[PLEASE NOTE: This special edition of The LG Report is part of a class project for the First Grade Class at the School of St. Elizabeth in New Jersey. It's submitted by Abby (that's her standing in front of the school on the right.) Abby is the wonderful daughter of Doreen and Jim, and is a loving big sister to Sophie. She also loves her Uncle LG (when he sends her presents, anyway.) Abby dedicates this blog posting to her teacher, principal and awesome classmates. Adult readers of The LG Report may find this special-edition blog posting to be rather juvenile and pointless. In other words, it's our normal fare!] You may not be familiar with Flat Stanley (click on his name for more info), the main character in a 1964 children's book by Jeff Brown and Scott Nash. It tells the tale of young Stanley Lambchop, a boy who was flattened by a falling bulletin board while sleeping in his bed. However, he made the best of his paper-thin condition by, among other things, sliding under doors to enter rooms, serving as a kite for his brother Arthur, and having himself mailed to friends.
When given this assignment, Abby immediately thought of a someone whose maturity level matches her own: the writer/editor of The LG Report! She promptly mailed Flat Abby to New York City for the first of her many adventures of traveling by mail.
New York is America's largest city, with over 8.3 million (8,300,000) people crammed into 305 square miles. It's made up of five main sections, or boroughs: Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. New York City is home to baseball's World Champion New York Yankees, and other pro teams, such as the Knicks, Rangers and Mets. We'll be nice and count the Mets as a pro team!
Flat Abby's first stop in New York City, sometimes also called "The Big Apple," or "Gotham," was at the New York Athletic Club where she was inducted into the Hall of Fame for being best athlete ever. On paper anyway. Yes, that was a pun kids (we're always cultivating future LG Report readers!)
Next, Flat Abby went outside on Central Park South (also called 59th Street) to hitch a ride on a horse-drawn carriage. These carriages, popular in and around New York's Central Park, are also known as Hansom cabs because they were first designed and patented by Joseph Hansom, an architect in York, England. That was in 1834, long before TV, airplanes, iPods and cell phones. Can you imagine how boring it was back then?! What's your favorite electronic invention kids? Why? Is it this blog? Why not?!
Flat Abby liked the tour of Central Park, but wasn't crazy about the smell of horses. The odor reminded her of her dad Jimmie after he goes for a run. See the horse who needs a haircut in the background on the left? He almost mistook Flat Abby for a carrot and ate her!
Next, Flat Abby walked over to The Plaza, a famous New York hotel. Lots of rich and famous people have stayed here. Have any of you read the story of one of the most famous Plaza guests, Eloise? She was a six-year old girl who lived on "the tippy top" floor of The Plaza with her Nanny, her dog weenie and her turtle Skipperdee. Eloise found a lot of great things to do in The Plaza, all cooked up by author Kay Thompson. Someday you should read Eloise's story, it's a lot of fun for a kid!
Here's a picture of Flat Abby with a poster announcing Eloise's book signing:
The Statue of Liberty was a gift to America in 1886 from the people of France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That's the document that set America free from England. The French were 10 years late in getting it to us, since the actual 100th anniversary was in 1876. That's OK, it was the thought that counts. This is not the actual Statue of Liberty holding Flat Abby, it's just a person dressed like her. The real Statue of Liberty is much bigger. Flat Abby wasn't sure why this kooky person was dressed like this, so she kept walking. Remember: don't talk to strangers kids!.
A little while later, Flat Abby came across a truck that promoted Judaism, that's a type of religion. There are many different religions in the world, and we should be respectful of all of them. To learn more about Judaism, click here. Do you see where it says "Do a Mitzvah Today!' on the truck? See if you can find that. We'll wait....
For Jewish people, a "mitzvah" is an act of kindness. Let's all try to do a mitzvah today, that will make your parents very happy!
Flat Abby wanted to explore Tiffany's, one of New York's most expensive jewelry stores. The LG Report doesn't have that kind of scratch however, so we just kept walking. Besides, Flat Abby is already wearing a very nice necklace from Target.
Flat Abby stopped to try on a winter hat at a New York City street vendor's booth. A "vendor" is someone who sells things. This hat was more in The LG Report's price range than anything at Tiffany's.
Flat Abby's final stop on her whirlwind New York City tour was at Rockefeller Center. That's the famous ice rink in the background, along with the statue of Prometheus. According to Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humans. Despite this great feat, Prometheus wasn't able to get a table at the Rainbow Room, a restaurant at the top of 30 Rockefeller Center. He has to hang out in the cold, watching the ice skaters. Just above and about 30 feet behind Prometheus is the plaza (not visible here) on which the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree stands each December.
So that's it kids, the story of Flat Abby's trip to New York City. We hope you learned a thing or two, and enjoyed seeing some of the sights of Flat Abby's Big Apple adventure.
Remember to study hard, always listen to your teachers and parents, and be good so that some day you'll grow up to have lots of fun adventures, just like our friend Flat Abby!
This was the best post so far! -- Chris
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