poekie_history

In 1996 many children were coming to our mommy at the Planet with new toys. They called them 'beanie-babies,' and they wanted to make clothes for them. They were all different animals, each one had a name and a birth date. Everyone loved them, but oh were they expensive! Some were so expensive that they needed to live in a plastic box. The kids started boasting about how expensive their toy was, to the point that our mommy got tired of it. What good is a doll if it is just about the money, if you don't dare to play with it for fear of getting it dirty? She felt sorry for the kids who couldn't afford to buy those adorable toys, and the boasting of the children who had them, didn't help the happy, innocent mood that lived in the bead room at the Planet.
Then one day our mommy said to herself, 'Why can't we make them ourselves? These animals are made by machine, and there's something in their tummy that I don't know about, but it feels like beans. Maybe I can find a way for the kids to make their own babies filled with beans.'

That's when we were born. After much thinking, she decided that a little mouse would be the answer to all this boasting. 'Cause what is a mouse? Unlike a lion, or a dog, a mouse is just a very innocent little creature that doesn't bother anyone, except for maybe the cookies in your jar.
The next day she came to the bead room with a bag of pinto-beans. Some towel material from the fabric box seemed the best choice for our skin. Two days later, I, the first Poekie, was born. It was hard labor getting born, my skin kept on fraying, my head was first too small, then too big, and it took quite a while for me to get some sort of arms. Once I was alive, I didn't feel too good, because every time I moved I would feel and hear the beans rattle in my tummy, my skin snagged on sharp nails, and I couldn't sit up straight very well. But I looked oh so cute, and innocent, and unassuming. It was obvious that my name should be Poekie, because Poekie is a sweet word they use for babies in our mommy's country. And everyone loved me and everyone wanted to make me. Mommy couldn't keep enough pinto-beans and towel fabric in the house!
Then one day a mom came in and gave us some fabric that was made from recycled plastic bottles, and our mommy got all excited. She made a new one of me. He still rattled with beans in his tummy, but his skin didn't fray and he could sit up straight. And most important, he was in several colors, green, purple and pink. The kids went crazy over us, suddenly we came out in all kinds of colors. Soon after, our mom discovered the plastic pallets to replace the beans in our tummy, and we all felt much better. Everyone was calling us Poekies and many of them had names like Poekita and Poekelie, but I always stayed the one and only Poekie, the very first one.

The kids made all kinds of things for us, clothes and jewelry, back packs, sleeping bags, and even houses. We got to play together all the time. We had parties and sleep-overs. Friendships were made and soon we had weddings for Poekies who loved each other. Well, of course we have babies, and that is when Baby Poeka was born. Our mommy made a smaller version of me and she was so cute and sweet and bratty, that soon our peaceful Poekie world was overrun by little brats. I adopted her right away as my daughter. The Poekie family was born.		One of the first Poekies: Poekelie and her Baby Baby Poeka
Just like the expensive toys the kids used to bring in, our mom thought of other animals that are easy to make. So the next to be born was Teedlee, the duck. Well, from a duck, it's easy to imagine a penguin, so Pengu was born shortly after. Some years later Daisy the elephant was born, with her baby Ellefie. And when Sasha was playing with Ellefie, she imagined a gnome, so mommy invented Thumbelina for her. For many years it was just us, mice, ducks, penguins, elephants and gnomes. But not too long ago our mommy got re-inspired and started creating more Poekie babies. And she keeps on doing it. Pretty soon we won't be able to remember all our family members in our fluffy brains. The Poekie world is growing bigger than we can imagine, there must be at least five thousand Poekies in the world! Baby Poeka, the other Poekie babies and I, all live at the Planet. We love to play with the kids and their Poekies when they come to visit. We have a wonderful world, because we are a very peaceful kind, and we always remind the kids of the goodness and innocence in their hearts. Since we are Poekie babies, we never really grow up. I turn three every year on Valentine's Day (my mommy says I am the Poekie of Love), although I am really already twelve years old. Baby Poeka has her birthday on the longest day of the year, June 21st, this way she has the longest birthday possible. She always turns two, although she is really already ten years old. We like not getting any older because this way our mommy will always love us and forgive us, even Baby Poeka when she has been naughty again. I always remind her to be kind, but she can be such a brat! She even started a brat club some years ago, but, thank goodness it is not so active now. I prefer my Poekie Peace Party, it is a much wiser thing to give to the world.
Welcome to our Poekie family.
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Poekie Nook, name and concept, Poekie babies, patterns, drawings, text, photos, and design are all created by Sophia van der Harst. Unauthorized reproductions of the Poekie Nook designs and photos, and copying of the Poekie Nook pages is prohibited.