Adventures with Flat Stanley

I first learned of Flat Stanley when my friend, Ashley, posted photos of herself in Whistler with her friend's niece's little paper Flat Stanley along side her.  I was immediately smitten with the little guy, and quickly learned via Wikipedia that Flat Stanley is a character from a book who is flattened one day by his bulletin board.  In his new flattened state he finds he is capable of all kinds of things, including traveling all over the world just by slipping himself into an envelope.

In 1995, a teacher started The Flat Stanley Project.  As part of the project, kids read the book, create their own paper Flat Stanleys, and keep a journal of his travels.  They then can send the journal to children in other states or countries and learn more about other places and cultures.  Shortly after learning about Flat Stanley from Ashley, I came across this moving article about one of Flat Stanley's adventures.

A couple months ago, Ben and I were talking about the idea of "fame," how people become famous, and what it means to be famous.  After I tried to provide a definition of famous, he said, "Oh, kind of like Flat Stanley?"  Apparently, his teacher had introduced him to Flat Stanley, and he seemed to like the idea but didn't say much more about it.  Then this past week we were at the library and as we walked past a tower of paperbacks, he exclaimed, "Ooohhhh....I LOVE this book!!  Let's get this book!"  And lo and behold, it was Flat Stanley.  So, we borrowed it and I really enjoyed reading the story with Ben and learning all about Flat Stanley and his shenanigans.

Jeff Brown, the original author of Flat Stanley also wrote several other books in the series:

• Stanley and the Magic Lamp (1983)
• Stanley In Space (1985)
• Stanley's Christmas Adventure (1993)
• Invisible Stanley (1995)
• Stanley, Flat Again! (2003)

Following Brown's death, several other authors took over and have published additional books featuring Stanley, including:

• The Mount Rushmore Calamity (2009) - author Sara Pennypacker
• The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery (2009) - author Sara Pennypacker
• The Japanese Ninja Surprise (2009) - author Sara Pennypacker
• The Intrepid Canadian Expedition (2010) - author Sara Pennypacker
• The Amazing Mexican Secret (2010) - author Josh Greenhut
• The African Safari Discovery (2011) - author Josh Greenhut
• The Flying Chinese Wonders (2011) - author Josh Greenhut
• The Australian Boomerang Bonanza (2011) - author Josh Greenhut
• The US Capital Commotion (2011) - author Josh Greenhut
• Showdown at the Alamo (2014) - author Josh Greenhut
• Framed in France (2014) - TBA
• Escape to California (2014) - TBA

I love finding a new series and can't wait to follow Stanley on his adventures around the world!