''Flat Stanley'' is an American children's book series written by author Jeff Brown (January 1, 1926 – December 3, 2003). The idea for the book began as a bedtime story for Brown’s sons, which Brown turned into the first Flat Stanley book. The first book featured illustrations by

Tomi Ungerer Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was an Alsatian artist and writer. He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. He was known for sha ...

and was published in 1964. Brown did not continue the series until more than two decades later, when he published five more books: ''Stanley and the Magic Lamp'', ''Stanley in Space'', ''Stanley’s Christmas Adventure'', ''Invisible Stanley'', and ''Stanley, Flat Again!'' By 2003, the Flat Stanley series had sold almost a million copies in the United States, and the stories had been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Hebrew. Since Brown's death in 2003, other children's book authors, including

Sara Pennypacker Sara Pennypacker (born 1951) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling American author of children's literature. She has written more than twenty children's books, including ''Pax'', ''Pax Journey Home'', ''Here in the Real World'', ''Summer of the Gypsy ...

and Josh Greenhut, have continued the series under a new name, ''Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures''. In 2009, a musical adaptation, also entitled ''Flat Stanley'', opened at the Djanogly Theatre, Nottingham. It featured a script by Mike Kenny and songs by Julian Butler. The musical was well received and was revived in 2014 for a short tour.

Synopsis of original book

The book recounts the adventures of Stanley Lambchop after he is squashed flat by a bulletin board while sleeping. He survives and decides to make the best of being flat. Soon, he discovers that he is able to enter locked rooms by sliding under the door. Over the course of the story, he also rolls up to go out to a park, and he is used as a

kite A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the fac ...

by his brother. Another special advantage of being flat is that Flat Stanley can visit his friends in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

by mailing himself in an

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sh ...

. Stanley even helps catch

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

thieves by disguising himself as a painting on the wall. Eventually, Stanley becomes tired of his flatness, and his brother restores his proper shape with a

bicycle pump A bicycle pump is a type of positive-displacement air pump specifically designed for inflating bicycle tires. It has a connection or adapter for use with one or both of the two most common types of valves used on bicycles, Schrader or Pre ...

Books in the series

Books by Jeff Brown, illustrated by Macky Pamintuan: *''Flat Stanley'' (1964) *''Stanley and the Magic Lamp'' (1983) - Stanley and Arthur discover a magic lamp containing a genie. *''Stanley In Space'' (1990) - The Lambchops are sent into space by the President to forge peace with a group of miniature humanoid aliens who inhabit the newly discovered planet Tyrra. *''Stanley's Christmas Adventure'' (1993) - Santa Claus's daughter, Sarah Christmas, arrives unexpectedly in the Lambchop household during the holiday season, and convinces them to help bring back Santa's jolly spirit. *'' Invisible Stanley'' (1995) - After a thunderstorm occurs one night, Stanley mysteriously turns invisible. *''Stanley, Flat Again!'' (2003) - Stanley is hit with a rubber ball while simultaneously hitting his shelf, causing him to return to his flat state. He has many unusual adventures following this odd event. At the time of his death, Brown was in the process of re-writing the original book. The rewrite was published by Scholastic in 2006. Since then, other authors have continued the series under the name ''Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures.'' Books by other authors: *'' The Mount Rushmore Calamity'' (2009) - author

*'' The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery'' (2009) - author Sara Pennypacker *'' The Japanese Ninja Surprise'' (2009) - author Sara Pennypacker *'' The Intrepid Canadian Expedition'' (2009) - 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) - author Josh Greenhut *'' Escape to California'' (2014) - author David Ross *'' The Midnight Ride of Flat Revere'' (2016) - author Kate Egan *'' On a Mission for Her Majesty'' (2017) - author Kate Egan *''Lost in New York'' (2018) - author Kate Egan

The Flat Stanley Project

The Flat Stanley Project began in 1995 under the direction of Dale Hubert, a third grade school teacher in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. The project is meant to facilitate letter-writing between schoolchildren as they document where Flat Stanley has accompanied them around the world. The goal of the project is to increase reading and writing skills, as well as teaching children about people and cultures from different places. Dale Hubert received the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001 for his work in creating the Flat Stanley Project.

The Flat Stanley Project provides an opportunity for students to make connections with students from other member schools who have signed up for the project. Students begin by reading the book and becoming familiar with Flat Stanley's story. Then, they create paper "Flat Stanleys" (representative drawings of the Stanley Lambchop character) and keep a

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

for a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley is involved. Each student's Flat Stanley and its respective journal are then mailed to students at other schools. The students at those schools are asked to treat the Flat Stanley as a visiting guest and add to the respective journal, then return them both after a short period of time. The project has many similarities to the traveling gnome prank, except that the Flat Stanley Project focuses more on literacy. As a part of the project, students may plot Flat Stanley's travels on maps and share the contents of their journals. Additionally, Flat Stanleys often return with a photo or postcard from its visit. Despite the project's traditional reliance on letters, some teachers prefer to use

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

due to its quicker travel time. Flat-stanley

In 2008, more than 6,000 classes from 47 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project. Flat Stanley befriends a shop owner in Kano Nigeria

Arranging exchanges

Teachers can register and arrange exchanges with other classrooms on the Flat Stanley Project website. Another option is for teachers to ask students to get their parents' permission to address an envelope and send the paper doll to a friend or relative in another state. The Flat Stanley Project uses blogs for teachers, parents, and students to publish stories, describe local traditions and scenery, and post photos. Flat Stanley photos are also archived in an online Picture Gallery.

In popular culture

The project was featured in a 2004 episode of the animated TV series ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...

'', in which Nancy Gribble receives a Flat Stanley in the mail.

Peggy Hill Margaret J. "Peggy" Hill ( Platter) (February 6, born 1954) is a fictional character in the Fox animated series ''King of the Hill'', voiced by Kathy Najimy. She is the matriarch of the Hill family and the wife of series protagonist Hank Hill, m ...

and Luanne Platter photograph it in a number of dangerous situations, resulting in the school's Flat Stanley Project being canceled. According to the February 26, 2009 broadcast of '' Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', Flat Stanley was on board the

US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...

, which landed safely in the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. He was carried to safety in the briefcase of his traveling companion. In early 2010, Darren Haas, a Flat Stanley advocate and applications architect, approached Dale Hubert with the idea of turning the Flat Stanley Project concept into an app for the iPhone. The app was released in late 2010, but is no longer available in the App Store. Also in 2010, fans of the baseball team

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

were asked (via the team website) to petition US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to award the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

to Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial. A "Flat Stan" downloadable cutout figure was made available to encourage Cardinals fans to take a photo with Musial's caricature and send them in as petitions. In 2022, cast member

Sarah Sherman Sarah Sherman (born March 7, 1993), also known professionally as Sarah Squirm, is an American comedian, actress, and screenwriter. Sherman is known for using surreal and body horror comedy. She became a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy ...

held up a Flat Stanley during the closing credits of an episode of

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

. Dog Man Unleashed - the second in the series of

Dog Man ''Dog Man'' is a comedic graphic novel series created by American author and cartoonist Dav Pilkey and published by Scholastic Corporation. The series is about a dog-headed cop protecting the city he resides in with his friends. The book serie ...

novels - contains a homage to Flat Stanley: the antagonist feigns a crush by cutting out a cardboard likeness of himself, and inserts it under a bulletin board.

References

External links

*{{official website, name=Flat Stanley Books, URL=http://www.flatstanleybooks.com/
The Flat Stanley Project.Flat Stanley's Adventures Daily BlogFlat Stanley in JerusalemFlat Stanley and Flat Stella Explore the Environment
at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
This show is part of the Broadway Junior Collection:
Book series introduced in 1964 Child characters in literature Male characters in literature Characters in children's literature Series of children's books Harper & Row books 1964 children's books Literary characters introduced in 1964 Fictional characters who can change size Fictional characters who can stretch themselves