Flat Stanley and the Haunted House

Flat Stanley - I Can Read! (Level 2)

by Jeff Brown, Macky Pamintuan (Illustrator)

Stanley can't wait for the Halloween party at school. But when a bully picks on his friend, Stanley saves the day in no time flat in this Flat Stanley I Can Read adventure! The Lambchops are ready to be spooked at a Halloween party! Arthur is excited for the haunted house, and Stanley wants to show off his limbo moves. But when they see a bully picking on their friend at the party, the boys know that they have to help. Soon Stanley comes up with a plan that is flat-out hilarious! Flat Stanley and the Haunted House is a Level Two I Can Read book, geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help. Whether shared at home or in a classroom, the engaging stories, longer sentences, and language play of Level Two books are proven to help kids take their next steps toward reading success.

Genres: Halloween, Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Audiobook, Holiday, Own

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading program for the summer. Good book for a going into 1st grade age group. Some words can be a little challenging but challenge is good.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book at chistmas for some reason. 📚🌟

[Poppy Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also a very good book I would recommend it to little children if they like flat Stanley books

[Nancy (Colorado) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read for my classroom library. Compared to the original this one is just "dumb."

[Ms. Layton + the Fearless Leaders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated it a 5 because it's a little bit scary, just a little bit. It's also funny because when the boy screamed, it was funny. - BPP

In my opinion, I rated it a 4 because it wasn't that interesting, and it wasn't really interesting, but it was a little interesting. -AW

I rated it a 4 because I liked the pictures and the drawings, but it sounds kind of boring for some reason and not scary that much. - YMP

I give it a 3 because it was funny, and it was in the middle interesting. I liked the part where they had to both get in the same costume and Stanley had to pretend to not blink, and they scared the bully. That was nice. - KE

Is it comfortable to be flat? Don't people judge you because you're really flat? - JS

I rated it a 1 because it felt a little bit sad because somebody losing their stuff, but then I rated it a 4 because they helped the friend get his giant candy corn back by scaring the bully. - SA

To me, it was short and a little bit interesting. - EAV

To me, it was entertaining, and I would definitely read it again. - AM

[Darin Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flat Stanley and family head off to the "scary" haunted house at school. While the scary part was missing, what he and his brother, Arthur, did was scare a bully into giving up a giant piece of candy corn. It belonged to a friend named Martin who'd won it at the limbo contest. Stanely and Arthur pretended to be a two headed monster, and when you've got a brother who's literally flat, you can pull these things off!

I gave this three stars as I've wasn't hugely interested as I was reading. The characters seem a bit, flat, and the plot was a bit too predictable for my blood!

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stanley is excited to go with his family to a Halloween party at his school. Stanley and his brother are disappointed by the haunted house, but they manage to work some fright into the night on their own, by scaring away a bully who's stealing candy from little kids!

This will be great for kids just starting to read on their own. I appreciate that the story shows brothers getting along and helping out another kid together. It's nice to have books featuring siblings that aren't at each other's throats.

[AllyP Reads Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the last Flat Stanley book I read. Although I do have trouble believing that this haunted house would only feature a ghost and a werewolf standing right next to each other. The way they handled the bully was good even though they could have just gone to get one of the multiple adults at the event.

[Steve Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Flat Stanley series is quite silly, and has never been a favorite of mine. They do provide some good teaching examples, and this one fits a theme. We've had this on the shelf, and I've noticed some interest.

[Sangeetha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read by my 6 year old:

A short story that can be read in 15 minutes.
Stanley and Arthur go to a Halloween party. The story is about how they tackle a bully creatively by using Stanley's flat body as a strength.

[Alana Bursey · Rating 3 out of 5]

We found these books a little harder for our young readers than we expected. Still enjoy the idea of Flat Stanley, but the books feel a bit repetitive. They are not books the students read again and again.

[Egallagher2016gmail.Com · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that they went into a huanted house and a ghost and werewolf popped up. But, the book didn't interest me very much. It wasn't spooky enough.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I "like" this book only in that William can read it to me, and I'm so proud of him!

October 2017

[Whitney Leanhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty unique. It talks about Stanley going to the haunted house at school but then scares a bully out of giving him candy. This turn of events has a meaning behind it.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

With student

[Lisa Attea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the story!!!

I like the candy corn and a giant candy corn and I like costumes were wearing in the story in the story thank you

[Tripp Kastroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was awesome!

I liked how hid dad reacted at the end of the book. It was great to read with my dad.

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

spooky, i read 2 from Jeff last night, fun illustrations. great style

[Ralph Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should get your money for this than I would need a new game

[Tammy Conatser · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy a cute story for a young audience in between my books but this to me just didn't make any sense unfortunately

[Diressa Belcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stanley has been flat every since a bulletin board fell on him. He like to be flat. He is able to dodge ball and he is an excellent limbo player. His school was having a Halloween Parry. HE dressed as a doughnut. His younger brother, Arthur, dressed as a monster. The boys went inside the haunted house at the party. The Haunted House was not scary at all. When the boys left the Haunted House they saw their friend Martin crying. They asked him what was wrong. He said the school bully stole his giant candy corn. Arthur and Stanley devised a plan. Stanley placed himself inside of Artur's costume. They confronted the bully and Arthur told him he was a two headed monster. The bully ran off screaming. Martin revived his candy corn. Stanley's parents were proud of the boys' bravery!

This book has a weird plot. I would have liked for the author to tell a bit more about Stanley. Also Arthur's placement in the story is weird.

In terms of literacy, the story can be used as a tool for characterization. Students may describe the parents, Arthur, Stanley, Martin and the Bully. Students may write a poem about their favorite costume. Students may describe the sequence of events in the story. Additionally students may write an alternative ending to the story. Students may look for unfamiliar vocabulary words in the story.

This story is a great tool to talk about the negative effects of bullying.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flat Stanley is a boy who was flattened by a bulletin board. He uses his flatness to his advantage and has all kinds of fun. When a bully takes candy from a friend at the school Halloween party, Stanley and his brother teach the bully a lesson in a comical way using Stanley’s flatness. This book is good for children just learning to read on their own. All of the sentences have less than twelve words with no line having more than seven words. Most of the text is black and set in 18-point font on a light or white background which is easier for little ones to comprehend. Although the mother is annoying, and the story is boring and not very believable, kids will most likely enjoy seeing Stanley and his brother teach the bully a lesson. The cartoon illustrations are colorful and follow right along with the story.

[Samantha Ponting · Rating 4 out of 5]

One aspect about the Flat Stanley series I really like is that even though Stanley is different than everyone else, he still has friends and a lot of fun. I think this is very important to stress with children, different doesn’t mean wrong or bad.

This particular book goes one step further and addresses bullying. There is a haunted house party at the school and a bully picks on a smaller boy and Stanley and his brother come to the rescue. Books like this can really help students understand that if you are being bullied it is ok to tell someone and that it is not ok to be a bully.

[Stuti Puranik]

Flat Stanley and his brother were going for halloween and they got all their candies. Then they entered the haunted house and then they saw so many scary things but they didn't get scared. Then their neighbor was sad. So they went to see what happened and asked him what happened. Next their friend told that the bully stole his candy from the contest. So they decided a plan and the plan was that Flat Stanley told that make some space in your costume brother. Then he went inside his costume and looked like there were 2 monsters and Stanley did not blink. The bully

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horn Book (Spring 2011)

Written by Lori Haskins Houran. Flat Stanley and brother Arthur are excited about their school's Halloween party. The haunted house isn't very scary, but the bully who stole their neighbor's limbo prize is, so the brothers decide to give him the scare of his life. Somewhat gaudy digital-looking illustrations and a story nearly as flat as its protagonist don't do this classic character any favors.

[Jennie Park]

This is a easy read and appropriate for all elementary students. It has a great message about standing up for your friends who might be bullied or taken advantage of. Another great read-a-loud for younger students if there ever were an incident in your class with bullying. Even if there was no incident, it would be a great story to read to reiterate appropriate behavior.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lambchops can't wait to be spooked at a Halloween party!

Arthur is excited for the haunted house, and Stanley wants to show off his limbo moves. But when they see a bully picking on their friend at the party, the boys know that they have to help. Soon, Stanley comes up with a plan that is flat-out hilarious!

[Earline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this Reader version of Flat Stanley would be a good introduction to the character.. but I was very disappointed. The story only had one page about the Haunted House and I didn't like how the side-story about the bully was tacked on. I will try the Flat Stanley chapter books next and hope they are more impressive.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd heard of this series and wanted to check it out, so this was our first taste and it was OK. My 5 y.o son loved it, but I didn't understand the hubbub over the series- this is obviously not the original story. He loved reading it himself, though, so a plus there.

[Gala · Rating 5 out of 5]

My nephew who is five years old tried to read this book to me. It was a fun story about a boy who was flat as a pancake. He had a brother who was not flat. They went to the hunted house party and their was a bully that was taught a lesson by flat Stanley and his brother.