Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure! (original 1964; edition 2013)

Fun! ( )

Flat stanley is a must read for intermediate level students but a strong 2nd grader could read this book as well. It is such a cute book that brings to life some issues that are going on the world right now. It is a great book to get kids starting to read chapter books that have a deeper meaning to them ( )

I think this book is good for 2nd and 3rd graders. The book will take a few sittings to read for children in those grades. I think this book covers a little bit of diversity issues which was definitely ahead of its time for when it was originally written. Flat Stanley is a good book to start a conversation about differences and diversity in the classroom! ( )

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 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. ( )

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