My cousin called me from Alberta the other day to ask if I would participate in his son Jakob’s grade 1 school project. It required me to respond to a letter from Jakob, which I would receive in the mail.
When the letter arrived, inside was paper cut-out of a young boy, hand-drawn and coloured by Jakob. There was also a note from the teacher explaining that the kids had just read a chapter book called Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. Apparently young Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board while sleeping. As a result he can travel easily from place to place and he has come to Vancouver for a one week visit.
Instructions from Jakob said to take Flat Stanley to “the park” and to include a letter telling what we did:
Dear Jakob:
Flat Stanley and I had a really nice visit in Vancouver.
We went to Stanley Park to see the ducks and swans at Lost Lagoon. We even saw some turtles sunning themselves on the rocks.
The next day we ate hot dogs for lunch and then we went to the aquarium to watch the whales. On the way home we passed the totem poles where some raccoons hissed at us.
That night, after eating at the Macaroni Grill, we almost got sprayed by a really smelly skunk!
I told Flat Stanley if he comes back in the summer we’ll go for a swim at Second Beach pool.
Love ‘Uncle’ Rob
