open street!

So the doll looked out the window, dropping sewing on her seat.

(Clearly, it could not compete!)

In the cold of late October, on an eve sedate and sober,

Vroni pulled aside the curtain, looking up and down the street.

What she saw she found amazing! From the window she was gazing,

Figures masked and costumed scurried, and a scary floating sheet!

Clearly human children playing at some craziness, complete 

With the sound of running feet. 

Suddenly there came a tapping, at the door an urgent rapping,

While our heroine considered if she shouldn't just retreat!

By the door a bowl of candy had been placed where it was handy.

Vroni saw the pile of yummies, neatly wrapped and gooey sweet.

Then she turned and looked at Victor. (Now the comb lay at his feet.)

Said the vulture, "Trick or Treat!"

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Victor: HimselfPhoto of "sheet" by Šimom Caban on Unsplash, cropped
This poem first appeared on October 29, 2021. It is one of the poems included in the book Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook and is available to buy here.The Writer would like to thank Edgar Allan Poe for the inspiration provided by his poem "The Raven."

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post and no AI has been used.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, by Peggy Stuart

Mariah found Emil with Billy in the dining room, putting a puzzle together. 

She was glad they were indoors doing something quiet, because that would make what she needed to do easier.
"Hi, boys!" she said, looking at how the puzzle was coming.
"Hello, Mariah," they both answered back without looking up.

"I see you're busy," Mariah said, "but I think you can help me with my project without stopping what you're doing."
That's when they looked up.
"What project?" Billy asked.

"Well," Mariah began, "You know I'm taking Journalism (JER-nah-liz-em) at school," she said.
"What's Journalism?" Emil wanted to know.

"Journalism is about reporting," Mariah explained. "It's finding out about things that happen and writing about them, like for a newspaper or magazine. You try to show the reader everything you heard and saw."

"Do you take photos?" Billy asked, because photos were always more interesting to him than the writing.

"Someone else does that," Mariah replied, "but that's part of Journalism, too. I do the writing part. That makes me a journalist (JER-nah-list)."

"Are television and radio part of journalism?" Emil asked.

"Yes, Emil," Mariah agreed. "Website reporting, too, but I'm writing for the school paper. That's where you come in, Emil."


"Do you want me to help you write?" Emil asked.
"Not exactly," Mariah replied. "You will be helping me, but I want to write about you, so I need to ask you some questions. You can help me by answering my questions. I want to interview (IN-ter-vyu) you."


"That sounds interesting," Emil said.
Both boys had lost interest in the puzzle for now.
"The story is about what it's like to have a disability (dis-ah-BIL-ih-tee)," Mariah explained, "to be unable to do some things the way other dolls do."
"Can I take some photos?" Billy asked.


"That would be great," Mariah agreed. "Maybe they will use them in the school paper."
Mariah reached for her paper and pencil, and got ready to write, while Billy went to get his camera.


Mariah asked Emil questions about what it was like when he couldn't see or hear. Emil answered each question, sometimes thinking back to when he was still in his box.


Emil explained how he was afraid no one would want a doll who couldn't see or hear, and how happy he was to come to live with us. Mariah encouraged Emil to talk and wrote down what he said. She couldn't write down everything he said, because she can't write as fast as Emil can talk, but she wrote the most important things, leaving out words that weren't important. She has been doing this for a while, so she has become good at it.

Emil told Mariah about what it was like to get his special glasses with the hearing aids built into the frames. Emil told Mariah about how he had to take off his special glasses and put them into the charger each night when he went to bed, and how he couldn't see or hear in bed.


He explained about his special alarm clock that shook the bed when it was time to get up. He told her how if there was a fire, they would have to come get him, because he wouldn't hear the smoke alarm. He explained how he had found out that he could hear what the animals were saying in his head, and how great it was to have something special he could do.


"I like to be useful," Emil said.
Mariah wrote everything down in her notebook.
While Mariah was writing, Billy set up his camera.


Mariah read everything she had written down out loud to Emil and asked if there was anything she had written that wasn't right. Emil agreed that she had everything correct.


"Journalism is about facts. That means it has to be true, not a made-up story," Mariah explained. "That's very important. If I find out I got something wrong after the paper is printed, we have to correct it in the next issue. We call that a retraction (ree-TRAK-shun)," she said. "That's very embarrassing," she added. "We have to say that we were wrong about whatever it was, and this is what is right. Then we explain it, but it's more embarrassing if we don't print a retraction and other dolls find out something was wrong, and we had failed to correct it."


Emil agreed that it was important for readers to be able to trust what they read.
When Mariah was done, Billy started taking photos of Emil. 


They looked at the photos when Billy was done. "I'll send you the photos," he told Mariah.


Mariah thanked Billy and went off to write the article (AR-tih-kul), which is what the story is called when it goes into the school paper.
A week later, Mariah brought the school newspaper to the boys to show them the article in the paper. The teacher had used Billy's photo of Emil.


"Billy," Mariah said, "my teacher wanted me to ask if you would like to take Journalism next year. She said you did a good job on the photo, and the school paper needs more photographers."


Billy didn't need to think about that. "Sure!" he exclaimed.


"You will be a photojournalist," Mariah said.
"Photojournalist!" Billy sighed. "That sounds important."


It feels good to be useful.


Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL
Puzzle is from Smile Train, an organization that provides surgery for babies and children with cleft palate.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post and no AI has been used.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

Like our Facebook page: The Doll's Storybook

The boys were in the dining room, looking at the computer.
"I sort of like this darker one," Emil said.


"That's a little darker than the color you have now, Emil," Billy said, "Is that what you had in mind?"


"Yes, Billy," Emil said. "I thought darker would be good. I put Charlotte's black sweater on my head to see if I liked it, but it was a little too dark. I think this one would be better."
"Should we ask for these two, then?" asked Billy.
"Yes, let's," Emil agreed.


"OK!" Billy exclaimed. "It's fun to get to choose. We didn't have any say about our hair at the factory, but I like my original color. I think I'll stick with this one. It's pretty close to the same thing."


The boys went to tell The Writer which wigs they wanted her to order. She came and looked at the computer screen to check and make sure the wigs they wanted would fit and were suitable, and then she placed the order. Then the hard part started. The boys had to wait.
The Writer told them it would take five days to a week. Each day the boys went to look out the workroom window to watch for the mail to arrive.
They looked on Monday.
They looked again on Tuesday.
On Wednesday they were at the window again, watching for the mail. Each day, the mail came, but not their wigs.
On Thursday they climbed up to the windowsill in the workroom again to watch for the mail.


Because the boys were looking out the window, they got to see some workmen putting down a new surface on the street. That was interesting.


It was fun to watch the people working. If they hadn't been watching for the mail to come, they would have missed it! This was the only window in the house where you could see them working. They stood and watched until the men stopped working.
Finally, on Friday, the package came. There were two boxes inside, along with some air pillows. The writer gave each boy a box, and they sat down to open them.


It was like getting a present! The Writer helped each boy put his wig on over his hair, to see how it would look, and they went to have a look in the mirror.


Both boys were happy with the new look. Billy took a photo of Emil in his new wig.


Then he showed Emil how to take his photo with his new wig.


The photos would be good to look at while they were going through the scary part. Now they were ready to take the next step. They took off the wigs and put them back into the boxes.
"We're in this together," Billy said, as the boys shook hands.


Billy went first. The Writer had to wet his hair around the edges to unstick it and remove the glue she had used. Then she began to cut. Billy would have closed his eyes tightly if he could have. He couldn't even wear his sleep mask, because it would be in the way.
Some of the girls peeked through the door of the workroom while The Writer was at work, removing all the old rooted hair from the boys heads. They knew it didn't hurt, because there was no yelling, but they were worried about the boys.


When the haircut was finished, their heads both looked like this.


They were happy when it was done, and they each had a new wig.
The boys went back to the bathroom mirror to see how they looked.


"We look pretty good," said Emil.
"We look almost like real boys," agreed Billy.


"Are you happy now?" Emil asked.
"Yes," Billy replied. "Now there's only one thing I wish."
"What's that?" Emil asked.


"Now that I look almost like a real boy," Billy said, "I wish I were a real boy."
The Writer was standing close to the door, listening. She made a mental note to get a copy of Pinocchio for the boys to read.

Cast--
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post and no AI has been used.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

"I wish I looked more like a real boy," Billy said as he looked at his image in the mirror.

"I think you look like a real boy," Emil said, "except you're smaller, and real boys don't have elbow and knee joints you can see."


"It's my hair," Billy said. "They gave me girl hair at the factory."


"They didn't know I was a boy, and they didn't hear me when I tried to tell them. They put me in a dress. Dresses are for girls."


"I was wearing a dress, too, I think," Emil said, "and I know I had long hair, but I didn't see myself before someone came and got my box. I've seen pictures since then, though."


"They took me somewhere," Emil remembered. "They changed my clothes and gave me a haircut, and they gave me my special glasses, so I could see and hear. I've only seen myself like this."


"Your hair looks better than mine," Billy said.
Emil looked at Billy's hair. "The hair comes straight out from the roots around your neck, and then the hair is bent to be closer to your neck. How is mine?"


Billy looked carefully at the bottom of Emil's hair around the back of his neck. "I think your roots come straight out, too," he said. For some reason, though, your hair looks more real. It lies flat against your head."


Billy looked some more. He was thinking. "You know," he said, "It may be because the band that holds your glasses on holds your hair down. I'll bet that's it."


"I think you're right," Emil agreed. "The Writer puts glue on the back of your head, and then puts a thick rubber band around your head to hold your hair down."


"Yes," Billy said, "and then I have to keep that rubber band around my head all night or until she needs me for photos. She always mumbles about how she wishes she didn't have to do that," he added.


The boys left the bathroom and went to see what the girls were up to. They found Mandy, knitting on the windowsill where the light was good. She was working on a very big project. Mandy looked up when the boys came into the room.


"You look sad, Billy," Mandy said. "Is something the matter?"


Billy didn't say anything. He just kept on looking sad as the boys climbed up on the windowsill to sit next to Mandy.
"Billy is sad that he doesn't look like a real boy," Emil explained. "It's because his hair sticks out in the back, right above his neck, and around the sides, too."


"It's because the roots come straight out of my head," Billy sighed.


Mandy looked. "Yes," she said. "They made your hair like a girl's. Most girl dolls have long hair, so children can practice brushing it. It works for girls, but not as well for boys, especially boys who like their hair short."


"You don't have to be unhappy about it, though," Mandy told him. "If you don't like your hair that way, there's a way to make your hair look more like a real boy's hair."


"There is?" Billy asked. The two boys looked at Mandy.
"Yes," Mandy said. "You could have a wig."


The boys weren't sure they knew what a wig was, so Mandy explained that some dolls have rooted hair, like theirs.


She showed them her roots. She explained that little clumps of hair had been pushed down inside their heads. "They use a machine for that," she said.


"Some dolls have wigs glued onto their heads," Mandy explained. "Gabi has a wig." They found Gabi in the workroom, and she let Mandy show them her wig up close.
The boys could see rows of little clumps of hair that were sewn into some netting. It made a sort of a hat that fit over Gabi's head and was glued down.


"Some dolls have hair that's just part of their heads," Mandy went on. "Their hair is just molded to shape and then painted to look like hair." She found Mariah's doll and showed them.


"At least we didn't get hair like that!" Billy exclaimed. "That doesn't look real at all, and it doesn't look like a boy's hair."
Mandy put Mariah's doll back on the shelf.
"Well," Mandy said. "at least it never needs brushing. It always looks tidy."


"You can have a wig, if you like," Mandy told Billy. "You can even pick it out. I'm sure The Writer would let you order one, and then she will cut all your hair off and glue the wig on for you."


"That sounds scary," Billy said. "I mean, I really want to look like a real boy, but having all my hair cut off and then having something glued onto my head...."


"I know what!" cried Emil. "I'll do it too!" Then we can both have new hair. We'll go through it together! I know I won't be afraid if you're doing it, too, so maybe you won't be afraid if we both do it."


"You're a great friend," Mandy said, and Billy agreed.
"All right!" Billy said. "Let's do it!"


"Let's go find The Writer," Mandy said. "Let's see what she says. If it's OK, then you can pick out your wigs."


To be continued....


Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

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Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post and no AI has been used.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

“Come on in,” Pippa told the boys, as she closed the front door. “Billy made some room in the workroom window for us, where we can watch and be out of the way.” 

Pippa was very happy to see Nico. He hadn’t been over to visit the dolls from The Doll’s Storybook for a long time. He had been missed!

“Frank said for us to stay indoors,” Nico told Pippa and Pauly, as the three dolls made their way up the stairs. Nico's elbows and knees don’t bend, so Pippa and Pauly would help him go up the stairs. He could do it by himself, but the dolls were in a hurry, because the men outside were already busy. 

“They’re going to use some big equipment,” Nico told his two small friends, “and he doesn’t want anyone to get squashed, or for any of the workers to trip over a doll.”

“Who’s Frank,” Pippa asked. “Is that the name of Frankie’s father?” Pippa thought it sounded a lot like a grownup human person’s name, and she had found out that sometimes children are named after their parents.

“No,” Nico laughed. “Frank is Frankie. He told me he wanted to start being called Frank, because he thought ‘Frankie’ sounded too much like a child’s name.”

“Frank is 16 years old now,” Nico added. “He’s helping his father with the work out there today, so he says he’s grown up now.”

When the dolls reached the top of the stairs, they found the door to the workroom open, which was a good thing, because the door handle is pretty high, even for Nico to reach. Pippa can do it, but it takes more time, and they were in a hurry.

Emil and Billy were already at the window, watching what was happening below. “Not much to see yet,” Billy said, when he noticed the other dolls coming into the room. “They’ve just finished unloading some equipment. You haven’t missed anything.”

The three younger dolls climbed over the daybed and up onto the windowsill. “Why are they doing all this?” Pauly wanted to know. 

“The Writer and her husband haven’t been able to get grass to grow,” Billy explained, as the dolls heard some kind of machine start up. “It takes too much water, and most people here who have grass that looks good use chemicals to keep it growing.”

“So they decided to take out the grass and put in rocks and wood chips,” Emil explained. “Then they’ll add just a few plants.”

“It’s called xeriscaping (ZEH-ruh-skay-ping)” Nico told them, showing off a little, because he’s very proud of his family’s landscaping business. “It uses native plants––those are plants that grew here before people came and started planting other things, so they already do well here without much care––and sometimes xeriscaping uses other plants that can do well with less water. A few plants will be watered with what’s called a drip system instead of sprinklers. Sprinklers spray water over everything. A drip system puts out water mostly right at the roots of the plants. Xeriscaping takes very little water.”

The dolls sometimes play in the sprinkler in the summer when it's hot. They can still do that in the backyard after the front yard is finished.

“The Writer told us that we live in what’s called a ‘high desert,’” Pippa pointed out, when she finally could get a word in edgewise. “A desert is a place where there isn’t much water.”

“Look!” Emil cried out. “They’re using that big piece of equipment to chop up the ground where the grass was…or was supposed to be.” The dolls had been talking instead of watching. They all looked out the window. They saw Frank use the machine to chop the ground with the grass in it into squares.

Frank’s dad and another worker were busy pulling up the chunks of sod (dirt with grass roots) in another small part of the front yard where Frank had already used the machine. 

The men used shovels and pitchforks to pull up the big chunks of sod. A shovel is sort of like a spoon, and a pitchfork is like a dinner fork, only they are made for digging holes in the dirt or pulling up sections of sod. (Don’t try this with your mom’s dinner silverware!)

“The Writer let me use her big serving spoon in the garden,” Emil remembered. “I didn’t have a fork, though.” (He had permission, and it was just for photos!)

The men had a big load of broken-up little rocks called gravel (GRAA-vul) in the back of the truck. 

The dolls watched the men put up some low metal edging to divide the ground into different sections. They filled in the area between the trailer driveway and the garage with rocks. They put rounded grey rocks next to the driveway. These rocks had been in a river and had become rounded by the water. Then the men put the gravel in the area between the grey rocks and the house. The gravel is made by machines that crush rock. It has sharp edges.

Rocks do not have to be watered.

Gravel does not need to be watered.

There will be some plants, though, and the trees that are already there, which The Writer and her husband want to keep. The yard wouldn’t need as much water, but it would need water just for the plants and trees. The new water lines would go to where each plant or tree was and give it water. While the dolls watched from the window, the men put water lines on the ground to take water to where plants would be. Then Frank’s dad tested the new water system by turning on the water. He found a leak under the big tree. He dug it up and repaired it. The Writer’s husband watched and helped, so he could learn how to fix it if it leaked again.

At lunchtime the men left for a while. The dolls stayed on the windowsill and talked about how they thought the new landscaping would look. They didn’t want to leave and maybe miss something when the men came back.

The workers came back after lunch, bringing fresh dirt to cover the ground where plants and wood chips would be and to cover the new water lines. After they had unloaded the dirt, one of the workers left again with the truck. 

The truck came back with a load of wood chips to put on top of the dirt and the water lines. This kind of wood chips is often used at playgrounds, so children can run around and play. If they fall, they are unlikely to get hurt, because the ground won’t be hard. Pavement used for sidewalks and streets is OK for playing hopscotch and basketball, but it isn’t as good under swings or things to climb on, in case a child falls. The Writer and her husband wanted the rest of the front yard to be safe for children and dogs to play on and for a few plants to grow.

The Writer had an old bench in the backyard. She wanted to put it in the front and have a little walk leading to it. Frank’s dad set up the low metal edging to mark the area. He placed blocks right where the feet of the bench would go, so the feet wouldn't sink into the ground.

Then he moved the bench away and lined the walkway and bench area with some material that would make it hard for weeds to grow through. While he was doing that, Frank and the other worker brought more of the wood chips to that part of the yard and began spreading it around outside the area where his dad was working.

Then a worker brought up some ground-up rock to fill in the walkway and the area where the bench would be. 

They used the hose to wet the ground-up rock, and another machine to pound it down and flatten it. Then they wet it down again and used the machine a second time. They repeated all that again. The new walkway and bench area would be almost hard, but prettier than street or sidewalk paving. It would dry to be strong and almost hard.

When the workers were done, Jolena went out on the front porch to talk to Frank’s dad, because she wanted to practice her Spanish. He was a little surprised that one of the dolls wanted to talk to him, but he encouraged her and told her that her Spanish was “muy bien (MOO-ee bee-EN),” which made Jolena happy. She told him, “muchas gracias (MOO-chus GRAH-see-us),” thanking him for the compliment. 

After Frank, his dad and the workers had left, the dolls could look down from the window. They could see the old bench in the shade of the big tree. It sat in the middle of a little area at the end of the walkway made just for it. 

All the new front yard needed now was some special plants and a low fence around the part of the yard the bench was in, so the real dogs could run around while The Writer and her husband sat and enjoyed watching the birds and the squirrels and waved at people walking their dogs.

“I’d better go,” Nico said finally. “Frank doesn’t play with me anymore, but he likes to tell me about his day in the evening. He will have a lot to talk about today.”

“How’s the problem with the papers, Nico,” Pippa asked, as they helped Nico down the stairs. (Pippa remembered how Frankie’s…Frank’s…dad and mom had been worried about how they were going to stay here where their landscaping business was without having the right papers. Their customers and the people who worked for them had held a car wash to help Nico's family pay for a lawyer, who would help them with the court.)

“I think it’s going to work out,” Nico replied. “Frank’s parents were afraid to go to the court, because some people were getting arrested there, so their lawyer arranged for them to use their laptop to meet with the judge from home. It’s called a remote (ree-MOTE) hearing. They talked with the judge on Frank’s parents’ laptop. The judge agreed that they should be able to stay. Now they're going to have the papers they need.”

“I wonder if Jeffy will decide to change his name when he gets to be 16,” Pauly mused when they were about halfway down the stairs. 

“Maybe he’ll change your name to Paul if he does,” Pippa suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Pauly replied. “Dolls don’t grow up like human people. I think I’ll always be Pauly.”

The three dolls all wondered what it was like to grow up and maybe have to change what others call you.

It was interesting to think about.

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 FriendBilly: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz EmiliaPippa: Götz Little Kidz LottaPauly: Götz Little Kidz PaulNico: Götz Hannah-Zoé at the BalletWorkers and The Writer's husband: Themselves

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post and no AI has been used.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2026 by Peggy Stuart

Freckles and Marmalade were looking out the window.

They were watching the dolls play hopscotch.

"What are they doing?" Marmalade asked.
"They're playing," Freckles replied. "They're pretending they have to do something difficult. It's how they learn."

"You mean like chasing a string and pretending it's a mouse?" Marmalade suggested. "That's how cats learn, too."

"Yes, but the dolls compete with each other to do it," Freckles said. "That's more like chasing a ball and trying to get it before Pierre does."

Marmalade looked at Freckles with pity. He would have rolled his eyes, but they are fixed and don't move. Why would you waste time trying to catch something someone else might get first? Marmalade thought dogs were strange. He decided to change the subject.

"I like the dolls," he said. "I especially like Mandy."

Freckles agreed. "Billy is my favorite, but I like them all," she said.

"We can count on them to feed us," Marmalade pointed out.
"They pet us when we come near," he added. "That feels good, and Mandy changes my litter box, so it doesn't get smelly."

"Yes," agreed Freckles. She really didn't understand the litter-box, but she realized it was important to Marmalade. "They are very nice dolls," she said. "They let me out into the backyard when I want to go."

"I like how they wait on me," Marmalade said. "I like how they give me what I want and what I need."

"That's good," agreed Freckles, "but I like that I'm useful to them. Pierre and I get the dolls out of the house for walks, because they know we need it," she added. "That's good for them, too."

Marmalade didn't think that was such an important job. "That's something they do for you," he pointed out.
"Maybe you're right," Freckles admitted, "but I bark at dolls and people when they pass the house, so our dolls know they are there. That's an important job," she said.

Marmalade wanted to roll his eyes again. (He really wished he could do that.) "I could hiss at them, if I wanted to," he said, "but I'm too important to waste time doing that. I need to keep my beautiful fur clean."
Freckles really thought cats were strange. "Don't you want to be useful?" she asked Marmalade.

"I don't have to be useful," he replied. "I keep toy mice from coming into the house, but I do it because it's fun."

"Don't you enjoy serving the dolls we live with?" Freckles asked.

"I don't need to serve them," Marmalade replied proudly, standing up straight so Freckles could see how wonderful he was. "They serve me! Besides, I'm decorative. My purpose is to be beautiful. I know, because I came with a tag that said,'for decorative purposes only.'"

Freckles thought for a moment. "I think if I had come with a tag, it would have said, 'to play with.'"

"Dogs are strange," Marmalade said.

"I'm glad I'm a dog," Freckles replied.

Marmalade thought for a moment. Then he said, "I'm glad you're a dog, too. Yup. It's good that you're a dog and not a cat."

Marmalade was happy being an only cat.


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post and no AI has been used.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

 "What kind of plants are these, Mandy?" Emil asked, showing her a picture in the book he was looking at.

 "Those aren't really plants, Emil," Mandy replied. "Those are mushrooms."


"They sort of look like plants," Emil said. "They look more like plants than animals."


"It's true," Mandy said, "that mushrooms stay in one place, just like plants.
"Unless the plants are in a pot," Emil pointed out.


Mandy laughed. "You're right," she said. "Someone can move plants. They can take a plant from a little pot and put it into the ground, or they can move a potted plant from one window to another, but the plants don't move themselves. They can grow bigger, but they don't pick up their pots and walk away. It's the same with mushrooms. Come, I'll show you," Mandy added.


Mandy has started growing mushrooms in the house. She started out with a big lump of something that is sort of like a root system for the kind of mushrooms she wanted to grow. She put it into a dishpan.
Veronika came along to look. "It doesn't look like much," she said.


"The mushrooms haven't grown yet," she said. I have to keep it damp."
"Like watering the plants?" Emil asked.


"Just like watering the plants," Mandy agreed, "but this isn't sitting in dirt like plants."


Mandy picked up a spray bottle with water and sprayed the lump.


"Why are mushrooms not plants, then?" Emil wanted to know.
"Well," Mandy began, "partly because their cells are made up of different things," she said, "and partly because plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. Mushrooms, on the other hand," take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide the way human people do."


"Do we do that, too?" Emil asked. "We look like human people."


"We pretend to breathe," Mandy replied, "and when we pretend to breathe we pretend to change oxygen into carbon dioxide, but I don't really think about it. Do you?"


Emil decided he didn't really think about it.


"Another difference between plants and mushrooms," Mandy explained, "is how they get their food. Plants make their own food using the light from the sun. Mushrooms need to eat, the way people need to eat."


"What do they eat?" was Emil's logical next question.
"They eat dead plants, mostly," Mandy said. 


"In nature they help clean up the forest floor," Mandy continued. This lump is made up of clean, ground-up wood that has had mushrooms growing in it. The roots are there, and new mushrooms will come out. It will take a while, though," she added.


Mandy sprayed the lump with water several times every day. Sometimes the other dolls would come and watch. After a few days, some little bumps started to appear. Then they grew.


Every day they were bigger. Then they started to change shape.


In less than a week, the mushrooms were nearly two inches across. Mandy wanted everyone to see the mushrooms. There were two big ones and several more just starting. Emil came to see.


Jolena came to see. She was wondering when the mushrooms would be ready to pick. She wanted to cook with them.


There are mushrooms growing out in the backyard, but Jolena knows that some mushrooms can make you sick, so she only cooks with the mushrooms from the store. Now Jolena can cook with Mandy's mushrooms when they are ready.


It was amazing how fast the mushrooms grew. Emil admired the mushrooms. "They grow fast, don't they?" he said.


"They do," Mandy agreed. "We can almost see them grow."
"I know that children grow, too" Emil said, looking up from the mushrooms. "Will I grow?"


Mandy thought for a moment. "Not really," she said finally. "We can get taller sometimes, if our joints get loose, and sometimes we have to be restrung, if it's really bad. They have to take you apart to do that. When they put you back together, you will be the same size you are now."


"That's OK," Emil said. "I like how I am. It's fun watching other things grow, though."
The next day the dolls could pick one of the mushrooms. It looked like this underneath.



Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. Mandy and her friends explore insects, atoms, weather, trees, gravity and fossils while they run around in The Writer's house and neighborhood.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

Veronika thought Mariah looked sad.


She climbed up next to Mariah, moving Mariah's notebook and pencil aside. "Is something the matter?" she asked.


"I'm feeling bad about myself," Mariah said. "I'm not sure if I did something wrong. I didn't mean to."
"Tell me about it," Veronika suggested.


"Well," Mariah began, "We were supposed to write a poem for school, so I did."


"It sounds like a good thing to do," Veronika said. 
"I was happy with it," Mariah said. "I thought about your Mato and pretended he was a real bear. I wrote about Mato and me."


"I typed it on the laptop," Mariah continued. "Then I printed it off, so it would look nice. I got a good grade on it, but Blair, that's a girl in my class, said I copied it from someone else. She said I cheated."
"Did you?" Veronika asked.
"No, I don't think so," Mariah said, "but I've been thinking that maybe I read it somewhere and it stayed in my mind, but maybe I forgot that I read it."
"May I read your poem?" Veronika asked.
Mariah nodded. She took a piece of paper from her notebook.


Veronika read:

BearBy Mariah

Bear peeks in my window.I know he is my friend.I know my big friend likes me,And Bear knows I like him.
I don't play with this friend,And he stays far from me.Still we can share a momentEvery now and then.
I was made by peopleWho live very far away.My friend's a part of nature.In nature he must stay.
Bear peeks in my window.I give my friend a nod.He lumbers off contentedTo find food in the wood.


"It's very nice," Veronika said when she was done reading. "I like it. I can just imagine Mato as a real bear, looking in the window at you."


"Blair said it doesn't rhyme (RYM)," Mariah said. "That made me feel bad, too. Some of the ends of the lines don't sound the same as some of the others."
"Poems don't have to rhyme," Veronika pointed out. 


"Of course, a nursery rhyme will rhyme," Veronika said, "or else it's a nursery poem, but some poems do and some don't. 'Away' and 'stay' rhyme, but those are the only two words that rhyme exactly in your poem, and that's OK." Veronika looked at the poem again. "Your poem has a rhythm (RIH-thum) to it," she went on. "I like to think of rhythm as the beat, like in music. Your poem has a beat to it, but a poem doesn't have to have rhythm, either."


"But what if I just remembered it from having heard it before?" Mariah asked. "I didn't mean to copy from someone else."


"I think your teacher would have known," Veronika said, "but just to be sure, let's go upstairs and get the laptop. We can look up Bear poems."


The two dolls found the laptop and brought it into the living room. Veronika opened it up. She typed in "Bear poem" in the little slot at the top. Poems about bears came on the screen. There were lots and lots of them. Most of them mentioned honey and bees. Some of them rhymed and some had rhythm. Some had both rhyme and rhythm, and some didn't have either.


"I don't see your poem here," Veronika said after they had read all the poems.


"They are all nice poems," Mariah said. "They made me see pictures in my head."
"But yours isn't here!" Veronika said.Mariah still looked doubtful, so Veronika picked up Mariah's pencil and pointed to the end she doesn't write with. "What's this?" she asked.


"That's the eraser," Mariah replied. "I use it when I want to change words I don't spell right or when I change my mind about how to say something."
"It's a well-used eraser," Veronika said. "You didn't copy your poem. I've seen you write. You write and erase, and then rewrite. If you had it in your head already, you would have just written it out."
"Then why did Blair say those things to me?" Mariah wanted to know.


"Without knowing what's going on in her life," Veronika said, "I can only guess. It seems, though, is if she might have been trying to hurt you."
Mariah thought about that. "Why would any doll want to hurt another doll?" she asked. "That isn't how dolls behave!"


"Sometimes dolls who try tohurt others are suffering inside." Veronika explained. "If someone is mean to them, they think being mean to someone else will make them feel better."
Mariah thought about that. "But being mean to someone would make me feel bad," she said. "That's why I don't do it...at least not on purpose."
"That's smart," Veronika agreed, "because it doesn't work. You can't feel better about yourself by hurting others."


 Mariah thought for a moment about what Veronika had said. "Blair must feel really bad if someone has been mean to her," she said finally. "Maybe I should pretend she is my friend. If I do it long enough, maybe she will be. Maybe she will feel better about herself, too."


"I think that would be nice," Veronika agreed, "but if it doesn't work and she still wants to hurt you, at least you should know that it isn't your fault, and whatever she says about you can't hurt you if you don't let it. You should feel sorry for her instead."


Mariah thought about that, too. Then she said, "I know what I'll do! I'll write a poem about that!"
"That's a great idea," Veronika agreed.
"Maybe this one will rhyme," Mariah said, "or maybe it won't."


Veronika got Mato and brought him to the windowsill where the girls had been sitting. Mariah read her poem to Mato.


Then she gave Mato a kiss, because he had been a very helpful bear.



Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Mato: "Mato" (Lakota for "bear") by Running Strong for American Indian Youth

You can follow The Doll's Storybook  here .

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. The Stories included are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After, and Money in a Jar.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2020, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

"I know you dolls are talking about my birthday!" It was Mandy's voice from the hall. The dolls all looked at each other. How did she know? Did she read their minds?


Of course Mandy read their minds, because that's how dolls talk to each other! They do that because their mouths don't move.
Mandy's head poked through the door to the workroom. "I thought I should help you decide how to celebrate, since it's my birthday," she told them.


Mandy climbed up on the big work table to where the other dolls were.
"You didn't even get a party last year, Mandy," Veronika said. "We thought you should have one this year."
"It would be fun to have a party," Mandy agreed, "but I've been thinking about how I liked Veronika's party this year. Presents are fun, but I have everything I need, and some real human people don't."


"You mean," asked Charlotte, "that we should make another package of food to keep in the car for homeless people?"
"That's a nice thing to do," Mandy agreed, "but I have another idea."
"Tell us your idea, Mandy," Veronika said.
"Well," Mandy began, pulling the iPad over to where the other dolls could see and sitting down. "You know how after each story we ask our readers to donate to help children who are sick?" Mandy showed them where it said that. "How about we do that ourselves?"


"We have our allowances," Jolena said, "but if we all put our allowances together, it still won't be much."
"Maybe," Billy began, "we could climb back into The Writer's purse and get her credit card."


"No, Billy," Mariah said, "we would have to ask permission, and then it would be from The Writer, not from us."


The dolls tried to think of a way they could get some more money to donate to help sick children.
"We could look for money under the couch cushions," Mariah suggested. "There's usually some money down in there."


"That would belong to the people who live here," Veronika pointed out. "It wouldn't be from us. We should find a way to earn some money."


"If it would stop raining, we could have a lemonade stand and sell lemonade to real people," Jolena said, "but the weather report says it will rain all week!"


"I have an idea!" Charlotte cried. "There are bottles in the glass recycling that have 'Refund 5¢' written on them. There are plastic bottles and aluminum cans in the plastic and metal recycling that have 'Refund 10¢' on them. Doesn't that mean they give you money if you return the bottles and cans? Maybe we could take them in and get the money for them."


"I like that idea," Mandy agreed, "but we would still need to get permission. We need to be sure it's OK to do that. The bottles and cans belong to the people in the house, even if they plan to throw them into recycling."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "The 5¢ refund means they had to pay 5¢ for each bottle or can when they bought the drinks. That isn't a lot in people money, but it adds up to a lot for all those bottles and cans."
"But maybe if we do all the work," Jolena said, "it will be like getting paid to return the bottles at the store for them. I heard The Writer say she was going to the store. We could go with her and take care of the bottles while she's shopping!"


The dolls decided it was a good idea, so they all went to look for The Writer to ask if it was OK. Mandy checked in the study.


Charlotte looked into the downstairs hall.


Veronika rapped politely on the bathroom door.


Mariah came running back to the other dolls. She had found The Writer in the kitchen and explained what they wanted to do. "The Writer likes the idea," she said. "She said she would add to the donation, too, as a birthday present to Mandy."


The dolls were happy to learn that The Writer thought it was a great idea, and that she would even add a donation to the money they got from returning the bottles.
The dolls went through the glass, metal and plastic recycling and pulled out all the bottles and cans that had "5¢" or "10¢" on the label. They put them into two shopping bags and took them to the car.
When they got to the store, the dolls found the place where all the bottle and can recycling machines were. There were machines for glass bottles, for plastic bottles and for cans made of aluminum. They only had plastic and glass bottles. They started with the machine that took plastic bottles.



They worked together to pass the bottles up to Jolena who was putting them into the machine.


Then Billy had a turn feeding the machine. It was fun.


Then they did the same thing with the cans. When they ran out of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, they pushed a button, and the machine gave them a piece of paper. On it was the amount of money the store would give them for the bottles. They did the same thing with the glass bottles, and the glass machine gave them another piece of paper.
The dolls decided that Jolena should be the one to get the money, because she is a good climber. They helped her get into the shopping cart. Jolena had never been in a shopping cart before. It felt strange, even though the cart had a place for her to sit. 


Billy told them that the cart was also called a trolley. How did he know to call it that? Billy doesn't know. Sometimes we know things but can't remember where we learned them.
The dolls pushed the cart to a part of the store where there was a sign that said, "Customer Service." That's where people who return bottles and cans can take their pieces of paper to exchange for people money. There was a long line of people, so they had to wait their turn.



When it was their turn, Jolena climbed out of the cart and up onto the counter. The other dolls passed the two pieces of paper to her, one at a time. A man who worked in "Customer Service" took each piece of paper and gave Jolena the amount of money the machine had written on them.


Jolena thanked him. The man thanked Jolena.
When they got home, they put the money into an envelope.  The Writer gave them a check to put into the envelope, and a little card that explained about the stories. Mariah wrote out the address on the envelope and showed it to Mandy, so she could read it and make sure it was correct.


They put a stamp on the envelope. The dolls let Mandy take the envelope with the money to the mailbox, because it was her birthday present, but they went along to help. When they got to the mail box, they saw the mail slot was very high up.


The other dolls had to help Mandy up, so she could drop the envelope into the slot for the post office person to pick up.


On Wednesday, they had a party for Mandy anyway. It was a fun party, and the dolls were very happy that they had done something to help real children. Helping real children is what makes dolls happy.
"This has been a wonderful birthday!" Mandy exclaimed excitedly.

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.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. The Stories included are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After, and Money in a Jar.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2019, 2026 by Peggy Stuart

This story is from Spring 2019. Mariah had arrived at the end of the Summer and Billy had arrived in the Fall. They didn't yet know what Spring was all about. It will soon be Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Autumn is coming to the Northern Hemisphere. How does that happen? Mandy explains the seasons.

Billy and Charlotte each have a dog. Billy's dog is named Freckles. She is a girl. Can you guess why she is named Freckles?

Charlotte's dog is named Pierre. You say it "Pee-air." Pierre is a boy dog. Can you guess why Charlotte named her dog Pierre?


Billy and Charlotte both know that dog owners have to be responsible for feeding and walking their dogs, making them behave and cleaning up after them. They often walk their dogs together, because it's more fun for the dolls and more fun for the dogs.
On Tuesday, they were walking the dogs around the neighborhood. The weather was sunny and almost warm. 



When they had been all around the block, they decided to sit on the front porch and enjoy the warm air for a while.
"It feels like spring is here," Charlotte said.


"What is spring?" Billy asked.
"Spring is when the weather starts to get warmer," Charlotte explained. "The birds who left to go south for the winter come back. Like hummingbirds. They should be back soon."


"The trees that lost their leaves in the fall start to grow new ones," Charlotte continued. "Flowers start to grow, like the bulbs we planted last fall."


"Then will it be that warm forever?" Billy wanted to know.
"No," Charlotte replied. "Spring only lasts until summer starts. Then it gets hot sometimes. We can get on our bathing suits and play in the sprinkler or go swimming...or just sit out on the porch and pretend we have been doing those things, because our kind of dolls shouldn't go into the water."


"But dolls can play in the snow," Billy said. "Will we ever get to do that again?"
"Yes," Charlotte explained. "After we have summer for awhile it starts to get cooler again. We will have fall, which is also called autumn. The birds who can't live in the cold fly south and the leaves change color."



"Then does it snow?" Billy asked. "I remember it snowed pretty soon after I came here."
"After it has been fall for a while, and all the summer birds have left and the trees have lost all their leaves," Charlotte agreed, "then the snow comes back."
"Why does that happen?" Billy wanted to know.
Charlotte thought for a moment. "I think it has something to do with how the earth moves, but Mandy can tell us."
Billy and Charlotte went to find Mandy. She was sitting in the family room with Mariah. They were looking at some photos together on the iPad.


"Mandy," Charlotte began, "what makes the seasons?"
"Yes," Billy said, "why is it spring now?
"Do you have any ideas?" Mandy asked.
"Maybe God turns up the heat on the sun?" Billy suggested.


"That's an interesting idea, Billy," Mandy replied, "but the way it works is more clever than just turning up the heat."
"In school I learned that the earth goes around the sun," Charlotte said. "Maybe it gets closer to the sun, and that makes it warmer."

"You're right about the earth going around the sun, Charlotte," Mandy said, "but how close we are to the sun is not what causes the seasons to change."
Mariah had been thinking. "I think I read something about how the earth is tilted or something," she said.
"You're getting warmer," laughed Mandy. "just like spring! Let me show you what you probably read about." Mandy dug around in her knitting basket and came up with a ball of tan-colored yarn and a knitting needle. She pushed the knitting needle through the middle of the ball of yarn. She was very careful not to point the knitting needle at anyone.
"Pretend this is the earth," she said, "only you have to pretend it's blue, because that's what the earth looks like from far away."


"Maybe the earth will look like your ball of yarn if we don't take care of it," Charlotte suggested.
"I hope not," Mandy replied, "but you're right. We need to keep our earth clean, just the way we have to keep our rooms clean."
"What's the knitting needle for?" Mariah asked.


"The knitting needle is supposed to be the earth's axis," Mandy said, "only we can't really see the real one. It's just an imaginary post that goes through the middle of the earth. The earth turns on this imaginary post. Turning is what makes day and night, as the place where you are on the earth turns toward the sun and then away."


"Now," Mandy went on, "for this next part, I will need some volunteers. I need some dolls who are willing to help out."
All three dolls raised their hands.


"That's good," Mandy said, "because we need four dolls. If I volunteer, too, we will have what we need."
Mandy told the other dolls to wait a minute because she needed something else to help demonstrate. 
She came back with the old, broken tether ball from the backyard and left it on the floor.


"Now," Mandy said, "we can pretend this big ball is the sun, only the sun doesn't have this big loop on one side. We'll just pretend it isn't there."


Mandy gave each doll a role to play. Each doll would get to pretend to be a season of the year. Mariah would be summer, Mandy would play fall, Charlotte was to be winter, Billy would play the role of spring. Mandy reminded the other dolls to be very careful with the earth's axis, because it was sharp and could damage them if they got poked with it.
Billy picked up the earth and its axis and held it very carefully.


Mandy had the dolls sit around the ball that was supposed to be the sun. She had Mariah sit to her right, then Billy across from her and Charlotte to her left. That way, they would be in the order the seasons come.


Mandy asked Billy to pass the ball of yarn that was supposed to be the earth to Mariah. She told Mariah to point one end of the knitting needle toward the sun. Mariah held the earth with one end of the axis pointed toward the sun.


"This is how the earth is in summer," Mandy explained. Where we live is closer to the part of the knitting needle that's sticking out toward the sun. We call where the knitting needle comes out of the ball of yarn the North Pole."
"That's where Santa lives!" Billy exclaimed.
"Yes, that's where we believe Santa has his workshop," Mandy agreed. "The sun heats up that part of the earth more than the other end, the South Pole, so we have summer. It still stays very cold at the poles, even in summer, because the sun never shines directly on them. Even then, the sun is very low in the sky, and most of the year it's dark or almost dark."


"Now," Mandy went on, "the earth is going to go around the sun. The axis is always going to point in the same direction. Which season comes after summer?"
"I know," said Mariah. "Fall comes next. That's you, Mandy!"


Mariah handed the earth to Mandy.
"That's right, Mariah," Mandy agreed, "so it's my turn to hold the earth. I have to hold it like this, because the axis always points in very nearly the same direction."


"Mandy," Billy said, "we dolls must be very strong, if we can hold up the earth!"
"You're right, Billy!" Mandy agreed. "We dolls are very strong, but the real reason we can hold the earth is because we're good at pretending."
The dolls could see that both the North Pole and the South pole could get about the same amount of warmth from the sun.
Next it was Charlotte's turn. Mandy told Charlotte to hold the earth with the North Pole pointing away from the sun.
"Now it looks like the part of the earth where we live is getting less sun," Charlotte said.
"Yes," Mandy said, "and this is where the earth is closest to the sun, so you can see, it doesn't make us warmer after all. You were right, though, that how far we are from the sun changes as we go around the sun."


"My turn!" Billy cried.
Charlotte passed him the earth. "Now it's spring!" she said.


"So this is where the earth is now?" Billy asked.
"Yes," Mandy agreed. "It's a little closer to Charlotte, because spring is just starting, but we are on your side of the sun."
Mandy stood up, so the dolls knew the game was over. She put the earth and its axis back into the knitting basket.
"I was wondering," said Charlotte, "if the sun warms the part of the earth that's pointed toward it more than the part that's pointed away from the sun, do the people who live on the other side of the earth, closer to the South Pole, have winter when we have summer?"


"That's right," Mandy agreed. "Right now, while we're at the early part of spring, they are just starting fall."
"That means our friends in Australia and New Zealand are starting to have cooler days," Mariah said.


"Yes," Mandy agreed, "and the southern part of Africa, but also human people who live in South America, especially Argentina and Chile."
"We have friends there, too," Billy said. "If I could visit them this summer, I could use my sled! Whoopie!"
"Yes, Billy," Mandy agreed. "That's why Jolena and the ski team sometimes go there to ski when it's summer here."
"But all we have to do is stay here and wait for winter," Mariah said. "We can do that. Dolls are good at being patient."



Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
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.

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

Our latest book is available from BookBaby and other booksellers: Billy: Stories from The Doll’s Storybook. The Stories included are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After, and Money in a Jar.

Royalties go to an organization that provides pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don’t get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to our designated charity. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. The Writer’s author’s page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you, or ask your library to get our books for you. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/198325... my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2019, 2026 by Peggy Stuart