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Flat Stanley #5
Stanley's Christmas Adventure
Who will save Christmas?
Santa Claus is not his usual, jolly self. In fact, he's in a terrible mood. He doesn't believe that children appreciate Christmas anymore. This year, he has decided that he is not going to deliver any Christmas presents!
Luckily, his daughter, Sarah Claus, knows who to call for help. The Lambchop family! But can they convince Santa that there are still good children in the world? Just leave it up to Stanley.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
99 people are currently reading
760 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Brown
319 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
December 25, 2022
دوسش داشتم
با اینکه داستان ساده ای داشت ولی صوتیش خیلی خوب بود
با اینکه داستان ساده ای داشت ولی صوتیش خیلی خوب بود
December 4, 2018
Well, that was a bust. I liked the original Flat Stanley story well enough. But this just seems like a way to cash in on the premise. Stanley isn't even flat here. Instead, we get an insipid story about a depressed Santa Claus who refuses to do his job. So his daughter, Sarah, goes to the Lambchops' house to recruit Stanley to cheer her father up. Everybody's disappointed that he's no longer flat. Then Santa gets all judgmental about people asking him for things (hey, it's in the job description, buddy!) and even accuses the Lambchops of being greedy. Of course, he was jumping to conclusions, and it took a while for this dolt to realize that the boys' wishes were actually very selfless. When he does realize this, he does a complete 180 (so fast I almost got whiplash) and decides Christmas is all right after all.
This book was published in 1993, almost 30 years after the original. It seems that the author was trying to keep the style the same, but it didn't really work. While the original book is quaint, this one (ironically) seems dated. It borders on sexist, and the way the adults treat their children seems like the "children should be seen, not heard" attitude of long ago. And Mrs. Lambchop correcting her sons' grammar (which didn't even need to be corrected) was extra annoying.
I thought I might like this because I liked the original Flat Stanley. But I wouldn't recommend this one, either as a Christmas book or as an early chapter book. It's a quick read, to be sure... but it's also not very good.
This book was published in 1993, almost 30 years after the original. It seems that the author was trying to keep the style the same, but it didn't really work. While the original book is quaint, this one (ironically) seems dated. It borders on sexist, and the way the adults treat their children seems like the "children should be seen, not heard" attitude of long ago. And Mrs. Lambchop correcting her sons' grammar (which didn't even need to be corrected) was extra annoying.
I thought I might like this because I liked the original Flat Stanley. But I wouldn't recommend this one, either as a Christmas book or as an early chapter book. It's a quick read, to be sure... but it's also not very good.
July 14, 2014
Stanley's Christmas Adventure
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC
Time: 40min + 20 min (Stargirl)
7 word summary: Santa Clause stop working daughter help appreciate
Passage I like:
I like the passage where Santa Clause reads the letters from Stanley and Auther. They wrote that Santa Clause to help people who lost everything because of terrible earthquake. I wonder if there are kinds who wish like them in real life, but I hope those kinds of kids exist.
I enjoyed reading this book but I couldn't understand the words, "flat" and "round" well.
But I liked the story and I learned that I have to appriciate Chrismas and Santa Clause more.:) lol
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC
Time: 40min + 20 min (Stargirl)
7 word summary: Santa Clause stop working daughter help appreciate
Passage I like:
I like the passage where Santa Clause reads the letters from Stanley and Auther. They wrote that Santa Clause to help people who lost everything because of terrible earthquake. I wonder if there are kinds who wish like them in real life, but I hope those kinds of kids exist.
I enjoyed reading this book but I couldn't understand the words, "flat" and "round" well.
But I liked the story and I learned that I have to appriciate Chrismas and Santa Clause more.:) lol
November 15, 2013
stanley sends a note to santa claus asking for help for the people who were in a hurricane. santa claus gives the people cooking supplies for christmas.
February 26, 2022
I absolutely loved the Flat Stanley books as a kid!! Somehow, this was the only one I could never get my hands on when I was younger, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it in the camp library one day this summer when I took my campers to get books, and decided to read it that afternoon.
I feel that a two-star review really might be harsh; it isn't a bad book, but it just didn't seem to have the same luster as the other Flat Stanley books. * slight spoilers in next paragraphs, read at own discretion!*
In this story, Santa Claus is bitter and tired with the world, and he has decided to skip Christmas indefinitely and stop delivering presents. His daughter then comes and takes the Lambchop family back with her to the North Pole to talk some Christmas magic back into her father (Santa was inspired by hearing the news story on Stanley's flatness a few years before.) While the Lambchops are able to bring him around and get him to see the good in the world again, it all just seems to fall into place a little too conveniently. Stanley and Arthur's only Christmas wish is to help the people whose lives were affected by the terrible earthquake in South America. When Santa reads the letters they'd wrote asking him to help the displaced people, Santa's faith in the goodwill of men is restored and he honors their request.
Stanley and Arthur are stand-up kids, and it doesn't surprise me that they would be so selfless. However, this is all we really see from them, character and emotion wise, the entire book. Compared to the other books, Stanley and Arthur, and indeed the parents too, feel entirely flat (haha) and one-dimensional. This book had none of the fun family interactions or the good-natured teasing/jealousy between brothers that made the Lambchops so likeable in past books.
Santa is disgusted with the state of the world and the selfishness of many people considering how many other people are suffering. My question is, why didn't Santa just decide to focus more on helping those in need? Why does he only decide to help those affected by the earthquake because Stanley and Arthur ask him to? It honestly seemed like a lazy vehicle to deliver a message on selflessness to kid readers. It felt Santa was the author's self-insert character ranting about all that he thought was wrong with the 1990s. There seemed to be a big 'savior' air to everyone's actions that didn't quite sit right with me.
Though the cover shows Stanley meeting the elves, there was very little interaction with the world of the North Pole, and the elves played a very small part. A little nitpicky, but I think there were a lot of opportunities to develop the world of the North Pole that the author just didn't take. In "Stanley in Space", Jeff Brown introduced a whole alien race whose planet was dying, and the Lambchops brought them back to Earth. These aliens were so compelling, and their story was told in such a beautiful way! Brown has the talent, he definitely could have stretched his imagination a little bit and made the North Pole and its citizens more central to the story.
Now, my view of the story might be altered because I read it for the first time as an adult. But I do feel this fell flat, especially in comparison to the other books in the series. Not necessarily a skip, and I'm glad I got the chance to read it, but I don't think I'll read it again. :)
I feel that a two-star review really might be harsh; it isn't a bad book, but it just didn't seem to have the same luster as the other Flat Stanley books. * slight spoilers in next paragraphs, read at own discretion!*
In this story, Santa Claus is bitter and tired with the world, and he has decided to skip Christmas indefinitely and stop delivering presents. His daughter then comes and takes the Lambchop family back with her to the North Pole to talk some Christmas magic back into her father (Santa was inspired by hearing the news story on Stanley's flatness a few years before.) While the Lambchops are able to bring him around and get him to see the good in the world again, it all just seems to fall into place a little too conveniently. Stanley and Arthur's only Christmas wish is to help the people whose lives were affected by the terrible earthquake in South America. When Santa reads the letters they'd wrote asking him to help the displaced people, Santa's faith in the goodwill of men is restored and he honors their request.
Stanley and Arthur are stand-up kids, and it doesn't surprise me that they would be so selfless. However, this is all we really see from them, character and emotion wise, the entire book. Compared to the other books, Stanley and Arthur, and indeed the parents too, feel entirely flat (haha) and one-dimensional. This book had none of the fun family interactions or the good-natured teasing/jealousy between brothers that made the Lambchops so likeable in past books.
Santa is disgusted with the state of the world and the selfishness of many people considering how many other people are suffering. My question is, why didn't Santa just decide to focus more on helping those in need? Why does he only decide to help those affected by the earthquake because Stanley and Arthur ask him to? It honestly seemed like a lazy vehicle to deliver a message on selflessness to kid readers. It felt Santa was the author's self-insert character ranting about all that he thought was wrong with the 1990s. There seemed to be a big 'savior' air to everyone's actions that didn't quite sit right with me.
Though the cover shows Stanley meeting the elves, there was very little interaction with the world of the North Pole, and the elves played a very small part. A little nitpicky, but I think there were a lot of opportunities to develop the world of the North Pole that the author just didn't take. In "Stanley in Space", Jeff Brown introduced a whole alien race whose planet was dying, and the Lambchops brought them back to Earth. These aliens were so compelling, and their story was told in such a beautiful way! Brown has the talent, he definitely could have stretched his imagination a little bit and made the North Pole and its citizens more central to the story.
Now, my view of the story might be altered because I read it for the first time as an adult. But I do feel this fell flat, especially in comparison to the other books in the series. Not necessarily a skip, and I'm glad I got the chance to read it, but I don't think I'll read it again. :)
December 26, 2018
You can't go wrong with Flat Stanley!
December 23, 2024
Fast paced with a joyful fun adventure to read in the Christmas season.
December 17, 2025
Cute. My children enjoyed reading this one as a family.
March 3, 2017
Such a good book for litter kid's and a good Holiday book.☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
Signed Karrie
Signed Karrie
February 8, 2021
Stanley book five and this time there is a Christmas story, as the title suggests, and it has all the normal Christmas type story shenanigans going on.
This was the last one that the library had of this series, so according to this there is six and one more to go, I'll have to dig it up at some point.
Well I said as I started this I certainly haven't read this before - famous last words of a forgetful old goat. Anyway this was a Christmas story which seemed to be all about Santa without mentioning specifically it was Santa. Do they think there is copyright? Anyway nice ending where generosity is shown and not materially rewarded for once.
This was the last one that the library had of this series, so according to this there is six and one more to go, I'll have to dig it up at some point.
Well I said as I started this I certainly haven't read this before - famous last words of a forgetful old goat. Anyway this was a Christmas story which seemed to be all about Santa without mentioning specifically it was Santa. Do they think there is copyright? Anyway nice ending where generosity is shown and not materially rewarded for once.
December 16, 2010
A lot of times you take a chance with the $1.00 book offers from the Scholastic Book Orders. This book wasn't worth the $1.00. I read it aloud to my 5 year old. I think we were both disappointed to find out Stanley was no longer flat and that Santa is capable of having a bad attitude.
October 21, 2015
I thought how could the character be so flat and still is healthy and doesn't have any broken bones or is even dead.
Read
January 20, 2016AR 3.2
December 30, 2017
It’s two days before Christmas and while Stanley and his younger brother Arthur may be ready, it seems this year, Santa has decided to stay in the North Pole. He feels that people have lost their faith, and just don’t care anymore. Everything is finished and ready to go, so what to do? Sarah Christmas has the idea that if Santa met flat Stanley Lambchop, who had written him an impressive letter after he had been flattened, he just might be able to change Santa’s mind. “Borrowing” Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, Sarah heads off to the Lampchop home and eventually convinces Stanley, Arthur, and Mr. and Mrs. Lampchop to return to the North Pole to try and change Santa’s mind. Will Sarah’s plan work, since Stanley isn’t flat anymore? This was a fun story to revisit. It came out right around the time my Kiddo was learning to read, and she had a cardboard Flat Stanley that we took everywhere, taking his picture each time, as I’m sure many of you have, too. I sent this one to my Kiddo in San Francisco, for old times sake. You can find this Santa Flat Stanley and other templates at the original Flat Stanley Project HERE
December 29, 2018
Santa is in a bad mood. He says he's not working any more because there is no more Christmas spirit, so his daughter seeks out the help of the Lambchop family. The Lambchops travel to the North Pole to help Santa realize there is still some Christmas magic.
I've read a few books in this series, and this is one of my least favorites. Two main reasons I didn't care for it: 1) Stanley isn't flat in it and 2) Santa is a jerk. My son found it entertaining though, so still a good read for fans of the Flat Stanley books.
I've read a few books in this series, and this is one of my least favorites. Two main reasons I didn't care for it: 1) Stanley isn't flat in it and 2) Santa is a jerk. My son found it entertaining though, so still a good read for fans of the Flat Stanley books.
December 3, 2024
“Flat, round, whatever, people must be what shape they wish.”
Flat Stanley has written a letter to Santa, and it was worthy of being framed, but can Stanley live up to the pressure of being a good honest kid with a genuine heart and save Christmas for all kids?
In this book Arthur and the rest of the Lambchop family really shine, not just telling us they support Stanley and believe as he does, but showing us, with the four of them working together to remind readers that even when bad things are happening in the world there is good too, and the good is worth standing up for.
Flat Stanley has written a letter to Santa, and it was worthy of being framed, but can Stanley live up to the pressure of being a good honest kid with a genuine heart and save Christmas for all kids?
In this book Arthur and the rest of the Lambchop family really shine, not just telling us they support Stanley and believe as he does, but showing us, with the four of them working together to remind readers that even when bad things are happening in the world there is good too, and the good is worth standing up for.
December 7, 2019
Yes, this is a kid's book. No I am not a kid. I did pick this up from our little free library for my cousin, then I was told that it is too young for her. So I figured before I took it back for someone else to enjoy, I would try it. It was a really cute book. I like how the whole family was involved and we were introduced to Santa's daughter! If you have a younger child or maybe you just want to feel like a kid again around the holidays, this is a great book to grab.
January 15, 2020
Stanley Lambchop (no longer flat!) meets Santa’s daughter, Sarah Christmas! Santa has a plan to skip Christmas this year, and Sarah believes that Stanley is the only one who might’ve able to cheer him up and get Christmas back on schedule!
I love flat Stanley, but I didn’t feel like this book had the same charm as the original. It’s cute, a quick read, but probably is better left to kids!
I love flat Stanley, but I didn’t feel like this book had the same charm as the original. It’s cute, a quick read, but probably is better left to kids!
June 29, 2021
A cute addition to the Flat Stanley series where the family saves Christmas by having written selfless letters to Santa asking for presents that would help other people instead of themselves, convincing Santa that Christmas is worth continuing. I think young children will love this one, and the books overall.
September 23, 2017
Umm...this book don't make no sense. I can suspend some disbelief for the Flat Stanley series, but...well, the plot, the motivations, the resolutions, the "inception"...did Jeff Brown have a crack-addicted period?
November 15, 2017
Cute Christmas story. I would like to complain that the kids wishlists were a little unrealistic, but it seems silly to complain that part of a book about going to the north pole and meeting Santa is unrealistic...
August 29, 2018
This is a really cute book for the holiday season. It follows Santa's daughter Sarah Claus and how to gets the help of the Lambchop family to help Santa out of his depression. I really thought this was a fun book with lots of cute illustrations. I do recommend this for kids of all ages.
January 1, 2019
My fifth grader called this book “lame,” and I agree with him.
Flat Stanley... when he’s not flat... can be skipped. In fact I only read this to the boys because my son got it for free at an event and he was excited to read it.
Flat Stanley... when he’s not flat... can be skipped. In fact I only read this to the boys because my son got it for free at an event and he was excited to read it.
December 3, 2021
My kids love the original Flat Stanley, but he is not flat here. This is a cheer up Santa and save Christmas story which was fun December reading but disappointing for real fans of the flat adventures.
July 11, 2024
Shamelessly adding books I’ve read to my children to boost my book challenge count this year 😁 Stanley’s not flat in this one! My kids liked that the girl is called Sarah and says “pooh” in exasperation a lot though.
June 9, 2025
Santa has given up on children, who are greedy and have lost faith. His daughter Sarah remembers a letter from Flat Stanley that was meaningful to her father, so she goes to their house to get them, to help convince Santa that there are requests that are thoughtful.
January 6, 2018
امشب مامان همه کتاب رو یکجا قبل خواب برام خوند
چون داستانش درباره سال نو میلادی و بابانوئل بود خیلی برام ملموس نبود ومثل جلدهای قبلی خوشم نیومد ازش
چون داستانش درباره سال نو میلادی و بابانوئل بود خیلی برام ملموس نبود ومثل جلدهای قبلی خوشم نیومد ازش
December 20, 2017
Nice, little Christmas story.
December 25, 2017
Very cute little read! My daughter's teacher gave it her for Christmas and we read it together.
March 11, 2018
Didn't like it quite as much as some of the other Flat Stanley stories we have read in class.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews