What do you think?
Rate this book
Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #2
The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery
Flat Stanley is taking over the world, one city at a time! In this exciting second installment in the renowned Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures chapter book series, Stanley Lambchop travels to Egypt! Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, there are places he can get to that no one else can. So when Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist, he travels by airmail to Egypt to help find an ancient treasure deep in the heart of a great pyramid. But what if even the flattest boy on Earth can't wriggle out of this dark tomb—and the terrible mess he finds himself in?
This unforgettable adventure features fun, fascinating facts about Egypt! And for parents and teachers, each Flat Stanley book is aligned to the Common Core State Standards, like multicultural adventure, plot and character development story elements, and compare and contrast! Don’t miss any of Flat Stanley’s worldwide adventures!
This unforgettable adventure features fun, fascinating facts about Egypt! And for parents and teachers, each Flat Stanley book is aligned to the Common Core State Standards, like multicultural adventure, plot and character development story elements, and compare and contrast! Don’t miss any of Flat Stanley’s worldwide adventures!
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
80 people are currently reading
547 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Brown
315 books123 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Jeff Brown had worked in Hollywood and as an editor and writer in New York before creating Flat Stanley, a hero for the youngest readers whose adventures, with illustrations by Tomi Ungerer, were first published in 1964. Flat Stanley became the star of a series of perpetually popular books. The last, "Stanley, Flat Again!," was published the year he died. All together, Stanley's tales have sold nearly a million copies in the United States alone. The character's life extended further, as schoolchildren mailed cut-outs of him to their friends. In translation, he traveled to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Israel, among other places.
Jeff Brown was born Richard Chester Brown. Originally a child actor, he became Jeff Brown because Actors Equity already had a Richard Brown as a member. A graduate of the Professional Children's School, he provided a child's voice in a radio drama and appeared onstage.
In Hollywood he worked for the producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and was a story consultant at Paramount. Preferring to write himself, he sold fiction and articles to national magazines while working at The New Yorker, Life, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire and finally at Warner Books, where he was a senior editor until 1980. The idea for Stanley came to him one night at bedtime when his sons J. C. and Tony were young and stalling for time. One asked what would happen if the big bulletin board on the wall were to fall on J. C., and Mr. Brown said he would most likely wake up flat. That led to speculation about what such a life might be like. After writing "Flat Stanley, " Mr. Brown went on to "Stanley and the Magic Lamp," "Stanley in Space," "Stanley's Christmas Adventure," "Invisible Stanley" and finally "Stanley, Flat Again!"
The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade schoolteacher in London, Ontario, Canada. It is meant to facilitate letter-writing by schoolchildren to each other as they document where Flat Stanley has gone with them. The 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. In 2005, more than 6,500 classes from 48 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.
Jeff Brown had worked in Hollywood and as an editor and writer in New York before creating Flat Stanley, a hero for the youngest readers whose adventures, with illustrations by Tomi Ungerer, were first published in 1964. Flat Stanley became the star of a series of perpetually popular books. The last, "Stanley, Flat Again!," was published the year he died. All together, Stanley's tales have sold nearly a million copies in the United States alone. The character's life extended further, as schoolchildren mailed cut-outs of him to their friends. In translation, he traveled to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Israel, among other places.
Jeff Brown was born Richard Chester Brown. Originally a child actor, he became Jeff Brown because Actors Equity already had a Richard Brown as a member. A graduate of the Professional Children's School, he provided a child's voice in a radio drama and appeared onstage.
In Hollywood he worked for the producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and was a story consultant at Paramount. Preferring to write himself, he sold fiction and articles to national magazines while working at The New Yorker, Life, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire and finally at Warner Books, where he was a senior editor until 1980. The idea for Stanley came to him one night at bedtime when his sons J. C. and Tony were young and stalling for time. One asked what would happen if the big bulletin board on the wall were to fall on J. C., and Mr. Brown said he would most likely wake up flat. That led to speculation about what such a life might be like. After writing "Flat Stanley, " Mr. Brown went on to "Stanley and the Magic Lamp," "Stanley in Space," "Stanley's Christmas Adventure," "Invisible Stanley" and finally "Stanley, Flat Again!"
The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade schoolteacher in London, Ontario, Canada. It is meant to facilitate letter-writing by schoolchildren to each other as they document where Flat Stanley has gone with them. The 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. In 2005, more than 6,500 classes from 48 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
September 10, 2019
This was a cute little read that I enjoyed reading with my son.
Ancient pyramids can be flat-out dangerous!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, there are places he can get to that no one else can. So when Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist, he travels by airmail to Egypt to help find an ancient treasure deep in the heart of a great pyramid. But what if even the flattest boy on earth can’t wriggle out of this dark tomb—and the terrible mess he finds himself in?
This was a funny and mysterious read. I loved the lessons hidden in this book, from doing the right thing to trusting your friends and being kind to your family. The ending made us giggle so much.
4 stars
Ancient pyramids can be flat-out dangerous!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, there are places he can get to that no one else can. So when Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist, he travels by airmail to Egypt to help find an ancient treasure deep in the heart of a great pyramid. But what if even the flattest boy on earth can’t wriggle out of this dark tomb—and the terrible mess he finds himself in?
This was a funny and mysterious read. I loved the lessons hidden in this book, from doing the right thing to trusting your friends and being kind to your family. The ending made us giggle so much.
4 stars
May 20, 2025
My daughter loves Flat Stanley. This is her favorite because Stanley plays a pretty good trick on his brother!
June 17, 2018
For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle
This was an okay read.
I think I was just too much in a rational mindset to enjoy this book. I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept that Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board while sleeping in the original book series. I can even pretend that you can send a flat human being through the US Postal Service. But I just can't get over the ridiculousness that Stanley's "goose disks" (flat goose bumps) would allow him to stick to walls like a starfish. He is wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants. How does he have enough exposed skin to stick to the wall, ignoring the fact that human pores (even if flat) do not turn into suction cups? This was just too much for me. Apparently I am too much of a grown up for this part of the series. This whole thing just doesn't make sense.
The entire book was pretty ridiculous with tons of plot holes. It is a pretty typical "Egyptian" story full of treasure in secret tombs and creepy mummies. There's a fairly predictable "twist", but the story seems kind of lazy. While there are some facts about Egypt at the end of the book, the story is based on various stereotypes and misunderstandings about Egypt. Though I have not been to Egypt, I don't think anyone there says "Holy sarcophagus!" This book is based on a very basic concept of Egypt, mainly that there are really old pyramids that people try to steal from.
I actually really enjoyed the original Flat Stanley chapter book, but this one is just too ridiculous. It fells like an attempt to imitate the Magic Treehouse books, but is a complete failure. This thing makes no sense. Did not enjoy.
This was an okay read.
I think I was just too much in a rational mindset to enjoy this book. I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept that Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board while sleeping in the original book series. I can even pretend that you can send a flat human being through the US Postal Service. But I just can't get over the ridiculousness that Stanley's "goose disks" (flat goose bumps) would allow him to stick to walls like a starfish. He is wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants. How does he have enough exposed skin to stick to the wall, ignoring the fact that human pores (even if flat) do not turn into suction cups? This was just too much for me. Apparently I am too much of a grown up for this part of the series. This whole thing just doesn't make sense.
The entire book was pretty ridiculous with tons of plot holes. It is a pretty typical "Egyptian" story full of treasure in secret tombs and creepy mummies. There's a fairly predictable "twist", but the story seems kind of lazy. While there are some facts about Egypt at the end of the book, the story is based on various stereotypes and misunderstandings about Egypt. Though I have not been to Egypt, I don't think anyone there says "Holy sarcophagus!" This book is based on a very basic concept of Egypt, mainly that there are really old pyramids that people try to steal from.
I actually really enjoyed the original Flat Stanley chapter book, but this one is just too ridiculous. It fells like an attempt to imitate the Magic Treehouse books, but is a complete failure. This thing makes no sense. Did not enjoy.
September 16, 2021
It's easy to give this one a hard time. You can't take it seriously... Let's see how seriously.
Cover
This cover is sort of cool. It has depth and dimension while looking flat. This cover looks nice
Interior
Story
It's standard Egypt with serious privilege's and I mean serious privilege's. I thought Amisi's father what amazing. I love the fixation with flattening his daughter and the objection he gets from his family. But you can see it's an American family mentality on display. Also Egyptian bats are too big for a 3 inch space in a pyramid to live let alone fly and now Egypt now created the elevator button. Over all I can't say it's bad. I didn't get it but I think I looked too critical at it.
The plot's a bit busted if you look to hard but it's full of imagination and playfulness. Just don't use the story to write a factual essay about Egypt.
Illustrations
Their great, fun, playful, imaginative. Not much to say the illustrations really sell the story on this one.
After Thoughts
So the names they used are not surprisingly Egyptian and almost has a cleaver twist.
Abu meaning Father
Shenti meaning Hairy
Hawara being an actual archaeological site in Egypt.
and
Amisi meaning flower.
If I didn't know better I would assume Abu Hawara was a play on being a Grave Robber.
Cover
This cover is sort of cool. It has depth and dimension while looking flat. This cover looks nice
Interior
Story
It's standard Egypt with serious privilege's and I mean serious privilege's. I thought Amisi's father what amazing. I love the fixation with flattening his daughter and the objection he gets from his family. But you can see it's an American family mentality on display. Also Egyptian bats are too big for a 3 inch space in a pyramid to live let alone fly and now Egypt now created the elevator button. Over all I can't say it's bad. I didn't get it but I think I looked too critical at it.
The plot's a bit busted if you look to hard but it's full of imagination and playfulness. Just don't use the story to write a factual essay about Egypt.
Illustrations
Their great, fun, playful, imaginative. Not much to say the illustrations really sell the story on this one.
After Thoughts
So the names they used are not surprisingly Egyptian and almost has a cleaver twist.
Abu meaning Father
Shenti meaning Hairy
Hawara being an actual archaeological site in Egypt.
and
Amisi meaning flower.
If I didn't know better I would assume Abu Hawara was a play on being a Grave Robber.
May 22, 2023
My six-year-old and I have been reading books in the Flat Stanley series (not in any particular order) and I greatly enjoyed this Worldwide Adventure more than the Flying Chinese Wonders. The plot is predictable for an adult, but full of suspense for a young reader. The story is short and to the point and has a simple "good guys win and bad guys lose" ending. My kindergartener especially loved the very end and remembering that all Stanley's brother, Arthur, wanted was "a mummy or nothing!"
March 13, 2023
It was fun to read this book again as I worked on my slide show of our 2009 trip to Egypt. I paid more attention to the Flat Stanley story this time. Since we took "Flat Jeremy" along on the trip, I wonder if Jeremy actually read this book and imagined himself along with us....
It was fun to see the Ancient museum and pyramids in the book.
It was fun to see the Ancient museum and pyramids in the book.
December 17, 2024
“Being flat is more trouble than some people imagine it to be.”
Flat Stanley is off on another adventure. He's invited to Egypt where a narrow opening just might lead to a historic find.
As is his way, Flat Stanley learns some important life lessons along the way, like making sure you KNOW who you are working with and have the same goals, and makes some new friends.
Flat Stanley is off on another adventure. He's invited to Egypt where a narrow opening just might lead to a historic find.
As is his way, Flat Stanley learns some important life lessons along the way, like making sure you KNOW who you are working with and have the same goals, and makes some new friends.
February 9, 2018
Just used this book to support year 3 writing. They loved it! They all took a "Flat Stanley" home and had to write about their weekend adventure with Stanley. Many of them have asked for the other books in the series. Can highly recommend this book for class read.
June 29, 2021
My 8 yr old daughter says...
"Amazing! Going inside a tomb, looking at all the ruins, he stops a criminal from robbing. He was very clever and smart in the tombs. I found this very exciting, and would recommend this to younger kids around 6-9yrs old"
"Amazing! Going inside a tomb, looking at all the ruins, he stops a criminal from robbing. He was very clever and smart in the tombs. I found this very exciting, and would recommend this to younger kids around 6-9yrs old"
July 22, 2017
81 pages. Very funny story and well-written. The series is very popular at my school. Recommended for elementary kids.
August 15, 2017
Jackson's review: I love a good mystery!
October 16, 2017
This is a good book, easy to finish in short time, but the plot of it nearly the same type of another of the series.
May 24, 2018
Flat Stanley books are all pretty similar, but they are great for new readers. My son read this one aloud to me.
August 8, 2019
Love Flat Stanley
Read
March 25, 2021read to my class
May 7, 2021
Good but short
Read
August 1, 2022Lexile®: 650L, 5791W, 100%, 6y4m
December 24, 2022
Fun ninja quick read for kids.
Read
June 13, 2024*work*
July 2, 2025
I thought this book was a little confusing in the middle and the end. I liked that they got rid of sir hawara.
July 20, 2025
Read to Leto. Some funny parts, but not nearly as good as the first flat Stanley book we read. Hope to find some more five star flat Stanley books
October 3, 2016
Stanley goes to Egypt and is brother is jealous (as always).
August 31, 2016
An Upbeat and Well Written Addition to the Flat Stanley Shelf
These are very cool books with an interesting history. The original Flat Stanley appeared in 1964 and five more books appeared between then and 2003. When the original author, Jeff Brown, passed away in 2003, the series was converted to the "...Worldwide Adventures" line. These new books, (there are at least ten), have been written by a variety of authors.
This adventure was written by Sara Pennypacker, the well known author of the very engaging "Clementine" books. (Clementine is a cheerful, high-energy girl who always has the best intentions but whose efforts, (say, cutting the neighbor girl's hair), often end up in disaster.)
In this episode Flat Stanley is mailed to Egypt to help explore a recently discovered tomb. He's the logical choice since he can fit between cracks in the stones. There are grave robbers, skullduggery and lurking.
These books have more going for them than just the "flat" gimmick, although that is a pretty good hook. The overall vibe is one of gung-ho good-guy adventure. The deadpan acceptance by everyone of Stanley's flatness has a pretty subtle positive message. The good-guys versus bad-guys angle is always clear and crisply presented. There is a lot of dry humor and just a little bit of an arch kidding of the material in the narrative. For an early chapter book there is actually a surprisingly generous helping of interesting facts about Egypt, including tombs, hieroglyphics, the culture and geography, and so on.
So, while at one level the books are sort of silly, they are written with flair and energy and touch a lot of early readers' favorite bases. Certainly this book would be a zippy and engaging addition to the library and a nice choice to try on an early reader.
Please note that I found this book while browsing the local library's Kindle books, and downloaded it for free. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
These are very cool books with an interesting history. The original Flat Stanley appeared in 1964 and five more books appeared between then and 2003. When the original author, Jeff Brown, passed away in 2003, the series was converted to the "...Worldwide Adventures" line. These new books, (there are at least ten), have been written by a variety of authors.
This adventure was written by Sara Pennypacker, the well known author of the very engaging "Clementine" books. (Clementine is a cheerful, high-energy girl who always has the best intentions but whose efforts, (say, cutting the neighbor girl's hair), often end up in disaster.)
In this episode Flat Stanley is mailed to Egypt to help explore a recently discovered tomb. He's the logical choice since he can fit between cracks in the stones. There are grave robbers, skullduggery and lurking.
These books have more going for them than just the "flat" gimmick, although that is a pretty good hook. The overall vibe is one of gung-ho good-guy adventure. The deadpan acceptance by everyone of Stanley's flatness has a pretty subtle positive message. The good-guys versus bad-guys angle is always clear and crisply presented. There is a lot of dry humor and just a little bit of an arch kidding of the material in the narrative. For an early chapter book there is actually a surprisingly generous helping of interesting facts about Egypt, including tombs, hieroglyphics, the culture and geography, and so on.
So, while at one level the books are sort of silly, they are written with flair and energy and touch a lot of early readers' favorite bases. Certainly this book would be a zippy and engaging addition to the library and a nice choice to try on an early reader.
Please note that I found this book while browsing the local library's Kindle books, and downloaded it for free. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
November 24, 2009
This was such a fun book! It is more or less the same reading level as the Magic Tree House series, but it is much better written and, in my opinion, is much more interesting. The high quality of writing is actually one of the reasons I liked this book so much. (The book is actually written by Sara Pennypacker, although the author is listed here as Jeff Brown, the creator of Flat Stanley.) I knew I was going to like the book when, on page 5, I came across this exchange:
"'But I am only half an inch thick.' Stanley sighed. 'So that's me, all right.'
"'I,' Mrs. Lambchop corrected her son. 'That is I.'"
People using "I" correctly is practically unheard of in books (or anywhere) today, so I was very excited by this.
The story is fairly simple: Stanley is asked to come help with an archaeological dig in Egypt. When he gets there, he discovers that the people he is working for are not as honest as he thought. He must find a way to save the day.
I highly recommend this book. I haven't read the rest of the series, but I suspect those books are just as good.
"'But I am only half an inch thick.' Stanley sighed. 'So that's me, all right.'
"'I,' Mrs. Lambchop corrected her son. 'That is I.'"
People using "I" correctly is practically unheard of in books (or anywhere) today, so I was very excited by this.
The story is fairly simple: Stanley is asked to come help with an archaeological dig in Egypt. When he gets there, he discovers that the people he is working for are not as honest as he thought. He must find a way to save the day.
I highly recommend this book. I haven't read the rest of the series, but I suspect those books are just as good.
October 16, 2011
Having read and loved Flat Stanley as a child, I was interested to read this new adventure.
Flat Stanley suffered an unfortunate incident one night when a bulletin board fell on him and flattened him to half an inch think. Fortunately, this saves a him a lot on travel, since he can go through the post. Because of his fame, Flat Stanley has been invited to Egypt to help a mysterious man get into one of the great pyramids, as he's the only one that can fit. However, when he arrives, he discovers that he is actually helping grave robbers to steal from the pyramid and must find a way to stop them.
This is a quick and humourous read with good moral issues raised along the way - doing the right thing, trusting your friends and being kind to your family. I would recommend it for KS1, confident readers can read alone and it would also be a good class story to read to run along a project on the Egyptians, bearing in mind that there's not a huge amount of factual information in the story, but it gives a good flavour.
Flat Stanley suffered an unfortunate incident one night when a bulletin board fell on him and flattened him to half an inch think. Fortunately, this saves a him a lot on travel, since he can go through the post. Because of his fame, Flat Stanley has been invited to Egypt to help a mysterious man get into one of the great pyramids, as he's the only one that can fit. However, when he arrives, he discovers that he is actually helping grave robbers to steal from the pyramid and must find a way to stop them.
This is a quick and humourous read with good moral issues raised along the way - doing the right thing, trusting your friends and being kind to your family. I would recommend it for KS1, confident readers can read alone and it would also be a good class story to read to run along a project on the Egyptians, bearing in mind that there's not a huge amount of factual information in the story, but it gives a good flavour.
November 11, 2011
I like this book because I enjoy reading adventure and mystery books. I also like this book because I thought that it was interesting and fun to read. I choose 5 stars for this book because I enjoyed reading the book and I thought that it could have been a little bit of more interesting but not that much. I also think that it was still a good book.
This book really entertained me which made me want to read more of them. This book also reminded me since it talked about egypt I remembered that we were learning and doing a project on egypt. I also liked this book because I know some things about egypt now so I liked it more. I also liked this book because I had some connections to the book.
This book really entertained me which made me want to read more of them. This book also reminded me since it talked about egypt I remembered that we were learning and doing a project on egypt. I also liked this book because I know some things about egypt now so I liked it more. I also liked this book because I had some connections to the book.
August 12, 2018
I had a group of second graders read this book for a book club. Scholastic Book Wizard levels this 3-5 grade levels with a reading level Q, DRA 40. This seems much higher than what most of the book is written at. However, the author does use those juicy vocabulary words. Other than vocabulary, the comprehension, short chapters, and content put this at a good 1-3 grade level. I would recommend this book (and others in the series) to those young high-level readers, as this is an enjoyable, very age-appropriate, and slightly quirky book. I will be using this again in my class for guided reading groups.
February 12, 2009
I reviewed this soon to be released book for HarperCollins Children's Books. What a great little book! Flat Stanley (an original Jeff Brown character of 45 years ago) is being brought back by another author using the writing style of Mr. Benson. This time the book series will be about history. Each story will have an adventure happening in a place rich with history that becomes part of the story. The book was about 85 pages which kids will like.
December 6, 2016
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, he is able to get into places that nobody else can. Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist in Egypt letting Stanley know that he needs Stanley's help. They are looking for an ancient treasure that is hidden in one of the great pyramids, but there is only a small little hole that Stanley can fit through. Will Stanley be able to find the hidden treasure?
July 22, 2016
Flat Stanley is a bit "flat" now that I've read how he came about.
Since we move geocaching travel bugs around the country and they are sometimes compared to Flat Stanley - I needed to catch up on Stanley's "roots".
Clap Clap - I was getting annoyed at the villian's rude hand-clapping, too.
Cute for kidlets.
Since we move geocaching travel bugs around the country and they are sometimes compared to Flat Stanley - I needed to catch up on Stanley's "roots".
Clap Clap - I was getting annoyed at the villian's rude hand-clapping, too.
Cute for kidlets.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews