The Donna Book

Following up on a darling gift from Christmas. That is, the 'Mini-Me' Donna Doll and accompanying book.

Donna just loves her bedtime stories. She has to have one every night and her favorite stories are the Madeline books. She loves that Madeline is the smallest one, and yet is very brave and charming. I also think she likes that the all the stories are written in rhymes, though she isn't old enough to identify that exactly, I've just heard her trying to imitate the story telling style by trying to tell her own stories in (not-really-but-almost-sounds-like-it-could-be) rhymes. Those thoughts in mind, I started writing a Donna book as a bedtime story for her. Unbeknownst to me, Annie decided to make her a Donna doll. When we came forward with our ideas at Christmas time, we decided they went well together and the final step was employing Lizzy to illustrate my story book, which she did beautifully. Capturing our Donna's rather messy but joyful exterior and big contented smiles at the small, simple routines of her daily life. So, I'm here to share with you today, the Donna Book, along with a few of Lizzy's illustrations:

Once upon a time, there lived a little girl named Donna Marie.
Donna was five years old and just as sweet as could be.

 

She lived on a farm where her family stayed,
In a little cordwood house that her family had made.

 On her farm, there were horses, cows, chickens and sheep,
goats that were loud and rabbits who never made a peep.

Every day when the sun come up, suddenly, without warning,
Donna would be standing there in her underpants saying, "good morning!"

She would hurry outside, in rain, sun or sleet,
Her jacket unzipped and her boots on the wrong feet

While her brothers slept, still a snore,
She would carefully open the chicken's door.

Looking under the chicken's legs,
She would gently collect all their eggs.

Donna was learning how to read and write,
How to sled, ice skate, and snowball fight.

One of her favorite things to do was horseback ride,
And then, when her toes were cold, she'd come inside.

(Donna's reaction, as Mom reads the Donna Book for the first time.)

She loved to help Mom cook in the kitchen,
And then play on the floor with all the kittens.

She would do a puzzle and eat bread and cheese,
While outside, the snow came down and everything would freeze.

She would play with her toy horses, emanons, and Lucy doll,
Because she could not yet snowboard; she was too small. 

She would watch Annie wood burn, and Mary knit,
And practice her own stitching, with her stitching kit.

And when it got dark and the curtains would come down,
They would light some candles and everyone would gather a round.

To eat and "have a party", as Donna would say,
Because Donna made a poster that said "happy happy day!".

Every night, Annie would brush her teeth and tuck her in tight,
Read her a story and hold hands after they turned out the light.

And just before they fell asleep,
Donna would chill Annie with her freezing, cold feet.

The End
(for pretend)

Then Annie would finish this story, and say, "it's not just pretend,'
"because this is your story Donna, and it's never going to end."

Donna didn't suspect a thing, when Annie randomly dressed her up and took pictures of her one day. Little did she know, Annie was modeling her for a mini me doll recreation. So cute!

 

Donna was playing with her Donna doll today, which made me think to share the full story behind the gift. Thanks for reading.