Flat Stanley (the picture book), by Jeff Brown

Book Genre: Nonfiction, Picture Book originally a chapter book

Publishing Info: Scholastic, 34 pages

Awards or honors received: N/A

Summary: The original Flat Stanley chapter book has been turned into a picture book with the same adventures as the original. Stanley is just a normal boy sleeping in his bed when a bulletin board falls and flattens him. His mother takes him to the doctor, but he can’t fix him. So Stanley remains flat and does silly things like sliding under doors. The family fold him up and mails him to California to visit friends. When he gets home his adventures continue. His brother ties a string to him and flies him like a kite. Stanley even helps catch 2 thieves by pretending to be a painting hanging in a museum. Stanley becomes very famous and his brother gets jealous. Eventually the fame wears off and Stanley wants to be a normal boy again. His brother comes up with an idea to use a bicycle pump to blow air into Stanley. It works and Stanley becomes a normal boy again.
Personal rating and reason for rating: *** The picture book is a fun way to introduce Flat Stanley to younger children.

Reading level: 4.0

Interest level: K-8 (read aloud for younger students)

Possible uses of the text: Geography - first have students color a picture of Flat Stanley or of themselves. Then have the children write a letter to go with it. Have the letter tell the receiver that we just finished reading a book about a boy who was flattened by a bulletin board. His family mails him to California and he has many adventures. We are sending you Flat Stanley (or Flat Abby…whatever their name is) and hope you will have many fun adventures with him. Then include your school address and have people send back pictures, post-cards, and information about where they live. It is a great way to introduce students to different places and learn about different communities or even cultures.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book might be a little boring for younger kids.