Josh Greenhut - Jeff Brown's Flat Stanley - The Flying Chinese Wonders

Read all of Stanley Lambchop’s adventures

by Jeff Brown

Flat Stanley

Stanley and the Magic Lamp

Invisible Stanley

Stanley in Space

Stanley’s Christmas Adventure

Stanley, Flat Again!

And lots of new adventures!

by Sara Pennypacker and Josh Greenhut

Flat Stanley: The Japanese Ninja Surprise

Flat Stanley: The Big Mountain Adventure

Flat Stanley: The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery

Flat Stanley: The Epic Canadian Expedition

Flat Stanley: The Amazing Mexican Secret

Flat Stanley: The African Safari Discovery

Flat Stanley: The Flying Chinese Wonders

Flat Stanley: The Australian Boomerang Bonanza

Flat Stanley: The US Capital Commotion

The Flying Chinese Wonders First published in the United States 2011 as Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures 7: The Flying Chinese Wonders First published in Great Britain 2015 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road London, W11 4AN

Text copyright 2011 by the Trust u/w/o Richard C. Brown a/k/a Jeff Brown f/b/o Duncan Brown

Illustrations copyright 2015 by the Trust u/w/o Richard C. Brown a/k/a Jeff Brown f/b/o Duncan Brown

First e-book edition 2015

ISBN 978 1 7803 1505 8

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Cover

Front series promotional page Read all of Stanley Lambchop’s adventures by Jeff Brown Flat Stanley Stanley and the Magic Lamp Invisible Stanley Stanley in Space Stanley’s Christmas Adventure Stanley, Flat Again! And lots of new adventures! by Sara Pennypacker and Josh Greenhut Flat Stanley: The Japanese Ninja Surprise Flat Stanley: The Big Mountain Adventure Flat Stanley: The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery Flat Stanley: The Epic Canadian Expedition Flat Stanley: The Amazing Mexican Secret Flat Stanley: The African Safari Discovery Flat Stanley: The Flying Chinese Wonders Flat Stanley: The Australian Boomerang Bonanza Flat Stanley: The US Capital Commotion

Title Page

Copyright The Flying Chinese Wonders First published in the United States 2011 as Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures 7: The Flying Chinese Wonders First published in Great Britain 2015 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road London, W11 4AN Text copyright 2011 by the Trust u/w/o Richard C. Brown a/k/a Jeff Brown f/b/o Duncan Brown Illustrations copyright 2015 by the Trust u/w/o Richard C. Brown a/k/a Jeff Brown f/b/o Duncan Brown First e-book edition 2015 ISBN 978 1 7803 1505 8 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

1 Unlucky Day

2 ‘Knee How’

3 Chinese Food

4 Learning to Fly

5 To Beijing

6 The Lucky One

7 In Balance

8 Small Wonders

Back series promotional page

The fact that Stanley Lambchop was flat did not mean he enjoyed being treated like a poster.

Stanley trudged back and forth outside the school auditorium with a giant piece of cardboard taped to the front of his body. It read:

People streamed inside. A beefy boy from Stanley’s class called out, ‘Look, it’s the poster boy for flat kids!’

Stanley grimaced. He hoped no one else would notice him.

‘Well, hello there, Stanley Lambchop!’ It was Doctor Dan, whom Stanley had visited just after he was flattened. It wasn’t long ago that he’d woken up to find that his bulletin board had fallen on him in the middle of the night. ‘Helping out with the big performance, are we? Well, good for you for making positive use of an unusual condition!’

How embarrassing , Stanley thought.

After Doctor Dan left to take his seat, Stanley’s family appeared. ‘My little star!’ squealed his mother, Harriet Lambchop.

Stanley tried to smile as she kissed the edge of his head.

His little brother, Arthur, rolled his eyes. ‘He’s not even in the show, Mum.’

‘Now, Arthur,’ said Mrs Lambchop, ‘those behind the scenes are just as important as those onstage.’

‘And nobody is behind the scenes like our Stanley.’ Mr Lambchop winked. Stanley sighed. He’d always liked being in plays. Now, all anyone wanted him to do was move the sets, because his shape made him hard to see when he crossed the stage.

‘I’m not even moving scenery today,’ Stanley grumbled.

‘Why not?’ asked Mr Lambchop.

‘Are you in charge of the giant pandas?’ said Mrs Lambchop hopefully. ‘They have always been my favourite wonders from China!’

‘No.’ Stanley pouted. ‘There aren’t any pandas. The spotlight blew a fuse, so . . .’ He held up a giant flashlight from behind his poster. ‘I have to hang upside down from the ceiling with this.’

‘Hey, Stanley,’ called his friend Carlos, who lived next door to the Lambchops. ‘Don’t break a leg!’

Stanley’s mother chuckled. ‘He means, “Break a leg,” dear. That’s a common figure of speech in the theatre. It means good luck!’ Harriet Lambchop took great interest in the proper use of the English language.

‘I don’t think so, Mum,’ said Arthur. ‘I think Carlos meant, “Don’t fall from the ceiling and break your leg.”’

‘Be quiet, Arthur,’ huffed Stanley.

Once everyone was seated, Stanley took his place. He hung with his lower body rolled around a bar high over the crowd.

It’s not fair! he thought. Why do I have to save the day any time somebody needs something flat or flexible?