Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: The Mount Rushmore Calamity. Pennypaker, Sara (author). Pamintuan, Macky (illustrator). (2009). New York, NY: Harper Collins. 71 pages. ISBN: 978-0-06-142991-0.
Fiction: Paperback Series: Ages 6 to 10
Setting:
The novel takes place at Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Plot:
The Lambchop family is taking a vacation to Mount Rushmore. They are excited to camp and enjoy the scenery. When Stanley's little brother, Arthur, stands to close to the edge, a crack appears in Lincoln's forehead. Stanley acts as a bridge to get Arthur to safety and hold the piece in place until repairs can be made. He is a hero and featured in the local newspapers. Arthur is getting tired of all the attention Stanley is receiving, and is relieved when they meet a new friend. Calamity Jasper is a Lakota cowgirl on the hunt for gold, and the boys go with her on an adventure. After a 'cave in' they are almost trapped but Stanley and Arthur save Calamity who decides that the 'city slickers' aren't so bad after all.
The Lambchop family is taking a vacation to Mount Rushmore. They are excited to camp and enjoy the scenery. When Stanley's little brother, Arthur, stands to close to the edge, a crack appears in Lincoln's forehead. Stanley acts as a bridge to get Arthur to safety and hold the piece in place until repairs can be made. He is a hero and featured in the local newspapers. Arthur is getting tired of all the attention Stanley is receiving, and is relieved when they meet a new friend. Calamity Jasper is a Lakota cowgirl on the hunt for gold, and the boys go with her on an adventure. After a 'cave in' they are almost trapped but Stanley and Arthur save Calamity who decides that the 'city slickers' aren't so bad after all.
Author/Illustrator:
The author's style is slightly unappealing. She has the mother of the two boys constantly inserting things like, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day", and "it's may not can", and mentioning the importance of obeying the local speed limits. These 'lessons' don't occur naturally in the story, but seemed forced. A Kirkus Review of the story explains some of this away by stating that, "a most felicitous use of language mimics (and oh-so-gently mocks) the ingenuous, gee-whiz tone of the original." Young readers today are so savvy, that they may not buy into the series if they feel the writing is low quality. The illustrations are well done and add to the story. There are smaller drawings throughout the story, with a few full page drawings that depict key events for the reader.
The author's style is slightly unappealing. She has the mother of the two boys constantly inserting things like, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day", and "it's may not can", and mentioning the importance of obeying the local speed limits. These 'lessons' don't occur naturally in the story, but seemed forced. A Kirkus Review of the story explains some of this away by stating that, "a most felicitous use of language mimics (and oh-so-gently mocks) the ingenuous, gee-whiz tone of the original." Young readers today are so savvy, that they may not buy into the series if they feel the writing is low quality. The illustrations are well done and add to the story. There are smaller drawings throughout the story, with a few full page drawings that depict key events for the reader.
Classroom Tie-ins:
I wouldn't recommend using this book in the classroom, or even have it available in the classroom or school library. It is culturally insensitive to the Native people of the Black Hills region. It is almost as if the author did the bare minimum of research necessary. The blog, American Indians in Children's Literature, points of some of the specificities of where the author went wrong. Debbie Reese writes, that Calamity Jasper is "part Lakota Sioux. In addition to knowing "useful things" about plants and hunting (can you say STEREOTYPE?), she knows how to send smoke signals (come on, say it again: STEREOTYPE). Course, because Stanley is FLAT, they use him as the blanket to send those smoke signals." She goes on to write that portraying a Lakota person as a gold miner is problematic. The Gold Rush in the Black Hills lead to the United State's government to take military action against the Sioux people who had been promised that land by treaty. They refused to give it up because they considered it sacred. No self respecting Lakota person would ever mine for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
I wouldn't recommend using this book in the classroom, or even have it available in the classroom or school library. It is culturally insensitive to the Native people of the Black Hills region. It is almost as if the author did the bare minimum of research necessary. The blog, American Indians in Children's Literature, points of some of the specificities of where the author went wrong. Debbie Reese writes, that Calamity Jasper is "part Lakota Sioux. In addition to knowing "useful things" about plants and hunting (can you say STEREOTYPE?), she knows how to send smoke signals (come on, say it again: STEREOTYPE). Course, because Stanley is FLAT, they use him as the blanket to send those smoke signals." She goes on to write that portraying a Lakota person as a gold miner is problematic. The Gold Rush in the Black Hills lead to the United State's government to take military action against the Sioux people who had been promised that land by treaty. They refused to give it up because they considered it sacred. No self respecting Lakota person would ever mine for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Personal Response:
This was my least favorite of the books I chose to review for this assignment. That was before I had even read the blog mentioned above. I thought it was poorly written, and it felt didactic compared to most literature written for children today. When I realized that Flat Stanley was originally published in 1969, I thought these chapter books came soon after and that explained the poor writing style and lack of cultural sensitivity, but this books was published in 2009. Seeing that this is a first in a series, I don't hold out much hope for the stories that follow.
This was my least favorite of the books I chose to review for this assignment. That was before I had even read the blog mentioned above. I thought it was poorly written, and it felt didactic compared to most literature written for children today. When I realized that Flat Stanley was originally published in 1969, I thought these chapter books came soon after and that explained the poor writing style and lack of cultural sensitivity, but this books was published in 2009. Seeing that this is a first in a series, I don't hold out much hope for the stories that follow.
Resources:
Kirkus Reviews. (2009, April 15). [Review of the book Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures: The Calamity at Mount Rushmore by Sara Pennypacker]. Retrieved from:
Reese, D. (2013). Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: The Mount Rushmore Calamity. American Indians in Children's Literature. Retrieved May 4, 2013 from: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/search?q=flat+stanley
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