The tale of "Flat Julie": A 1960's children's book continues to inspire

In 1964, Jeff Brown wrote the children's book, Flat Stanley, about a boy who was flattened by a bulletin board in his sleep. Although Stanley became as flat as a piece of paper, he otherwise escaped unharmed. He used his new-found flatness to do all sorts of things he couldn't do as a normal boy, including traveling by mail.

Here's the tale of "Flat Julie" by Erin Moroney.

My seven year old niece, Julianna, lives over 3000 miles away from me in Framingham, Massachusetts. Her class was assigned a "Flat Stanley" project whereby each student had to send a flat version of themselves by mail to a friend or family member. Living in London, I received "Flat Julie" by post with a letter asking me to "take fun pictures" with her. As an art director and an auntie who misses her niece terribly, I couldn't take this assignment lightly! I carried Flat Julie around with me for months, taking her around London, Sussex and across the US on a shoot. A friend even took her to Tel Aviv. Poor "Flat Julie" became a bit rough around the edges (no amount of lamination could hold up to the miles she clocked), but she had a great time. Her adventures included flying in helicopters over Chicago, Denver and New York, riding the Tube in London, watching Morris dancers at Rye Castle, eating fish and chips at the oldest pub in England, taking high tea in PIccadilly, and visiting the Empire State Building in NYC. After these grand excursions, I visited Julianna this summer in Boston, and now "Flat Julie" has seen her first Red Sox game at Fenway! Who knows what's ahead!

"Flat Julie" is now back at home with Julianna and I miss them both!

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