Guest Blogger-- Flat Stanley!

In 1964, a fictional character was born who has grown to national renown. In the original book, by writer Jeff Brown and illustrator Tomi Ungerer, Stanley Lambchop wakes up one morning flattened by his bulletin board. Keeping a positive attitude, Flat Stanley soon discovers advantages to being flat: he can go under door, fly like a kite, and even mail himself to California. Inspired by Flat Stanley's trip to California inside an envelope, Canadian educator Dale Hubert created the Flat Stanley Project for his grade three students and in 1995 put it on the Web. Classrooms around the world exchange cut-out Flat Stanleys and keep journals as a way for kids to learn about other parts of the world. Over the years Flat Stanley has become a pop culture phenomenon as well as an educational tool. He has "met" world leaders such as Bill Clinton, made appearances on television shows such as The West Wing and Jeopardy!, been aboard the U.S. space shuttle Discovery and made trips all over the globe, including to Mt. Everest and the Taj Mahal. On the red carpet at the 2005 Oscar ceremony, actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood flashed a Flat Stanley for photographers... And most recently, Flat Stanley came to visit the Pearsons. So without further ado, I give you guest-blogger Flat Stanley! (No relation to the blog owner's father...)

Hi blog readers! I'm visiting for a couple of weeks with Charlie, Abraham, Joe, and Hannah doing the things they do.

Charlie is a great inventor and adventurer. He and I worked on an invention together the first night we met. It was a little tin steam engine. Then we had a sleepover.

The second day I was here, I went to work with Hannah, Charlie’s mom. She works in  a very tiny library, but a fun one. Hannah let me play hide-n-seek in the books, and then she let me try to drive the bookmobile! Too bad I couldn’t reach the pedals. (I didn't say he could drive. He locked me out when we went down to get a book for a patron. If the police station wasn't two doors from here, I don't know what would've happened! That flat kid is a menace!)

On Saturday, Charlie, Abraham, and their mom took me to McDonald’s for supper, and then we did some shopping at Walmart. I rode around in Hannah’s purse through the store, but she let me go swimming in the fish tanks when no one was looking. Then Charlie, Abe, and I tried out the bikes. I rode with Abe because Charlie goes too fast! I got my picture taken with some Barbie dolls that Hannah thought were funny. Then Charlie and I tried on hats. Isn't he dapper? (On the Flat Stanley website it says to take pictures of him with local landmarks. How's Walmart for a local landmark, eh?)

On Sunday afternoon, all of the Pearsons and I went for a walk in the creek that flows from the Holler Hills to the Licking River. The Licking River had a very bad flood about 12 years ago that put all of Falmouth under at least 10 feet of water! The creek was rushing the day we visited, but it wasn’t that high. We found the ruins of what is often called a “slave wall” down near the creek. Slave walls are walls made of field stone stacked carefully together, and were actually not built by slaves at all, but by Irish immigrants in early Kentucky settlement days.

Next time I visit Kentucky, I want go somewhere besides Walmart. Maybe Natural Bridge or Mammoth Cave or something. (Little complainer. I offered to mail him there, but he said he didn't know anybody. Maybe I should've taken him to Kincaid Lake and shown him the "landmark" golf course.)

Anyway, I had fun with the 'Tuckians even though going to McDonald's is their idea of a special occasion. You should visit sometime!