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Dear Reader,
Flat Stanley is visiting me again this year. (In fact he's taking a nap in my guest room at this very moment.) Hailey, a student in Ms. Anderson's second grade class at North Liberty Elementary School sent Flat Stanley to live with my husband and me for two weeks. Our assignment is to take Hailey's Flat Stanley paper doll with us wherever we go. Unfortunately, Flat Stanley's first few days in Florida were spent in an envelope because my husband and I were in New York City when he arrived.
If you've never been introduced to Flat Stanley, he's the main character in Jeff Brown's book Flat Stanley. Stanley Lambchop becomes as flat as a piece of paper when his bulletin board falls on him in the middle of the night. But just as in our every day lives, if you look real hard--even in the midst of something bad--like being smished by a bulletin board, something good comes from it. The good news is when you're flat as a piece of paper, you can travel First Class to anywhere in the country for only 44 cents!
Flat Stanley is an annual project for Ms. Anderson's second grade class. Last year Abigail sent Flat Stanley to me and I must admit I became emotionally involved. At the end of Flat Stanley's, visit when it was time to mail him back to Abigail, I was truly sad to see him go.
So this year when Ms. Anderson asked if I wanted to participate in the project again I said yes. But surprisingly, I admit, my heart wasn't in the "yes" like it was the first time around. My life felt extremely busy at the time, even a little out of control, so I guess I said yes more out of guilt than desire. Because an excited second grader would be sending her Flat Stanley out into the world and anxiously waiting for a reply, 'Come on Suzanne--you can certainly do your part.' So I welcomed Flat Stanley, but still not exactly with open arms, until this past Saturday.
My husband and I got up early to go to the Farmer's Market. We'd walked about two blocks when I made the comment that I really should have brought Flat Stanley along. So we dutifully turned around, walked back home and invited Flat Stanley to join us.
Walking to the Farmer's Market and holding Flat Stanley in my left hand so he could get some fresh air (he'd been in that envelope for too many days while we were in New York City) something magical happened. Suddenly I felt a responsibility for someone. I had agreed to show Flat Stanley a good time, so that's what I started doing. Looking for photo opportunities, Flat Stanley pushed the Walk button so we could cross the busy street, Flat Stanley went wading in the fountain, he sampled a Wisconsin cheese curd for the very first time, and he loved the brightly colored cut flowers at the market, so I brought some home for him. Of course it's child's play, of course it's make believe, but suddenly Flat Stanley wasn't just a paper doll, colored with crayons by a second grader. Suddenly Flat Stanley was making me smile and I was having fun. Ah, the wonder of make-believe!
To see some Flat Stanley photos, go to: http://tinyurl.com/nxkfv6
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com
KIDSBUZZ: New authors, longtime favorites, all wonderful children's and teen books to enjoy (and possibly win): Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains; Amy Hest, Little Chick; Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith; and G. Neri, Surf Mules. Go to: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz
* This month's Penguin Classics book is The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley. To comment on the book and enter the Penguin Classics Drawing, go to: http://tinyurl.com/SeptClassics
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