Invisible Stanley - Stanley in Space

I bought this to start reading chapter books with my 5 year old son. I wasn't sure what was out there besides Captain Underpants (no thanks) so I found this in a search and we were amused by the synopsis. It's been fun to read and imagine what it would be like to be flat. We even got the idea from Stanley to send ourselves to relatives in other states.

My 6 year old son absolutely loves this series! He started reading chapter books in Kindergarten and we have tried a few different chapter series to see which one he would like to start reading. He really took to this one. He loves them!

I first learned about Flat Stanley over 20 years ago when I received a phone call from my friend asking me if I could help her son with a school project. Each student in his class had to mail Flat Stanley to relatives or friends all over the country and have him spend time with them and then be sent back with a report of their time there and if possible a gift for each student in the class that was specific to where he lived. It was a cute project that I loved helping him with. I meet with Flat Stanley again a few years ago when my niece had to read a chapter book for school and this was the one she choose. She was in first grade and struggled with reading and it was a chore to get her through the first book but she got it done and enjoyed the book.
I again have young people in my life who need a project and reading material for school and Flat Stanley came to mind almost immediately. I had originally thought to only buy the first book in the series but after looking over all the options for purchase, this four book collection was a great deal. It comes in a nice case and each book is full of illustrations to help keep younger readers engaged. This is not a book series for beginner readers but for those who are strong readers in the last couple months of 1st grade or readers in 2nd/3rd grades these book are great not just to read but if you look on-line you can also have your kids get involved and do a project - making them a great option for home schooled kids as well as every elementary school system.

I personally did not like the style and the story line of the book when I read it to my 5 yo & 6 yo. After the first book, I become disinterested proceeding onto the rest of books in the collection.

My six year old enjoyed it: the stories are right in that sweet spot of age-appropriate, slightly silly plot line. I am less impressed. In part, because the writing feels very dated -- it's 50 years old after all. The events, character stereotypes, dialog, and cultural interplay make me squirm sometimes, though I'm sure that will be an issue for adults not kids. More significantly, I find Jeff Brown's sentence style and word choice to be very choppy and awkward. I've been reading kids books aloud for almost a decade now, yet this is one of the few series I have ever found my tongue stumbling to get through. (And I can rattle off Fox-in-Sox all day long.) Anyway, as evidenced by other reviews, I think Flat Stanley was a big part of a younger generations childhood, and it certainly merits a try. Particularly if it creates some common ground between Grandpa and the grandkids. But it falls short compared to some more modern kids adventure series like Magic Tree House.

Cute set of books.
Shipped quickly.
My 1st grader loves them, he brought one home from the library and it was honestly the first book I've seen him be excited to keep going. I was so glad there was a series so we could get more.

Cute set of books.
Shipped quickly.
My 1st grader loves them, he brought one home from the library and it was honestly the first book I've seen him be excited to keep going. I was so glad there was a series so we could get more.

Originally planned to read these through our local library, but when I realized we were quickly racking up late fees, it seemed so much smarter to buy them! The boxed set is great and although we've only finished part of it, I think it's going to be a great set for my early readers! It's great to see books like this that are a stepping stone of sorts between "kiddie" books and older-kid books.

I bought this for my grandson with the expectaion that he could learn geography with a map I bought and follow Stanley's travels; however, it did not come with a cardboard Stanley as I expected so we have to make one.

The description on the bargain books states that the books are "new but may contain some marks from the publisher." The books I received did not look new as they certainly have more wrong with them than just marks from the publisher. The collection's case was scuffed badly on the sides and top (the color had been scraped off the pictures), the spine had been cut by a box-cutter, and it was bent as if it had been crushed on the spine and corner. The books themselves have some damage to their spines that looks like a bit of wear and tear.

In other words, these books are probably sold as "bargain" because they are copies that were damaged in shipment from the publisher to the store, NOT because they may have a few "marks from the publisher" on them. (For anyone who doesn't know, "marks from the publisher" means that the pages of the book were marked across the outside with a marker, usually a thick black line. This does no damage to the spine of the book, the appearance of it's cover, or to its case.)

My daughter is hard on books anyway, so it is not worth the hassle to send them back for new copies: I just wanted to warn anybody else that thinks these books will look new.

The Flat Stanley stories are excellent, and my children love them.