Betty the China Doll

Betty is a china doll who sits on a shelf, in a shop, right at the end of my road.


Betty has a pure white shiny-china face with big cheeks that are rosy red. She has big beautiful black eyes and a small pink heart shaped mouth. She wears a long black dress with no sleeves that show her pure white shiny-china tiny arms and delicate fingers. She has long brown hair tied in a bun at the back of her head.


She is the most perfect China Doll


Betty is adored by all the other toys in the shop who think she is really beautiful. “You’re very special,” Big Ted would say to her, “You’re made out of pure white shiny-china that looks perfect.”


Betty was very special. She was so special that she had her own glass box on a shelf so no one would break her.



In the day she would sit alone on the shelf so the boys and girls could look at her before they went to play. At night, when the shop was shut and the toys came alive and began to play, she would watch them smiling and would hear them laughing from her glass box.


But Betty was very lonely on that shelf all alone, “Oh I’d love to laugh,” she’d say, “But I don’t even know how to smile!”


The other toys teased Betty. “If you smile you’ll crack your face!” they’d chuckle and go back to play.


Sometimes, when children would come into the shop, they would look at Betty and say, “She’s so beautiful!” Then they would go to the toy cupboard and play.


Betty would watch them smiling and would hear them laughing from her glass box.


“Oh I’d love to laugh,” she’d say, “But I don’t even know how to smile!”


But, again, the other toys teased Betty. “If you smile you’ll crack your face!” they’d chuckle and go back to play.


Months passed by and Betty still did not know how to smile. She tried opening her mouth a tiny-weenie bit in the corner, but it didn’t work. She tried closing her eyes tight shut, but that didn’t work. She even tried holding her belly and nodding her head (because she had seen Big Ted do this!)


But it still didn’t work. Betty still didn’t laugh!


One cold, windy winter’s night Betty was woken up by the sound of the door crashing as it opened and closed in the wind. She shivered because she was very cold, “Brrrrrr,” she said, “It’s such a cold, windy winter’s day.”


Just then! A big gust of wind flew through the door and into the shop. It bought in with it leaves and feathers and lots of dirt. They flew around in the air, circling round and round and stayed there until the shop keeper came and closed the door.


In all the excitement Betty did not notice the tiny feather float into her glass box! It floated down-down-down, right down on to the bottom of her glass box and rested on her foot.


And then do you know what this naughty little feather did?


It began to tickle Betty’s foot!


It tickled and Betty could feel her leg twitching


It tickled and Betty could feel her belly jumping,


It tickled and Betty could feel her lips quivering!


It tickled and tickled and Betty twitched and jumped and quivered,


It tickled and tickled some more and Betty twitched and jumped and quivered some more.


And then...


Out of nowhere came a sound that Betty had never heard before, it was soft and light.


Betty was laughing!


The more she laughed the more the feather tickled her foot. She was laughing so loud she had woken up Big Ted and the other toys, who all came out of their beds to see what the noise was.


But when they did see Betty, laughing in her glass box they couldn’t believe their eyes!.


Betty the China Doll, who had never known how to smile before, was smiling and not only that, Betty the China Doll, who had never known how to smile before, was laughing.


“Whatever’s got into her?” asked Big Ted and then he saw the naughty little feather tickling Betty’s foot. He reached in and took it out of her glass box and put it on the side.


Betty stopped laughing! She had been laughing so much she was now very tired. She made a big yawn and with a little chuckle she closed her eyes and fell fast to sleep.


“Nothing to see here,” said Big Ted as he led the other toys went back to their beds.


The next morning when the Shopkeeper came downstairs to open up the shop he noticed all the leaves and feathers and lots of dirt on the ground and quickly got his dustpan and brush to clean them up. He was busy dusting Betty’s shelf when he noticed that something was strange about Betty’s face.


Betty was in her glass box like usual, but today she had her eyes tight shut and had a big smile on her face.


“What ever has happened to Betty’s face?” he said.


The Shopkeeper lifted Betty from her glass box and rubbed her face to try to clean away her new smile. He thought a naughty child had drawn it on. But Betty’s smile didn’t come off.


The shopkeeper looked very puzzled and went to put Betty back when he noticed the naughty feather by the side of the glass box.


“Oh dear! You can’t stay out in this glass box anymore,” he said to Betty kindly, “Not with all these leaves and feathers and dirt lying around, I will put you safe into the toy cupboard.”


So the Shopkeeper carried Betty over to the toy cupboard, he took her big soft cushion from her glass box and sat her by Big Ted. “You’ll be safe here.” He said.


And to this very day, Betty is still in the corner shop at the end of my street. She spends her days playing with the children and at night she settles on her big soft cushion in the toy cupboard to sleep


Betty still has her wonderful new smile and she laughs with the other toys every night.


She laughs all night long.


She is the most perfect China Doll!