The museum was surprised and honoured when Flat Stanley paid a visit in the company of his award -winning promoter Dale Hubert.  Dale and his family were over from Canada holidaying in Scotland and naturally brought Flat Stanley along to see our displays.  Volunteers Alastair Morton and Liz MacConnachie were photographed with Stanley in front of the cross-slab as a record for the Flat Stanley Project web site (www.flatstanley.com).

Flat Stanley originated as the title character of a 1964 children's book by Jeff Brown. The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale, a schoolteacher in London, Ontario, Canada. It is intended to encourage letter-writing by schoolchildren to each other as they document what Flat Stanley has done with them. Dale received the Canadian Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001 for the Flat Stanley Project.

The Project focuses on encouraging and improving literacy and provides an opportunity for students to make connections with those of other member schools who've signed up with the Project. Students start by reading the book and becoming familiar with its story. Then they make paper "Flat Stanleys" and keep a diary for a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley gets involved. Their Flat Stanley and his diary are posted to other people who are asked to treat the figure as a visiting guest and add to his diary, then return them both after a period of time.

For more on this story and to see Dale's photos at GHM please click here.