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Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #1
The Mount Rushmore Calamity
Saddle up with Flat Stanley!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, every trip is an adventure!
The whole Lambchop family is off to see Mount Rushmore. But when Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, team up with a scrappy cowgirl named Calamity Jasper, their vacation turns into the Wild West experience of a lifetime. Pretty soon, they find themselves in a real tight spot—even for a flat boy like Stanley!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, every trip is an adventure!
The whole Lambchop family is off to see Mount Rushmore. But when Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, team up with a scrappy cowgirl named Calamity Jasper, their vacation turns into the Wild West experience of a lifetime. Pretty soon, they find themselves in a real tight spot—even for a flat boy like Stanley!
96 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2009
108 people are currently reading
1117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
February 1, 2013
In 1964, Jeff Brown introduced readers to a character named Flat Stanley.
Flat Stanley's name is actually Stanley Lambchop, but a bulletin board fell on him, turning him from a three-dimensional boy into a flat one. Hence, he is called Flat Stanley. Much beloved, Flat Stanley evolved into a very popular project through which schoolchildren draw a Flat Stanley, cut it out, and mail it to friends and family in far off places.
A huge success, Flat Stanley also evolved into a series of early readers. Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: The Mount Rushmore Calamity is one of those readers. In it, Flat Stanley and his family go to Mount Rushmore. While there, they meet a tour guide's daughter. Her name is Calamity Jasper. The interesting thing about Calamity Jasper is what she says about herself on page 48:
See that? She is "part Lakota Sioux." In addition to knowing "useful things" about plants and hunting (can you say STEREOTYPE?), she knows how to send smoke signals (come on, say it again: STEREOTYPE). Course, because Stanley is FLAT, they use him as the blanket to send those smoke signals.
The stereotypes are bad, but there's more.
Calamity Jasper is out looking for gold in a gold mine. A gold mine located in the Black Hills, and she is determined to get some of that gold for herself...
But, let's consider what the Lakota Nation has on its website about the Black Hills:
With that history in mind, I think portraying a Lakota character as a gold miner is problematic. The author of this story is an outsider to the culture. Realistically, a Lakota child wouldn't be acting like a gold miner. Course, Calamity Jasper is only part Lakota, so, maybe she has no clue about what the Black Hills mean to the Lakota Nation.
At the end of the book, there's a section called "What You Need to Know to Be a Black Hills Gold Miner." I'm guessing this information is what led the reviewer for School Library Journal to call the book "educational." Here's what those pages say:
Some of the individual items the reader needs to know to be a "Black Hills Gold Miner" are odd.
Why would you tell the reader that the Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota people?! You've just read a story about mining for gold and how fun that is, and now you're telling the reader that the gold is on sacred land? I don't get the logic.
How would the story itself be different if the author included the sacred nature of that land within the story? Maybe the author would abandon the project. It is also highly possible that someone within the publishing house, and not the author, wrote the last pages!
Though the reviewer for School Library Journal called this book "educational and fun," I beg to differ. Stereotypes are not fun, and I don't think the book is educational, either.
Flat Stanley's name is actually Stanley Lambchop, but a bulletin board fell on him, turning him from a three-dimensional boy into a flat one. Hence, he is called Flat Stanley. Much beloved, Flat Stanley evolved into a very popular project through which schoolchildren draw a Flat Stanley, cut it out, and mail it to friends and family in far off places.
A huge success, Flat Stanley also evolved into a series of early readers. Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: The Mount Rushmore Calamity is one of those readers. In it, Flat Stanley and his family go to Mount Rushmore. While there, they meet a tour guide's daughter. Her name is Calamity Jasper. The interesting thing about Calamity Jasper is what she says about herself on page 48:
"Following tracks isn't a cowboy skill. I'm part Lakota Sioux," Calamity said proudly. "We Native Americans know lots of useful things, like which plants make medicine and how to hunt and..."
See that? She is "part Lakota Sioux." In addition to knowing "useful things" about plants and hunting (can you say STEREOTYPE?), she knows how to send smoke signals (come on, say it again: STEREOTYPE). Course, because Stanley is FLAT, they use him as the blanket to send those smoke signals.
The stereotypes are bad, but there's more.
Calamity Jasper is out looking for gold in a gold mine. A gold mine located in the Black Hills, and she is determined to get some of that gold for herself...
But, let's consider what the Lakota Nation has on its website about the Black Hills:
In 1874 George Armstrong Custer led the U.S. Army Black Hills Expedition, which set out on July 2 from Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory, with orders to travel to the previously uncharted Black Hills of South Dakota. Its mission was to look for suitable locations for a fort, find a route to the southwest, and to investigate the potential for gold mining. His discovery of gold was made public and miners began migrating there illegally.
"Custer's florid descriptions of the mineral and timber resources of the Black Hills, and the land's suitability for grazing and cultivation ... received wide circulation, and had the effect of creating an intense popular demand for the 'opening' of the Hills for settlement. "Initially the U.S. military tried to turn away trespassing miners and settlers. Eventually President Grant, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of War, "decided that the military should make no further resistance to the occupation of the Black Hills by miners."These orders were to be enforced "quietly", and the President's decision was to remain "confidential."
As more settlers and gold miners invaded the Black Hills, the Government determined it had to acquire the land from the Sioux, and appointed a commission to negotiate the purchase. The negotiations failed, as the Sioux resisted giving up what they considered sacred land. The U.S. resorted to military force. They declared the Sioux Indians "hostile" for failing to obey an order to return from an off-reservation hunting expedition by a specific date, but in the dead of winter, overland travel was impossible.
The consequent military expedition to remove the Sioux from the Black Hills included an attack on a major encampment of several bands on the Little Bighorn River. Led by General Custer, the attack ended in the overwhelming victory of chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse over the 7th Cavalry Regiment, a conflict often called Custer's Last Stand.
In 1876 the U.S. Congress decided to open up the Black Hills to development and break up the Great Sioux Reservation. In 1877, it passed an act to make 7.7 million acres (31,000 km2) of the Black Hills available for sale to homesteaders and private interests. In 1889 Congress divided the remaining area of Great Sioux Reservation into five separate reservations and defined the boundaries of each in its Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888.
With that history in mind, I think portraying a Lakota character as a gold miner is problematic. The author of this story is an outsider to the culture. Realistically, a Lakota child wouldn't be acting like a gold miner. Course, Calamity Jasper is only part Lakota, so, maybe she has no clue about what the Black Hills mean to the Lakota Nation.
At the end of the book, there's a section called "What You Need to Know to Be a Black Hills Gold Miner." I'm guessing this information is what led the reviewer for School Library Journal to call the book "educational." Here's what those pages say:
Native Americans have lived in the Black Hills for more than 9000 years. Some Lakota believe the Black Hills are the sacred center of the world.
The Black Hills Gold Rush began in 1874, when Colonel Custer led a thousand men into the western part of South Dakota to investigate reports that the area contained gold. That's the same Custer who later had his Last Stand against Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
One of the most famous cowgirls of the Black Hills was named Calamity Jane. She was a good friend of the famous lawman Wild Bill Hickock.
Gold was first discovered in the Black Hills just a few miles from where Mount Rushmore was later built.
Some would-be miners get tricked by "fools gold," which looks a lot like the real thing. If you want to tell the difference, try pressing your fingernail into the surface. If it leaves a small indent, you've found gold!
The heads on Mount Rushmore are as tall as a six-story building. If you matched them with bodies, the men with those heads would be three times as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
Some of the individual items the reader needs to know to be a "Black Hills Gold Miner" are odd.
Why would you tell the reader that the Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota people?! You've just read a story about mining for gold and how fun that is, and now you're telling the reader that the gold is on sacred land? I don't get the logic.
How would the story itself be different if the author included the sacred nature of that land within the story? Maybe the author would abandon the project. It is also highly possible that someone within the publishing house, and not the author, wrote the last pages!
Though the reviewer for School Library Journal called this book "educational and fun," I beg to differ. Stereotypes are not fun, and I don't think the book is educational, either.
January 26, 2015
A new series of books with Flat Stanley off having adventures in different places. I became interested in reading this series after reading about the geography activity of kids creating their own Flat Stanley, cardboard cut outs, and posting them far away. The receiver of the letter with the Flat Stanley takes the cardboard cut out and has an adventure with them. Taking photo's of them doing things and they post them back. A great way to learn about new places and write letters to people.
This story is based in the USA near Mount Rushmore. It includes a few interesting true facts. Fun series.
This story is based in the USA near Mount Rushmore. It includes a few interesting true facts. Fun series.
December 6, 2021
Not sure why this was on the book list for a classical school I really respect. While the lexile is probably on point this was a very strange book. I don't think we'll read any others in the series. I was also particularly disturbed by the way this 'Native American" character. Very strange all around. My son didn't really care for the story either and he wasn't excited to read it at night so if they were going for entertainment, it failed on that measure too.
February 25, 2014
flat stanley by: sara pennypacker. it is about a boy that is traveling to mount rushmore. and how he got the name flat stanley was because he got flatened by a boliten board so now it is hard for him to travel without flying away.
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May 9, 2024이게 뭐야 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 중간중간 너무 어이가 없다. 그래도 애들은 좋아해서 앉은 자리에서 다 읽음
June 20, 2013
Amazon credits this as *by* Jeff Brown and since I'd never heard of this follow up series I was rather disappointed to find out it is not written by him at all, only based on his character. Anyway, the actual author, Sara Pennypacker, did a nice job here and I was well pleased with this start to a series about Stanley while he is still flat. Now since he is cured in the original book, I guess we are to assume these adventures occur during that time. I was always upset as a kid that Stanley was fixed as I thought that he would have had some great escapades while he was flat and this book goes to show just what he can get up to as the family takes a trip to Mt. Rushmore and Stanley's flat-ness saves the day. Recommended for kids who like the "Andrew Lost" series.
November 19, 2014
Owen says: Four stars. I liked learning more about what cowboys do. I kind of liked it when Abraham Lincoln's face fell off. I think it was funny. If you like Flat Stanley books, you should read it.
Rob says: Three stars. Another extension in the Flat Stanley franchise. While the original books have an old-time Zany flavor to them, this modern update loses some of that feeling of magical realism and replaces it with a standard children's adventure book in which the hero happens to be flat. Still, it's charming enough in the ways Stanley's body is used as a variety of problem solving tools, including a horse's trough!
Rob says: Three stars. Another extension in the Flat Stanley franchise. While the original books have an old-time Zany flavor to them, this modern update loses some of that feeling of magical realism and replaces it with a standard children's adventure book in which the hero happens to be flat. Still, it's charming enough in the ways Stanley's body is used as a variety of problem solving tools, including a horse's trough!
March 20, 2015
I have never read a Flat Stanley book before and this one was interesting. I had heard about the Flat Stanley project before, but I had never read one of the books. I liked the concept of having a person be flat and able to things other 3D people cannot do. However; I did not like that they rolled up Stanley and put him on the back of a horse. He had no way to stop himself from falling off with his arms rolled up. The trip to Mount Rushmore and the adventures that ensued were entertaining. I can see a younger reader really enjoying this book. I would like to do the Flat Stanley project in my classroom and I think using this book would be a good way to introduce it.
April 22, 2019
Saddle up with Flat Stanley!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, every trip is an adventure!
The whole Lambchop family is off to see Mount Rushmore. But when Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, team up with a scrappy cowgirl named Calamity Jasper, their vacation turns into the Wild West experience of a lifetime. Pretty soon, they find themselves in a real tight spot—even for a flat boy like Stanley!
My 2 year old and I loved this book during our read a loud time. To be honest we love anything with Flat Stanley. This book was full of adventure, comedy and suspense.
I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, every trip is an adventure!
The whole Lambchop family is off to see Mount Rushmore. But when Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, team up with a scrappy cowgirl named Calamity Jasper, their vacation turns into the Wild West experience of a lifetime. Pretty soon, they find themselves in a real tight spot—even for a flat boy like Stanley!
My 2 year old and I loved this book during our read a loud time. To be honest we love anything with Flat Stanley. This book was full of adventure, comedy and suspense.
I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.
November 11, 2011
I liked this book because I like adventure books. When I saw this book I immediately read this book. I literally grabbed this book went to my room and started to read it. I also read this book because I usually don't go on vacations so I read this book because it looked interesting.
I gave this book 5 stars because I like reading Adventure books so this book looked interesting to me. This book is also a series and i liked reading those as well. If I had to choose a favorite book of the flat stanley series it would be this one. These are all reasons on why i liked this book.
I gave this book 5 stars because I like reading Adventure books so this book looked interesting to me. This book is also a series and i liked reading those as well. If I had to choose a favorite book of the flat stanley series it would be this one. These are all reasons on why i liked this book.
January 6, 2012
I just loved this book even if it is for little kids. In this book Stanley and his brother go on a trip to Mount Rushmore. On page 15 it said " with a terrible sound, a large crack split open along Abraham Lincoln's hairline. The great carved face began to slide away down the mountainside... With Arthur on it!" that part almost gave me a heart attack. I thought that Arthur was going to die. After Stanley saved Arthur I was go happy but when I saw that Arthur was sad because people were crowding over Stanley and Arthur was lonely. If that was me I would feel sad to.
January 5, 2018
Saddle up with Flat Stanley!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, every trip is an adventure!
The whole Lambchop family is off to see Mount Rushmore. But when Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, team up with a scrappy cowgirl named Calamity Jasper, their vacation turns into the Wild West experience of a lifetime. Pretty soon, they find themselves in a real tight spot—even for a flat boy like Stanley!
Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, every trip is an adventure!
The whole Lambchop family is off to see Mount Rushmore. But when Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, team up with a scrappy cowgirl named Calamity Jasper, their vacation turns into the Wild West experience of a lifetime. Pretty soon, they find themselves in a real tight spot—even for a flat boy like Stanley!
December 6, 2016
Stanley is back at it again where he is the only person who can save the day, but this time he and his brother are trapped inside of Mount Rushmore after it collapsed and caved in. He is the only one that can escape because of how tiny he is, but he can go back and get help for his brother.
November 30, 2016
Finished 11/25/16. Josh would probably give this a 4 or 5 star rating. He really enjoyed it, was super intrigued by this idea of a flat boy, and it was at a good level for his comprehension. We will definitely have to visit this series some more.
May 7, 2017
This is the first Flat Stanley book that I've read. I'm a teacher and I have a student that loves Flat Stanley, so I read it too him as a reward. It's an interesting series. Seems like it would be great for early readers.
February 8, 2017
Flat Stanley and his friends go on an adventure to Mt. Rushmore. Cute, quick fantasy. Kids will love it.
October 27, 2017
Flat Stanley has gone to Mount Rushmore, and has meet a cowgirl. In the story she said" Good to meet you pardners"When she met them.
January 7, 2018
a favorite series of my 7 year old
February 22, 2018
Read to my 7 & 5 year olds. we all enjoyed it. Minimal pictures scattered throughout. Some history, some geography, some humor. Will plan read some more like this.
May 17, 2018
This series is perfect for K - 1st grade.
June 20, 2018
3.5 stars. Fun book. A few interesting facts, but mostly just a fun story. I don’t understand how Stanley turns into a lever though. That would break him even if he was flat.
September 10, 2018
Flat Stanley goes on vacation. The Lambchops go to Mount Rushmore, where Stanley and Arthur meet a cowgirl, get into some mischief, and save the day. A fun read for fans of Flat Stanley.
December 2, 2018
Great series of a book that students can see many explorations and experiences Flat Stanley goes through
April 3, 2024
Yesterday I finished reading flat Stanley's worldwide adventures, book one, the Mount Rushmore calamity. This book is about Stanley and author going to Mount Rushmore and they was on the way and then they were singing this song about the states they crossed through and then by the time they were walking over with the tour on Abraham Lincoln's face, Abraham Lincoln hairline rock just slid down but Arthur was on it so Stanley quickly grabbed onto it and let author use him as a bridge and the author was safe. Then the range of the appeared he he didn't know his name so he just said boy, can you hold on for longer Stanley code then repair crew came and fixed Abraham Lincoln's hairline the fourth president on Mount Rushmore George Washington, Theodore Rose, well Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson, and they met a girl I should say cowgirl and her name was calamity. Jasper she was the tour guides cowgirl, and she and she went with them to many different places around the national park, they went into a mine which was a gold mine, but they were just like people just hung up on the wall rocks I mean it was very dark inside but calamity found one piece of a gold and once they went back, she used the hammer and cut it into three pieces so her author and Stanley could have at least one piece, but on the way back from from the park, there was only space for three people in their car. The car was overstaffed, so Stanley told his mother and father that he could go to the post office then they will put him inside a box and it said do not bend, and Stanley didn't mind. Stanley was the first one to get home when his family arrived they went to the staircase, and then they saw a letter from their mother to them and then they looked on the photo wall. They put up a photo on that wall and that made author and Stanley happy.
July 16, 2020
I just discovered that this is the first book in the series, The Flat Stanely's Worldwide Adventure, but it is not the first Flat Stanley series. The original series simply called “Flat Stanley” written by Jeff Brown. In this series (6 books thus far), we get the back story of how Stanley became flat (½ inch think).
This book flew into my reading list because Jeff Brown is not listed as the primary author (instead - Sara Pennypacker) and I thought I was at the beginning of Stanley's story. I should have been more research-minded in my selection.
Anyway, I found this children's book to be silly, silly, silly. I am not a child so I need to be careful in my evaluation. Early elementary readers might be thrilled with this fantasy adventure story about the Lambchop family vacation to Mount Rushmore. I listened to this book as an audio offering and the illustrations might be crucial to appreciate the plot. It just did not grab me, and I love a good children's book.
This book flew into my reading list because Jeff Brown is not listed as the primary author (instead - Sara Pennypacker) and I thought I was at the beginning of Stanley's story. I should have been more research-minded in my selection.
Anyway, I found this children's book to be silly, silly, silly. I am not a child so I need to be careful in my evaluation. Early elementary readers might be thrilled with this fantasy adventure story about the Lambchop family vacation to Mount Rushmore. I listened to this book as an audio offering and the illustrations might be crucial to appreciate the plot. It just did not grab me, and I love a good children's book.
October 21, 2023
This was interesting. I'm not sure I've read a flat Stanley book before and I have to admit I didn't love it. I won't be getting any more in the series unless my grand child loves them and wants more (when the time comes, of course). The whole concept of a flat Stanley is weird but I could have gotten past that but the "buckaroo" girl that is part of this is just so over the top as to be ridiculous, and not in a good way. Of course, this is not a book written for me so take my review with a grain of salt. More of a 2.5 rounded up to 3 for GR. Unhaled 6/30/22.
October 30, 2019
An awfully written story that takes advantage of its target readership and uses their inexperience and lack of geographic and scientific knowledge to drastically cut corners in storytelling and believability. Even my 7-year-old thought many plot contrivances were outlandish and unbelievable. And not in a way that can be easily excused as silly fun. It confused him and frustrated me. Lazy, unresearched, exploitative storytelling should never be excused because it’s a book for children.
October 26, 2021
Cute story about a boy who is flat. The family goes on a vacation. Stanley is tired of everyone recognizing him and needs a break. His brother Arthur is tired of his brother getting all the attention. This vacation will help them see that they need each other and they can still be ok being different.
I read this to my daughter at bedtime. We were able to read the entire thing in one night. She and I both enjoyed it and would recommend it.
I read this to my daughter at bedtime. We were able to read the entire thing in one night. She and I both enjoyed it and would recommend it.
January 23, 2018
I read this today during our read aloud. it was a bit longer than I thought. We typically do 1/2 hour of read aloud. this took 45 minutes. The story itself was okay from an adult's perspective. We have read some really good books in the past so this was below those standards. Some kids liked it but some also feel asleep. 3 stars is kinda high in my opinion.
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April 29, 2021I picked this book because it said #1, although it turns out it is first in the "Worldwide Adventure" series, and the Flat Stanley story begins in the plain "Flat Stanley" series. That being said you can start here if you want because it's not hard to follow the storyline. We read this together as a bedtime story and the kids seemed to like it ok.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews