(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintaun. Written by Kate Egan. Flat Stanley and his family travel to London to help Scotland Yard find a ring missing from the Crown Jewels. The facile mystery plot ties in a shallow introduction to London's culture and a few tourist sights. (Oddly, the royal family is completely fictitious.) Digital illustrations of landmarks provide context. The fourteenth mildly amusing adventure should please Flat Stanley fans. England facts are appended.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. In addition to the original Flat Stanley story, this compilation includes Stanley, Flat Again!; Stanley in Space; and Stanley and the Magic Lamp. All four books were published in paperback in 2009 with Pamintuan's then-new illustrations. For libraries looking to replace their old copies, this sturdy paper-over-board edition will be welcome.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Lori Haskins Houran. On vacation, Flat Stanley and his brother discover a sunken ship while snorkeling. "In the middle of the wreck sat a chest of gleaming gold!" Stanley attempts to bring a gold bar up to prove their find but must leave it behind to save a trapped dolphin. Accompanied by the series' cartoony illustrations, this easy-to-read story is mildly suspenseful.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Lori Haskins Houran. In this episode, Flat Stanley and his brother, Arthur, help Pete the baker win back customers when a neighboring town's bakery lures business away. As in the previous books, the plot hinges on Stanley's lack of depth; here, Stanley's contributions are mostly accidental rather than purposeful. Cartoonish illustrations accompany the accessible and mildly diverting text.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Lori Haskins Houran. In this episode, Flat Stanley skates on thin ice--literally. Due to his low body mass, Stanley has an advantage on the skating pond, but when the ice begins to break up, he's trapped. Unlike the previous books, where the plots hinge on Stanley's flatness, brother Arthur is the one to save the day and Stanley. Cartoony illustrations accompany the accessible if not-particularly-engaging text.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by John Greenhut. Flat Stanley continues his travels by visiting Texas. After promising to be prompt in meeting his mother at the Alamo, Stanley and three companions explore the area; they incur various adventures and arrive late at the rendezvous. Stanley fears a showdown with his mother, but the day is saved by the arrival of his friend, Calamity Jasper. Cartoonish drawings accompany the slight, mildly diverting story.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Josh Greenhut. In installments eleven and twelve, Stanley continues to travel around the world saving the day. The two-dimensional hero catches a thief at the Louvre by posing as a painting and he helps a daredevil friend escape from Alcatraz in California. The slim standalone plot lines are laid out in short action-packed chapters that incorporate some general cultural markers. Cartoonish illustrations appear throughout. Review covers these Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures titles: Escape to California and Framed in France.

Reviewer:

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Pamintuan Macky. Written by Lori Haskins Houran. Flat Stanley agrees to let his brother bring him for show-and-tell--because Stanley's good at wiggling his ears. As in the previous books, Stanley's lack of depth saves the day. Accompanied by pedestrian illustrations, the story has a whiff of tension and an accessible text. There's an alluded-to "real reason Stanley was going to Show-and-Tell," but it's not clarified.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Pamintuan Macky. Written by Josh Greenhut. In installments eleven and twelve, Stanley continues to travel around the world saving the day. The two-dimensional hero catches a thief at the Louvre by posing as a painting and he helps a daredevil friend escape from Alcatraz in California. The slim standalone plot lines are laid out in short action-packed chapters that incorporate some general cultural markers. Cartoonish illustrations appear throughout. Review covers these Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures titles: Escape to California and Framed in France.

Reviewer:

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Josh Greenhut. When Flat Stanley, in Washington, DC, to receive the National Medal of Achievement, mistakes his security detail for kidnappers, he sets off a chase around DC's many monuments. The story is more message-y than amusing, but series fans won't care. Cartoonish illustrations appear throughout.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Lori Haskins Houran. Flat Stanley Lambchop returns in his third easy-reader adventure, a baseball game. But are flat players allowed? Do they have an unfair advantage in center field? Stanley good-naturedly proves that whether he's flat or stuffed with Mom's clean laundry, he's an asset to the team. Beginning readers will enjoy this amusing Stanley story. The cartoony illustrations are bland but clear.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Flat Stanley and his brother have a blast surfing and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef after winning a trip to the land down under. But when the siblings fashion Stanley into a boomerang, a gust of wind blows him deep into the Outback. This mildly amusing adventure will please fans of the series. Cartoonish drawings appear throughout.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Josh Greenhut. Flat Stanley, his father, and younger brother head to Tanzania after reading about the discovery of a flat skull they hope will shed light on Stanley's condition. Disappointingly, the relic is a fish, but the Lambchop boys have the vacation of a lifetime regardless. Stanley's latest escapade is slightly less amusing than previous ones; per usual, cartoonish drawings add some humor.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Josh Greenhunt. Stanley Lambchop's mother mails him to Mexico to retrieve a secret seasoning ingredient from their friend Carlos's abuela. Once there, Stanley outwits a band of spies hot on the trail of the same spice. Despite some stereotypical elements, many readers will find Stanley's escapades amusing. Black-and-white drawings decorate every chapter.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Sara Pennypacker. These brief chapter books find our hero using his state of flatness to rescue his friend from a rockslide at Mount Rushmore and to foil tomb raiders in Egypt. With their breezy "Oh, golly" tone and broad humor (also apparent in the black-and white cartoons) deftly mimicking the originals, these geography-themed books will likely be popular with kids and social studies teachers. Review covers these Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures titles: The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery and The Mount Rushmore Calamity.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures series. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Written by Sara Pennypacker. These brief chapter books find our hero using his state of flatness to rescue his friend from a rockslide at Mount Rushmore and to foil tomb raiders in Egypt. With their breezy "Oh, golly" tone and broad humor (also apparent in the black-and white cartoons) deftly mimicking the originals, these geography-themed books will likely be popular with kids and social studies teachers. Review covers these Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures titles: The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery and The Mount Rushmore Calamity.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Scott Nash. When Stanley gets hit on the back and on his shoulder simultaneously, he becomes flat again in this latest book about his adventures. This time Stanley stands in for a spinnaker in a sailboat race and squeezes through the tight spaces of a collapsed building to rescue a classmate. The understated humor of the preposterous situations and Nash's black-and-white art will amuse Stanley fans.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Scott Nash. Formerly flat Stanley Lambchop and family visit "Snow City" to persuade a jaded Santa to deliver presents on Christmas Eve despite the greedy letters he receives and the violence and inhumanity he sees on television. Peppy writing, humorous characterizations, and a modernized North Pole setting--all reinforced in the cartoony new illustrations--lighten the serious subtext.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano