Flat Stanley

Have you ever heard of FLAT STANLEY? The first time I heard about him was when Kyle was in elementary school about 2nd. or third grade. He learned about Flat Stanly and gave him a few adventures by sending him in the mail to CA where Grandma & Papa took care of him. He went with Papa to Lake Arrowhead in the snow, lounged in a floaty in grandma & Papa's Southern CA salt water pool. Papa even made him his own Balsa Wood hat. I never really understood what or who Flat Stanley was. Either Kyle couldn't quite explain him to me or I just didn't get it. And at the time it never occured to me to google him.  Then at the beginning of this 2012/13 school year my niece learned about Flat Stanley in Kindergarten. And I still didn't understand why these children were "learning" about a fictional character named Flat Stanly...& why is he named Flat Stanly? Then one day a couple of weeks ago I went to the library, like I always do & I decided to browse in the chapter book aisle. Melanie was on the computer, our library bag was full, I was just browsing. Then, I found it...I found FLAT STANLEY. I found many chapter books on Flat Stanly & I began to read their descriptions. And I said aloud, "Oh! THAT'S why they call him FLAT Stanly! Oh, so THIS is what/who Stanley is!" I was so excited! I NEVER knew Flat Stanly is a book. I should have known, usually everything starts out as a book. Shortly after my revelation Melanie found me & I showed her the chapter books & asked her if she wanted to read & learn about Flat Stanley as well.  And she said "Sure!" I think she was excited too. It's neat when you get to learn about the same things as your older brother & older cousin. So for those people in the world that don't know what Flat Stanly is here's a quick description. Stanly Lambchop is a young boy-maybe third grade, who went to bed one night & woke up to find his family all freaked out because his bulletin board fell on him in the middle of the night and made him flat. He loves to hang out with his brother, use their imaginations & play. Then for what ever reason he'll get to go on an adventure some where. He usually always travels by mail-after all he's flat & it's cheaper than paying for him to fly in an airplane. We have read 5 FLAT STANLEY Chapter books: An Advernture in Egypt, South Dakota Mt. Rushmore Adventure, Japanese Adventure, Canadian Niagara Falls Adventure, and last night we just finished an adventure in Mexico. What I really like about these books is that it gives you a little geography and a hint of history in them while Stanley is on his adventures. Plus they are funny! Stanley is a cute kid with a big, loving heart. Melanie just adores him. So we made 2 Flat Stanley's. We were supposed to send one of them off to family members & keep one here for Melanie to play with, but so far she won't part with one. She's even stapled them together with a drawing of her & Ezra.