Customer Reviews

Flat Stanley

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This imaginative story by Jeff Brown tells about the adventures of a young boy, Stanley, who is mashed flat by an enormous bulletin board that falls on him in the night. As being flat has its advantages, Stanley has quite a few exciting adventures, one of which includes being placed in an envelope and mailed to friends in California for a vacation trip. The story is filled with mystery, adventure, sibling rivalry, and family fun. Children will love reading about the antics of Flat Stanley!

Note to teachers: This book is great when used as a part of a social studies unit on America. Have children create a U.S. map. Find California. Practice letter writing. Send Flat Stanley to friends and relatives in other states. Locate those states on the class map. Gather information about those states through return letters and let children learn from each other.

Finally I've found Flat Stanley!! I read this wonderful book when I was a small child and was thrilled by Stanley's situation. In fact, it is one of the only stories I can still vividly recall from my TV-infested childhood. (And it still affects me-- to this day I have NEVER put a bulletin board above my bed or anything big for that matter!!!). As I grew older, I lost track of my copy of the book-- but would always ask friends if they remembered it when the converstation turned to children's literature. Surprisingly, not many people had heard of the story-- which, of course, inspired me to find the book and bring back a classic to my friends, nieces and nephews. So, I scoured bookstores old and new to find it. And I was without luck-- until now. With the help of my computer and Amazon.com I have, again, found Flat Stanley. So, I'm ordering a bunch of copies-- for myself and my family-- and I'm thrilled that Stanley will find a place once again on my bookshelf -- and will hopefully remain there for years to come. I can't wait for him to get here!!!

I had heard of Flat Stlanley before and although I thought the concept was cute I had never used this book in my second grade. At least not until this year. I am using it with one of my flexible reading groups. I'm absolutely hooked and the children are as well. We have posted the pros and cons of being flat and have joined in with the Flat Stanley project. This is providing so many enriching extension activities! We are now "hosting" Flat Stanleys from Ontario, Thailand, and Australia. The learning that is taking place (writing, reading, speaking, creating, geography, world cultures) is astounding. My students are constructing their own Stanleys who will be traveling around the world to be hosted in other states and countries. I will be buying more copies of this book so I can do this with my entire class next year. I purchased Stanley in Space for my reading group to move on to next. I can't believe I was not aware of how wonderful this book could be. I have been able to integrate it throughout my curriculum. HIGHLY recommended!

I have been debating what to get my 5 year old neice for Christmas, when out of the blue I remembered Flat Stanley! It has been about 15 years since I thought about this book. My little brother had checked it out from the library, and it was so funny that we ended up checking the book out over & over again that summer. Now when I think about Stanley's comical, but pratical, solutions to his big problem I still get a good laugh! Flat Stanley is by far the most hilarious book ever. It was such a big part of my family, that whenever any of us did something silly, my mother would quote the police officers (The ones who watched Stanley's mother lower him into the grate for her ring), "Get the hook! There's a looney on the loose! ". I am so excited I remembered this book, and I can't wait to read it again!

I was exposed to this book first by having a section of it in a 5th grade reading book! I didn't know for years that it was out there somewhere as a whole book, and I think finally around high school found it at the library and read the whole thing at last. Just recently I once again remembered it, and got it for my sons! I appreciate it more as an adult---the humor is so dry and the dialogue so deadpan! My favorite scene is that with Stanley's doctor---how he says of it not hurting Stanley to be flat "well, that's mostly how it is with these cases" as if he's seen hundreds of boys flattened by bulletin boards! As a child of course I liked best having Stanley sent by mail to California! I have to admit this book dragged a bit for my sons in reading it to them, but I think perhaps they are really too young for it (at 5 and 2)---but I couldn't wait to read it to them!

I am a teacher and we use this book to discuss relationships with others who may be different than us. We also send our own Flat Stanley's through the mail to people we know. Then plot out on a map to show all the places Flat Stanley went and read all the things he did.

One morning Stanley woke up, and he was flat because a heavy bulletin board falls on him. The rest of the book tells about his adventures, like being mailed to California in an envelope, and pretending to be a picture in a museum to catch sneak thieves. Eventually, Stanley gets tired of being flat, even though he is famous for catching the thieves. It is his brother Arthur who uses a bicycle pump to blow him up. Then life can get back to normal. Follow up activities:Children do a craft and writing assignment which I call "I'm Flat and That's That." First, I give them a small ball of play dough and they make themselves and flatten it out on a piece of writing paper. They trace it and draw in the details and then remove the play dough. They write a story about themselves being flat and how they got like that, what happened, etc. They love this book and activity!

This book is entitled "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown. It is a first edition that is copyrighted in 2006. There is another book entitled "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown. Its first edition was copyrighted in 1964. These are not the same books. Confused? This review is for the 2006 book, which is "Based upon the original Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, text copyright 1964". If you look at the other reviews for this book, you will notice that almost all of them were written before 2006, when the book itself was written. Obviously Amazon has included the reviews written for "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown that was copyrighted in 1964, probably because Amazon thinks these are the same books. They are not. This title was included on my 8 yr old's "Book Quest" list. When my girl discussed the book with others, the 2006 version turned out to be "missing parts". I haven't seen the 1964 book, but apparently the 2006 book has less text and more pictures, and is probably for a younger (~age 6-7) audience.

The best children's books are the ones that tickle their readers years beyond their copyright dates: the ones whose illustrations delight, whose stories enchant, and whose lessons endure. Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown and Tomi Ungerer's timeless tale of a paper-thin lad, is among them.

Squashed by a bulletin board that toppled during his sleep, Stanley Lambchop wakens to find himself half an inch thick, though thoroughly unharmed. While massive hunk of wood's crushing a sleeping child sounds potentially frightening, the reactions of Stanley's parents reinforce the notion that this book is a fanciful one, not in the least bit scary. "Darndest thing I've ever seen," his father remarks. His mother, admirably unperturbed, suggests, "Let's all have breakfast. Then Stanley and I will go to Doctor Dan and hear what he has to say."

Yes, Stanley's mother takes her son to the doctor's office, where a pretty nurse takes the boy's measurements while his father toils "at the office." When Mr. Lambchop comes home from work, his wife greets him with a sigh. "You're at the office all day, having fun. You don't realize what I go through with the boys. They're very difficult." Such gender stereotyping will likely displease today's mothers, though it is doubtful that most readers' indignation will measurably interfere with their enjoyment of the tale.

Indeed, the story captures the world of 1964, the year of its publication, most astutely. Written at the height of the civil rights movement, Brown's story addresses the era's most pressing issue with subtle effectiveness. When other children mock Stanley, jeering, "Hello, Super-Skinny," Mrs. Lambchop comforts her son. "Shame on them," she contends. "It is wrong to dislike people for their shapes. Or their religion, for that matter, or the color of their skin." When Stanley suggests, "Only, maybe it's impossible for everybody to like everybody," she replies that "at least they can try." Brown also delicately addresses Stanley's little brother's envy of his flat sibling. The author weaves the lessons into his story so seamlessly that even an adult reader might not notice them, and their understated nature keeps the book from sounding preachy.

While Flat Stanley's serious side deserves commendation, it is its playfulness that has made it so popular. Children will adore the book's fancy. The valiant, two-dimensional protagonist explores sewers, flies as a kite, nabs a pair of "sneak thieves," and travels to California in an oversized envelope. Brown's imagination amazes. And while they will enjoy the capers he concocts, parents will appreciate more the author's wit. Dry and matter-of-fact, the humor will elicit appreciative chuckles from mature readers. When Stanley tell his doctor that he felt a bit tingly after he was squashed, for example, the physician notes importantly, "Well, that's mostly how it is with these cases" and goes on to admit, "Sometimes we doctors, for all our years of training and experience, can only marvel at how little we know."

Tomi Ungerer's ink drawings perfectly complement the story's silliness. Lightheartedly imprecise and messy, his sketches convey emotion better than more lifelike pictures might. Free from reality's constraints, the illustrator evidently immensely enjoyed drawing sourpuss policemen, befuddled doctors, resentful little brothers, and alarmed art thieves. Ungerer's muted tones, though, limit the pictures' potential. Dreary brown dominates too many of the pages; when he uses vivacious hues like green and blue and pink, the drawings burst with cheer.

The New York Times blasted Flat Stanley, Brown's first picture book, in its initial review, accusing the author of doing "a great disservice to children everywhere." But the book has since accumulated a large following. Canada is even home to The Flat Stanley Project, which promotes literacy by encouraging students to mail their own Flat Stanleys around the world to different schools. At each stop, the students record his adventures. The paper cutouts have dogsledded in Alaska, flown in Saudi Arabian airplanes, and sightseen in Paris. Flat Stanley continues to charm young readers two decades after its publication, and it will for many more to come.

Reading this book to my second grade students, I experienced something very new--high interest and attention of my class,even though the llustrations in this chapter book are black & white. The children listened to the story carefully as Stanley waited on the portrait's frame for the robbers, and they laughed out loud as Stanley became tangled in the tree when his brother forgot about the new "kite." This story was fun for the students thhear, and it was fun for me to read.