May 1, 2011

Alfie's gonna meet Flat Stanley...


His Flatness is coming to Edmonton....

When my friend Mary, bloggess goddess of http://www.pajamasandcofffee.com/, and her daughter Faith asked me to "host" Flat Stanley, I of course agreed, and he is on his way (uh, take your friggin time, Canada Post....)

What the hell is a Flat Stanley, you ask?

Flat Stanley is a 1964 children's book written by Jeff Brown. Stanley Lambchop and his younger brother Arthur are given a big bulletin board, which falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. Flat Stanley then goes on to various adventures and sequels, and gets mailed around to friends.


The book was pretty obscure until 1995, when Dale Hubert, a teacher from Ontario started the Flat Stanley Project, with kids mailing their own Flat Stanley's to each other and documenting his travels in pictures and postcards and now online. There's even an app for that!

The program is designed to improve the reading and writing skills of elementary school students while they learn about new people and places. Students read the book, write new stories about Stanley and send a Flat Stanley to people far away, who send back pics and info.

His Flatness has travelled the globe, been to the Oscars with Clint Eastwood, climbed the Eiffel Tower, visited troops in Afghanistan, been up in the space shuttle Discovery, met Muhammad Ali and Bill Clinton, and there is apparently a movie in the works.

Like all big-time celebrities, there has also been scandal, with the teacher and the estate of the author duking it out in court. But alas, no flat sex tape, Yet...

My job, as per the instruction sheet from Faith's teacher Mrs Wilson (hey, wasn't she the neighbour in Dennis the Menace?): take His Flatness around town, shoot pics, send the package of pics and goodies back with a letter telling about his adventures.

I am thinking tourist haven West Edmonton Mall, the ultra-modern Art Gallery of Alberta, out in the sun with Alfie...

Stay tuned for more, we are taking Faith's school project viral!

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