The Yellow Story Book

Discuss Blyton's magazines, short stories and poetry here.
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pete9012S
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The Yellow Story Book

Post by pete9012S »

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The Yellow Story Book - The Two Runaways

http://share.pho.to/Ac0zR" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I had to come of of retirement to thank Rob profusely for recommending this particular story.
Although short,it is moving.The rest of the book is very enjoyable too.
Definitely worth the £1 I paid for it.

Did Rob mention he wrote about this story or the Yellow Story Book for The Journal or am I mistaken?
I had a good look through Lenoir's index but couldn't find any reference?

The info about the book in the Cave:
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... Story+Book" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Rob Houghton »

Glad you liked the story, Pete! I must admit I read it again the other day (I'm rereading the hardback version)and was surprised how short The Two Runaways was - but I agree its an emotional story and a bit different as Enid Blyton stories go. I must admit on my first reading I didn't see the twist at the end coming until it happened!

I also love a story called The Enchanted Book - it has a strange feel to it - almost like a folk tale - and quite a few of the other stories in this book also have a feel to them that is not quite the Enid Blyton that we are used to. I like that surprising freshness to this collection!

I didn't write about the short story or The Yellow Story Book in a Journal - just on the thread about our favourite short stories, I think. :-D
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I have a feeling you might have written about it in a letter for an early Journal, Rob, which is why it wouldn't be possible to locate it using Lenoir's index. I seem to remember you saying that 'The Two Runaways' felt different because of the style and mature/emotional content and that you wondered whether Gillian might have written it. There was a comment from Tony beneath, saying something like it was an interesting theory and maybe Gillian would respond.

I agree that The Yellow Story Book is a great collection of tales, though some are missing from my paperback. 'The Enchanted Book' is my favourite as it's captivating but a little creepy and makes the reader think. I also particularly like 'The Two Runaways', 'The Surprising Sister' and '"My Goodness!"'
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Rob Houghton »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:I have a feeling you might have written about it in a letter for an early Journal, Rob, which is why it wouldn't be possible to locate it using Lenoir's index. I seem to remember you saying that 'The Two Runaways' felt different because of the style and mature/emotional content and that you wondered whether Gillian might have written it. There was a comment from Tony beneath, saying something like it was an interesting theory and maybe Gillian would respond.'
I bow to your better memory, Anita, as I don't recall this, but it might well be the case! I know I once suggested that Gillian had maybe written the original version of 'The Adventure of the Strange Ruby'. I don't recall having a letter in the Journal...but perhaps I did back in the early days. Must be getting old, lol! :oops:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I don't remember this reply to the letter at all, but in retrospect I would say that I am sure Gillian didn't write it. I think there is a much simpler explanation as to why it appears different. It was written for a publication called Time and Tide. I have never seen this which is why it is not in our periodical section, but I would imagine that it was a magazine aimed at adults, which might explain why 'The Two Runaways' feels different to the other stories in the book.
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Rob Houghton »

I feel sure I never suggested this was written by Gillian...but maybe I did, once upon a time! I certainly would still suggest the main contender for not being a Blyton story is Strange Ruby' - even though I don't mention this in my article! ;-)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by sixret »

Thank you, Pete. I also have a feeling that Rob might have written a comment somewhere in the journal(or was it in this forum?- but I am very sure, it was Rob's) about The Two Runaways( or was it The Strange Ruby?). I bought the whole lot of back issues journals in 2015. I read them back to back. But it's a hazy memory.
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Rob Houghton »

well, if it was in a letter in The Journal, that cuts things down quite a bit, as there haven't been letter pages in The Journal for quite some time, and I didn't subscribe until 1999 and didn't read The Yellow Story Book till maybe 2001 - 2002... 8)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Rob Houghton »

Update

Those who remembered this were right! Tony didn't quite give the answer people seem to recall...but he did answer my letter, and my letter did suggest Gillian wrote the short story.

Its interesting how our opinions change, as I no longer feel this at all - its definitely a Blyton story - though written for an older audience, as it featured in 'Time And Tide Magazine.

For those who have back-issues of The Journal and wish to read my letter, its in Journal 19 (Winter 2002) on page 56. :-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by sixret »

Thank you for confirming my hazy memory.
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Rob Houghton wrote:For those who have back-issues of The Journal and wish to read my letter, its in Journal 19 (Winter 2002) on page 56. :-D
Thanks for the chapter and verse on that letter, Rob, I have just read that page again. I am lucky that I have the full Journal archive on my computer so I don't ever have to trawl through endless magazines - my copies stay firmly shut away in a drawer.

Those were the pre-website days, when I actually got letters so it was worth having a page in the Journal, but I don't get letters any more which is the reason it no longer exists, despite appeals occasionally coming to have the page re-instated! Gillian never did throw the flame-thrower as I suggested, but I don't think that she often read the Journal - I asked her a question about something in the Journal once and she admitted that it had gone straight into the recycling bin unopened with all the rest of her junk mail! :D
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by pete9012S »

Rob Houghton wrote:Update
For those who have back-issues of The Journal and wish to read my letter, its in Journal 19 (Winter 2002) on page 56. :-D
Thanks for the updates from Rob & Tony.
I will search out my copy of Journal 19.
Would it be possible to scan that letter and include it here?
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I can't scan it I'm afraid as I have nothing to scan, but I can copy and paste it from my Journal archive (I hope!).

Robert Houghton: I thought I would write to you with a rather silly query, or maybe its really more of an observation. Recently I have been reading through The Yellow Story Book (which I hadn’t read before, and think is probably one of Enid's best collections of short stories). I read one very nice story called 'The Two Runaways', and it’s this story that set me thinking. 'The Two Runaways' is one of the shortest stories in the book. It seems to deal with more adult themes than any of the other stories, and seems to have been written for an older age group. In short, it seems somewhat out of place in The Yellow Story Book. It made me wonder when reading it, if it could possibly have been written by someone else!! I know Enid was often accused of having shadow writers, but in this case I really wondered if it could be so. Maybe even Gillian wrote it and her mother included it in the anthology?! Right from the start, the story is written in a style I haven’t seen Enid use before. Although there are several 'Blyton' words in the text, the sentence structure and the flow of the story seem quite different. Perhaps it is just my imagination, but the story seems to 'stick out' from the others in the book and really doesn’t seem to fit! I wondered what you might think? I would be interested to know - even if I'm shot down in flames. Whatever, I think it is definitely one of the best stories I've read of Enid’s.

Tony replies: I’ll let Gillian handle the flame-thrower, if she reads this! A possible explanation to your astute observation might be that all the stories in The Yellow Story Book are taken from Sunny Stories except ‘The Two Runaways’, which was originally written for Time and Tide.
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Thanks for finding/copying the letter, Rob and Tony! It's interesting that 'The Two Runaways' was written for Time and Tide. There's a Wikipedia page about Time and Tide, which appears to have changed direction several times over the years. Apparently, it started off in 1920 as a weekly political and literary review magazine supporting left wing and feminist causes. Later, it moved to the right politically. During the 1960s it became a political news-magazine with a Christian flavour. In 1970 it became a monthly publication and it closed in 1979. Contributors included Nancy Astor, Robert Graves, D. H. Lawrence, C. S. Lewis, George Orwell, Emmeline Pankhurst, George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_Tide_(magazine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
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Re: The Yellow Story Book

Post by pete9012S »

Thanks for posting Rob's question Tony.
I tend to agree with Rob's initial thoughts; the story's style seems a little different from Enid's usual output.
I did wonder what year exactly it was first written?

Many thanks for your input and the above link too Anita.
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