Flat Stanley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flat Stanley is the title character of a 1964 children's book (ISBN 0-06-009791-4) by Jeff Brown (1926?–December 3, 2003).
Other books by Jeff Brown in this series:
- Stanley In Space
- Stanley and the Magic Lamp
- Invisible Stanley
- Stanley's Christmas Adventure
- Stanley Flat Again
At the time of his death, Brown was working on another Flat Stanley book.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Stanley Lambchop is flattened by a falling bulletin board. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is sliding into rooms through the opening at the bottom of closed doors and being kind to his younger brother by playing as a kite for him. Stanley even helps catch some art museum thieves by posing as a painting on the wall! But one special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope.
[edit] The Flat Stanley Project
The project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third-grade London, Ontario, Canada, schoolteacher. It is meant to facilitate letter-writing by schoolchildren to each other as they document what Flat Stanley has done with them. Dale Hubert received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001 for the Flat Stanley Project.
The Flat Stanley Project provides an opportunity for students to make connections with students of other member schools who've signed up with the project. Students begin by reading the book and becoming acquainted with the story. Then they make paper "Flat Stanleys" (or pictures of the Stanley Lambchop character) and keep a journal for a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley is involved. The Flat Stanley and the journal are mailed to other people who are asked to treat the figure as a visiting guest and add to his journal, then return them both after a period of time.
Students may find it fun to plot Flat Stanley's travels on maps and share the contents of the journal. Often, a Flat Stanley returns with a photo or postcard from his visit. Some teachers may prefer to use e-mail.
In 2005 there were more than 6000 classes from 47 countries taking part in the Flat Stanley Project.
[edit] Variations
For variety's sake, not all Flat Stanleys are named Stanley. One of these, Flat Mark, gained considerable media attention in Canada in late 2003 when he was the "guest" of newly-sworn-in Prime Minister Paul Martin, and appeared in a photo with his cabinet at the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall. Additional media attention was generated when Clint Eastwood took his daughter's Flat Stanley to the Academy Awards. This resulted in articles in People Magazine and CNN.com. Several Flat Stanleys were recently hosted by Olympic athletes in Turin. Flat Ashley is a counterpart to Flat Stanley, in use in southeast Asia. Flat Asep and Flat Ujang are variations from Indonesia.
[edit] In pop culture
- The Flat Stanley Project is parodied in the King of the Hill episode "How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Alamo." Participating in the project, Peggy and Luanne decide to also teach students about safety by photographing Flat Stanley being involved in various accidents (such as getting run over by a car).
- As recently as October, 2006, celebrities were still making news with the little flat guy when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger showed his son's Flat Stanley to Jay Leno. Arnold wanted to "pump him up." The governor has been taking Flat Stanley with him on the campaign trail.
[edit] External links
- Flat Stanley Project
- [1]
- Flat Stanley Visits Venice Beach (example with photographs of a visit to California)
- "Flat Diane" - a horror novella based on The Flat Stanley Project; winner of the 2005 International Horror Guild Award for Medium Fiction
- The Literacy Community The Flat Stanley Project is supported by The Literacy Community
- [2] Flat Stanley-inspired Flat Todd of www.oddtodd.com
