Flat Stanley

I was surprised at how appealing I found this silly story of a boy he is squished flat one day and makes the best of it. Maybe it's that all the adults -- doctors, parents, police, museum directors -- are all so consistently incompetent, so of course the kids have to step up when it comes to saving money, rescuing lost rings, stopping thieves, resolving sibling rivalry, and finding a cure.

Fun.

My only critique: I dislike stories where every member of the family gets a first name except the mother. Free Mrs. Lambchop from the patriarchy!

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 1. The Big Bulletin Board -- Chapter 2. Being Flat -- Chapter 3. Stanley the Kite -- Chapter 4. The Museum Thieves -- Chapter 5. Arthur's Good Idea

Stanley Lambchop is an ordinary boy . . . was an ordinary boy . . . until the night the bulletin board fell on top of him while he was sleeping. When Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop lifted the board off Stanley, they discovered that he was flat.

At first, Stanley enjoyed being flat. He could slide under doors and do all sorts of things. He even slid through the sidewalk grating when his mother’s ring accidentally rolled between its bars. He mailed himself in an envelope to visit his friend, Thomas, in California. Stanley could roll himself up, and make himself into a kite for his younger brother, Arthur. [Arthur was jealous of all the things Stanley could do now that he was flat and tried to flatten himself by putting a great many volumes of the show more Encyclopedia Britannica on top of himself. It didn’t work.]

Mr. O. Jay Dart, director of the Famous Museum of Art, was upset because thieves were stealing paintings from the museum. Sneak thieves [the worst kind because they work by sneakery] are responsible, but the police have had no luck catching them.

Stanley comes up with a plan. But will it work? Will they catch the sneak thieves and save the paintings in the museum? And, most importantly, will Stanley stay flat forever?

Flat Stanley is destined to become the young reader’s favorite character. Although filled with whimsy and silliness, the clever story makes some important points about family, being brothers, coming to hasty conclusions, teamwork, and judging people by their differences.

“Flat Stanley” has spawned a plethora of Flat Stanley adventures as well as imaginative school projects in which students create a flat figure of themselves and then send themselves in the mail to have adventures [my granddaughter’s flat-self went to the playground, the movies, and grocery-shopping, then visited a local classroom . . . now her flat-self is proudly displayed on my bookcase].

The target audience here is ages six through ten; however, the narrative is a bit lengthy, so perhaps not appropriate for the youngest readers unless read in installments. Some of the humor may be more at the parental level, but the improbability is sure to make every young reader giggle. This is definitely a book that children will ask to read again and again.

Highly recommended. show less

I really enjoyed reading this book. Flat Stanley was well written, engaging, and had an amusing plot line. This book follows the story of how a boy becomes flattened during the night and his ensuing adventures due to his odd shape. The book does a nice job of entertaining the reader with fantastical scenarios that are the perfect mix of silly and interesting; such as, when Flat Stanley is commissioned to catch a team of museum robbers by hiding himself in a nearby painting.

The illustrations that accompany this text also significantly add to its charm. They are vibrant and colorful and do a wonderful job of enhancing the specific plot developments. Readers of all ages would be able to enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. This was such a great idea for a story, because not only is it exciting and fun for children to read, but it also has more serious themes about self-acceptance and family. Because this book is fantasy, readers are automatically drawn in by the crazy idea of Stanley becoming “flat” from his bulletin board falling on him. As Stanley embarks on all of his adventures, readers imagine themselves what it would be like to be sent away in a mailing envelope and go explore California, or be a secret night guard in a picture frame at an art gallery. This helps to show readers that even though Stanley is different, his unique qualities give him the ability to have experiences like never before. The only show more issue that I have with the book is that in the end, Stanley becomes normal again, which does not exactly reinforce the idea of becoming comfortable with who you are. However, it does show that his family will do anything to help him feel better again. The main purpose of this story was to show the adventures of a boy who became flat. show less

In my opinion “Flat Stanley” by Jeff Brown is a fun book to read with students. The animated illustrations match the text well and are engaging to students. For example, the students are able to visualize what a “flat” person would like when the bulletin board falls on top of Stanley in the middle of the night; the pictures reinforce their visualizations. Along with the illustrations, the plot is organized stating a clear beginning, middle, and end, which is easy for students to follow. The book shows Stanley become flat in the beginning, travel and do activities while he is flat, and back to normal again! Not only does this book have a clear plot, but it offers teachers fun activities to do in the classroom. The main message of show more this book is to have pride for who you are and respect for the people around you. show less

Flat Stanley is a staple book in the elementary classroom, being the focus of many class read alouds and letter writing projects. Since my second grader was reading it at school, we decided to include the book as part of our nightly reading sessions at home. In the story, Flat Stanley is a young kid who becomes flat after the poster board beside his bed falls on him during the night. No worries, though, Stanley is still in perfect health, he's just flat as a board. The book proceeds to details the adventures that a flat boy can encounter, from flying as a kite to posing as a work of fine art and capturing art thieves. The story is quite unbelievable, but Stanley's antics were manic enough to delight my daughters. I read in the author's show more synopsis that the story originated as a night time adventure made up for the author's children, and knowing its origin helped me understand some of the book's outrageous nature. Bedtime stories are frequently wild and unimaginable. Personally, I found Flat Stanley to be more than a little ridiculous and old-fashioned, but certainly creative, and my children unreservedly enjoyed it. show less

At over 50 years old, "Flat Stanley" is a story and character that has truly stood the test of time. The story begins with the Lambchop family waking up to some shocking news, Stanley has been crushed by a bulletin board! The family is in distress until they uncover something extraordinary, Stanley is perfectly fine - except for being half an inch thick. Now flat, Stanley is able to do many unbelievable things like travel via mail cross country, be flown as a kite, and catch thieves in the act while posing as a painting. In the end, though, people start making fun of Stanley for looking different, so his brother blows him back up with a bicycle pump. As a fantasy, "Flat Stanley" is a very strong example, because there's no explicit show more "magic" necessarily happening, he's just a regular boy who was impossible misshapen. Setting the story in an otherwise plausible world, students could connect to the emotions Stanley experiences, especially at the end when he is bullied. This book would be an excellent way to begin a discussion with your class - or school - about differences and bullying, but it would also be a fun way to talk about what unique qualities we all have that make us unique.
Media: ink/pencil show less