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Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #4
The Intrepid Canadian Expedition
Flat Stanley goes northStanley Lambchop and his family are in British Columbia, Canada, for some skiing and winter fun. But when Stanley and his new friend Nick go snowboarding--with Stanley as the snowboard, of course--they take a midair tumble just as the wind picks up . . . and find themselves floating in an amazing Canadian cross-country journey that might just be Stanley's wildest adventure yet
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First published December 10, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 6, 2025
Well and if truth be told, the only reason I decided to try the fourth instalment of Sarah Pennypacker and Jeff Brown's Flat Stanley series in the first place is because we are doing a winter theme for the Children's Literature Group (in the Fiction Club), The Intrepid Canadian Expedition is available at Open Library and is shelved under Canada in Fiction and also under Snowboarding in Fiction. But indeed, as soon as I realised that the premise of the Flat Stanley books is main protagonist Stanley Lambchop after having a bulletin board fall on him being entirely two-dimensional, that he is now four feet tall, one foot wide and and less than one inch thick, I kind of started reading The Intrepid Canadian Expedition with both massive trepidation and even more so with a decided and all-encompassing lack of interest (as no, an entirely flatly dimensioned character just does not at all sound textually appealing both to me as an adult reader and just as much so to my inner child).
Therefore and in fact with no real surprise at all (and I am going to be talking for both me as an adult and equally for me as a child jointly throughout this review and as such be using the pronouns we and us as well as the adjective our as required), The Intrepid Canadian Expedition has been a total and complete disappointment but even more so a reading experience that makes both my adult reading self and my inner child as Canadians utterly cringe and roll our eyes with both frustration and intense annoyance (and that even the factual information on Canada provided at the back of The Intrepid Canadian Expedition does not in any way, shape or form even remotely redeem The Intrepid Canadian Expedition as for one, we really just do not like Jeff Brown and Sara Pennypacker's presented story enough to have that happen and that for two, while most of the facts on Canada are fine, no, hockey might be very popular in Canada but Canada's official sport is in fact Lacrosse and that Niagara Falls certainly does not provide the border between ALL of eastern Canada and the eastern USA as seems to be insinuated but for one part of southern Ontario and one part of New York State).
And just to say, albeit Stanley's flat body experiences while he is on a skiing vacation with his parents and younger brother Arthur in Canada (actually in British Columbia) during The Intrepid Canadian Expedition are not at all textually interesting in and of themselves (see above for our reasons as to why, that a flat shaped and absolutely two dimensional looking protagonist is just not something in any manner readable and entertaining), what really and hugely grates and textually majorly infuriates are the ridiculous inaccuracies and Canadian stereotyping Pennypacker and Brown continuously feature in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition. Sure, the Lambchops are visiting Canada during the winter and thus there is of course lots of snow to be encountered (and there would not be skiing and snowboarding in British Columbia without snow either, although many areas of B.C. in fact have more rain than snow in winter), there unfortunately is a sad attitude in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition that ALL of Canada is simply and totally a land of permanent ice and snow and that everything about Canada is thus freezingly chilly (which is absolutely not true, is a sad weather stereotype and it also is kind of ridiculous that the cold winds being textually described by Sara Pennypacker and Jeff Brown in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition are being called specifically Canadian even though much of Canadian snowfall weather systems actually originate in the United States and in particular in Colorado and Wyoming).
Furthermore, Canadians are not all hockey obsessed, we do not all love poutine and maple candy (just like not all Germans eat and adore Sauerkraut and/or soccer either), RCMP officers do not tend to unilaterally travel by dogsled and do not usually wear their traditional uniforms with their distinctive hats at work anymore either, and that scenario in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition with the Inuit shaman is indeed rather majorly problematic (although I guess it is positive that Tulugaq is shown as pointing out that the word Eskimo is no longer politically correct in Canada, that today's Inuit generally no longer live in igloos, but both what Sara Pennypacker and Jeff Brown write about Stanley and Nick's interaction and encounter with the shaman and also Macky Pamintuan illustration of said shaman are ridiculously and painfully stereotypical and even more so for the 21st century), and not to mention when in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition Nick and Stanley take a dogsled from the Yukon Territory (where the two boys for some silly reason end up when they go floating off because of Stanley's flatness) to Calgary, Alberta, this is of course completely frustratingly and mind-bogglingly making no sense regarding any kind of even remote realism (and that Alberta would of course not be completely covered with huge amounts of snow to make dogsledding for hundreds of miles even possible), and come on, how quickly Stanley and Nick then end up in Ontario, at Niagara Falls (and for a stereotypical wedding), this also just does not realistically work, as with how big Canada is as a country, the distance between Calgary and Niagara Falls should make said journey take much much longer.
Combined with the fact that in addition to the ridiculous Canadian stereotyping in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition (and that there are indeed more than the examples shown above), neither the Lambchops as a family nor Stanley's friend Nick and his father are all that likeable, so yes, both my inner child and my older adult reading self have not really enjoyed even somewhat any part of the combination of Pennypacker and Brown's text and Pamintuan's artwork for The Intrepid Canadian Expedition and can and will thus only be willing and able to consider a one star rating (and with no feelings of guilt regarding this either). And although the illustrations are actually not all that bad with regard to aesthetics and style, well, because what Macky Pamintuan has drawn quite successfully mirrors what Sara Pennypacker and Jeff Brown are textually featuring and that for both of us, for both my inner child and for adult me, the story, the words of The Intrepid Canadian Expedition leave absolutely everything to be personally desired, yes, Pamintuan's pictures are therefore and as such rather the same as the text and thus also not really worth more than one star either. Not recommended is The Intrepid Canadian Expedition, and no, the remainder of the Flat Stanley series will obviously now also remain unread by me.
Therefore and in fact with no real surprise at all (and I am going to be talking for both me as an adult and equally for me as a child jointly throughout this review and as such be using the pronouns we and us as well as the adjective our as required), The Intrepid Canadian Expedition has been a total and complete disappointment but even more so a reading experience that makes both my adult reading self and my inner child as Canadians utterly cringe and roll our eyes with both frustration and intense annoyance (and that even the factual information on Canada provided at the back of The Intrepid Canadian Expedition does not in any way, shape or form even remotely redeem The Intrepid Canadian Expedition as for one, we really just do not like Jeff Brown and Sara Pennypacker's presented story enough to have that happen and that for two, while most of the facts on Canada are fine, no, hockey might be very popular in Canada but Canada's official sport is in fact Lacrosse and that Niagara Falls certainly does not provide the border between ALL of eastern Canada and the eastern USA as seems to be insinuated but for one part of southern Ontario and one part of New York State).
And just to say, albeit Stanley's flat body experiences while he is on a skiing vacation with his parents and younger brother Arthur in Canada (actually in British Columbia) during The Intrepid Canadian Expedition are not at all textually interesting in and of themselves (see above for our reasons as to why, that a flat shaped and absolutely two dimensional looking protagonist is just not something in any manner readable and entertaining), what really and hugely grates and textually majorly infuriates are the ridiculous inaccuracies and Canadian stereotyping Pennypacker and Brown continuously feature in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition. Sure, the Lambchops are visiting Canada during the winter and thus there is of course lots of snow to be encountered (and there would not be skiing and snowboarding in British Columbia without snow either, although many areas of B.C. in fact have more rain than snow in winter), there unfortunately is a sad attitude in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition that ALL of Canada is simply and totally a land of permanent ice and snow and that everything about Canada is thus freezingly chilly (which is absolutely not true, is a sad weather stereotype and it also is kind of ridiculous that the cold winds being textually described by Sara Pennypacker and Jeff Brown in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition are being called specifically Canadian even though much of Canadian snowfall weather systems actually originate in the United States and in particular in Colorado and Wyoming).
Furthermore, Canadians are not all hockey obsessed, we do not all love poutine and maple candy (just like not all Germans eat and adore Sauerkraut and/or soccer either), RCMP officers do not tend to unilaterally travel by dogsled and do not usually wear their traditional uniforms with their distinctive hats at work anymore either, and that scenario in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition with the Inuit shaman is indeed rather majorly problematic (although I guess it is positive that Tulugaq is shown as pointing out that the word Eskimo is no longer politically correct in Canada, that today's Inuit generally no longer live in igloos, but both what Sara Pennypacker and Jeff Brown write about Stanley and Nick's interaction and encounter with the shaman and also Macky Pamintuan illustration of said shaman are ridiculously and painfully stereotypical and even more so for the 21st century), and not to mention when in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition Nick and Stanley take a dogsled from the Yukon Territory (where the two boys for some silly reason end up when they go floating off because of Stanley's flatness) to Calgary, Alberta, this is of course completely frustratingly and mind-bogglingly making no sense regarding any kind of even remote realism (and that Alberta would of course not be completely covered with huge amounts of snow to make dogsledding for hundreds of miles even possible), and come on, how quickly Stanley and Nick then end up in Ontario, at Niagara Falls (and for a stereotypical wedding), this also just does not realistically work, as with how big Canada is as a country, the distance between Calgary and Niagara Falls should make said journey take much much longer.
Combined with the fact that in addition to the ridiculous Canadian stereotyping in The Intrepid Canadian Expedition (and that there are indeed more than the examples shown above), neither the Lambchops as a family nor Stanley's friend Nick and his father are all that likeable, so yes, both my inner child and my older adult reading self have not really enjoyed even somewhat any part of the combination of Pennypacker and Brown's text and Pamintuan's artwork for The Intrepid Canadian Expedition and can and will thus only be willing and able to consider a one star rating (and with no feelings of guilt regarding this either). And although the illustrations are actually not all that bad with regard to aesthetics and style, well, because what Macky Pamintuan has drawn quite successfully mirrors what Sara Pennypacker and Jeff Brown are textually featuring and that for both of us, for both my inner child and for adult me, the story, the words of The Intrepid Canadian Expedition leave absolutely everything to be personally desired, yes, Pamintuan's pictures are therefore and as such rather the same as the text and thus also not really worth more than one star either. Not recommended is The Intrepid Canadian Expedition, and no, the remainder of the Flat Stanley series will obviously now also remain unread by me.
December 12, 2012
As a Canadian, this book does a disservice to anyone who thinks they are reading it to 'learn about Canada'. There is no way you'd take a dogsled from the Yukon to Calgary. Nothing exciting between Alberta and Ontario? Well you could argue that ;-) Trying to get to Niagara Falls from the West? Guess what: you'd pass by Toronto enroute to Ottawa. And more.
Stanley's new friend in this book, Nick, is a braggart and unlikable. He doesn't improve himself as a person, he's just happy that Stanley tolerates his bad behaviour long enough to somehow become friends?
The only likable part of the book is Doctor Dave's ineptitude.
Stanley's new friend in this book, Nick, is a braggart and unlikable. He doesn't improve himself as a person, he's just happy that Stanley tolerates his bad behaviour long enough to somehow become friends?
The only likable part of the book is Doctor Dave's ineptitude.
December 22, 2020
If you boil Canada to it’s most basic stereotypes this would be it. As someone from Alberta Canada it doesn't do Canada justice. (Can’t help wonder if Japan was actually done justice.)
Cover
This cover isn't bad. Pretty dynamic what I would expect from a book like this and it looks like it has some promise.
Interior
Story
Isn't it funny how this book starts by showing political correctness then continues on adding Canadian stereotype after Canadian stereotype.
Canada wasn't represented very well but then neither were Americans. What sort of parents watch their kids float away then decide to ditch them without anyway of contacting them? (Don’t get me started on Dr. Dave) While the explanation is lazily explained away.
The moral at the end is one of the worst parts of this book. It’s insultingly shoehorned in. I don’t know these character at the wedding why should I care if they almost never got married because Groom saw Wife smiled at someone else back in high school. As adults this was stupid, juvenile, and pathetic. I guess the lesson should be, be careful who you smile at. It can be the fait of who you will marry decades in the future.
He uses himself as a snowboard, barrel, maple leaf, and a parasail and a hockey puck. I wouldn’t have minded but since the last had the moral was being flat was what he is not who he is. Well that went right out the window in this book. I’m convinced Stanley is immortal. As a hockey puck he hit the boards at eighty miles per hour like a champ. Nick and Stanley’s friendship is as fickle as the wedding. Their friendship only grows when they winning tickets of a hockey game.
Apart from being a boiled down description one of the biggest problems is that it suffers from travel delusion. It's over 12-hour DRIVE between NWT border and Calgary (And you pass Edmonton, Alberta’s capital.) Good luck doing that on dogsled. (Must have taken notes from that Balto movie, also it’s 2010 people drive cars.) (I'm not even going to comment on the Inuit scene.)
And then it's another 36-hour drive from Calgary to Ottawa. They started saying Canada was big but then every trip was like an afternoon drive. Also completely ignored Saskatchewan and Manitoba. So many interesting topics missed out on.
What do we eat? Poutine (and its cheese curds not cheese) and Maple Taffy! What do we do? Hockey! And we are all cowboys or RCMP officers and far north they only travel by dogsled. Boiled down that’s the presentation of Canada.
I'm really disappointed in even the after story facts. They didn't even do that right. All they covered was Hockey and the circumference of Canada. No nod to our other sports Lacrosse, Basketball or even Table Hockey (big shock we'd create that.)
Illustration
The illustrations are great. I still think the dimensions of Stanley are very well done in a three dimensional plane. Over all the illustrations look great.
Not Accurate
This is going to be odd. But while RCMP is based in Ottawa RCMP aren’t actually in Ontario, Québec, Newfoundland or Labrador. (They go by other names.) He probably should done more research into the heart of Canada.
After Thoughts
I don't think the timing of this book is a coincidence. I believe between the timing of this book's release was purely because of the Olympics. Ironically this book starts in BC. and Since Whistler British Columbia was where the Olympics were held the same year that's a safe assumption. The book even boasts about the Olympics being in Canada. (Oddly enough you need to read the back to learn they actually started in British Columbia rather than Alberta's Banff or Jasper.)
Cover
This cover isn't bad. Pretty dynamic what I would expect from a book like this and it looks like it has some promise.
Interior
Story
Isn't it funny how this book starts by showing political correctness then continues on adding Canadian stereotype after Canadian stereotype.
Canada wasn't represented very well but then neither were Americans. What sort of parents watch their kids float away then decide to ditch them without anyway of contacting them? (Don’t get me started on Dr. Dave) While the explanation is lazily explained away.
The moral at the end is one of the worst parts of this book. It’s insultingly shoehorned in. I don’t know these character at the wedding why should I care if they almost never got married because Groom saw Wife smiled at someone else back in high school. As adults this was stupid, juvenile, and pathetic. I guess the lesson should be, be careful who you smile at. It can be the fait of who you will marry decades in the future.
He uses himself as a snowboard, barrel, maple leaf, and a parasail and a hockey puck. I wouldn’t have minded but since the last had the moral was being flat was what he is not who he is. Well that went right out the window in this book. I’m convinced Stanley is immortal. As a hockey puck he hit the boards at eighty miles per hour like a champ. Nick and Stanley’s friendship is as fickle as the wedding. Their friendship only grows when they winning tickets of a hockey game.
Apart from being a boiled down description one of the biggest problems is that it suffers from travel delusion. It's over 12-hour DRIVE between NWT border and Calgary (And you pass Edmonton, Alberta’s capital.) Good luck doing that on dogsled. (Must have taken notes from that Balto movie, also it’s 2010 people drive cars.) (I'm not even going to comment on the Inuit scene.)
And then it's another 36-hour drive from Calgary to Ottawa. They started saying Canada was big but then every trip was like an afternoon drive. Also completely ignored Saskatchewan and Manitoba. So many interesting topics missed out on.
What do we eat? Poutine (and its cheese curds not cheese) and Maple Taffy! What do we do? Hockey! And we are all cowboys or RCMP officers and far north they only travel by dogsled. Boiled down that’s the presentation of Canada.
I'm really disappointed in even the after story facts. They didn't even do that right. All they covered was Hockey and the circumference of Canada. No nod to our other sports Lacrosse, Basketball or even Table Hockey (big shock we'd create that.)
Illustration
The illustrations are great. I still think the dimensions of Stanley are very well done in a three dimensional plane. Over all the illustrations look great.
Not Accurate
This is going to be odd. But while RCMP is based in Ottawa RCMP aren’t actually in Ontario, Québec, Newfoundland or Labrador. (They go by other names.) He probably should done more research into the heart of Canada.
After Thoughts
I don't think the timing of this book is a coincidence. I believe between the timing of this book's release was purely because of the Olympics. Ironically this book starts in BC. and Since Whistler British Columbia was where the Olympics were held the same year that's a safe assumption. The book even boasts about the Olympics being in Canada. (Oddly enough you need to read the back to learn they actually started in British Columbia rather than Alberta's Banff or Jasper.)
February 28, 2013
I can see the appeal, but it did nothing for me.
Also, they used him as a snowboard so his face was just riding through the snow.
He also used his flatness to fold himself into a hockey puck and cheat to win a contest.
Also, they used him as a snowboard so his face was just riding through the snow.
He also used his flatness to fold himself into a hockey puck and cheat to win a contest.
May 31, 2022
So, is he Flat Stanley because of his body or personality? I say both.
February 1, 2018
Ready for Sandy's 3rd/4th grade class author study.
April 8, 2019
Cute story of Stanley and his crazy adventures while flat.
May 11, 2019
Book is okay. A little simplistic, but entertaining. A quick read
March 2, 2021
Really fun reading with my daughter
December 8, 2021
A nice plot around a flat boy called Stanley whose shape let’s him go on adventures where normal people can’t! Nice concept!
Read
August 1, 2022Lexile®: 660L, 6566W, 100%, 6y3m
April 12, 2024
It was one of the better of the Flat Stanley books. I kind of liked it.
May 23, 2025
Rating by my boy. He reads these for independent reading, so mom isn’t following along.
October 16, 2016
Stanley gets used as a snowboard, hockey puck, sign, and barrel, not to mention him and a soon to be buddy float to the Northern Territories.
March 15, 2017
I think this is our second time reading this one. It has a cool message about friendships and how even the cool kids have personality flaws.
February 15, 2015
Flat Stanley accidentally travels to Canada with a new friend attached and has to find his way back to his family. He and his new friend take a round about way encountering all sorts of interesting characters from Canada and also seeing a hockey game. A lovely continuation of the Flat Stanley stories.
November 15, 2013
stanley's family goes to canada for vacation. when they go skiing he blows away. where he lands he meets a boy and becomes friends. a police ranger finds them and brings them to niagara falls where their parents are at a wedding.
March 13, 2014
I read this book at the request of my second graders. Of course the adventures of a flat boy are ridiculous, but I think this story is cute. It also teaches a good lesson about bragging and "one-upping."
June 16, 2010
what a great book to give kids a glimpse into the Canadian culture! i really like the flat stanley books, because you learn a lot about many different things - including character!
April 9, 2016
Liked it, enough.
March 5, 2013
A fun book that students will enjoy and learn the importance of friendship. Great vocaulary that requires readers to use context clues.
December 9, 2014
I thought it was a really good book and that you could make friends really quickly and you can make really good friends and other people can make friends too. I would like to be Flat Stanley.
April 18, 2016
I liked when Stanley's mother and father found him.
October 27, 2016
I liked it when Mountie Martin said he was joking that Stanley had to go to jail since he had never been to a hockey game and in Canada, hockey is really popular there.
June 20, 2013
Very good book.
Flat stanley is a very good book
Read
November 10, 2017Stanley took a trip to Canada to go to a wedding. On the way they go to a ski resort and Stanley has met a new friend. they meet when Arthur sprang his ankle.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews