Journal 60

[Lucky Star]

Just got in from a particularly rotten day at work to find it on the mat. Cheered me up no end.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Sorry you had a bad day at work, John (Lucky Star). Hope you have a relaxing evening.

Just scanning through Anita's article, I was interested to read of her theories regards that mysterious anonymous Dean illustrator. I wondered if it was maybe Dorothy Hall a few months ago, when I compared her illustrations in the book 'Enid Blyton Story Book For Fives to Sevens' with the Galliano and Happy House illustrations in the Dean books. They are very, very similar in style.

That's interesting, Rob. I see from the Cave that The Enid Blyton Storybook for Fives to Sevens contains several tales from Stories for Monday (and Stories for Tuesday, which I've never seen).

Compare the illustrations on the Contents page too, Rob, as I also think that the Galliano ones are by Dorothy Hall after looking at those.

Looking at the Contents page, the picture of the boy with the dog is indeed very much like some of the illustrations of children and dogs in the Dean & Son Galliano's Circus series.

[Rob Houghton]

Here are a few photos from 'Story Book For Fives To Sevens' - maybe they are indeed the same as for 'Stories For Monday' -







I presume these are drawn by Dorothy Hall...and she is credited along with another illustrator - 'Grace Shelton' - the illustrator, I presume, of the second volume, 'Stories For Tuesday' - as 'Grace Shelton' has illustrated the stories in the second half of the book only. By the way - Grace Shelton isn't actually Grace Shelton - I can recognise the illustration style straight away - Grace Lodge. Why was she named Shelton? Was this a printing error?!

[Julie2owlsdene]

Lovely illustrations.

[Rob Houghton]

I think it's easy to see the similarities between these illustrations above and those in the Dean books of Mr Galliano etc, especially the girl in the first illustration above.

[Tony Summerfield]

By the way - Grace Shelton isn't actually Grace Shelton - I can recognise the illustration style straight away - Grace Lodge. Why was she named Shelton? Was this a printing error?!

If you look back at Journal 39, Rob, you will see the answer to your question!

[pete9012S]

Just re-subscribed to the Journal.
I have also just read the entire Journal from cover to cover as my Wife was very late getting out of work tonight.

I won't spoil it for anyone else,but I thoroughly enjoyed every single article -such a variety.

I feel a bit guilty now,reading something so quickly that has taken so long to put together!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Never mind, Pete. You can always read it again - and of course it'll be there to refer to in the years to come.

My Stories for Monday isn't easy to get at, Rob (despite today being a Monday!), as it's now sitting on the back row of a double row of books in a bookcase which is hard to open! However, the illustrations are certainly in that style although your book contains stories from elsewhere too.

By the way - Grace Shelton isn't actually Grace Shelton - I can recognise the illustration style straight away - Grace Lodge. Why was she named Shelton? Was this a printing error?!

If you look back at Journal 39, Rob, you will see the answer to your question!

Yes, I remember the very interesting article by Grace Lodge's son, Derek Shelton.

[Eddie Muir]

I've read the latest Journal from cover to cover this evening, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. Many thanks to Tony and all the contributors for another great edition.

[Rob Houghton]

By the way - Grace Shelton isn't actually Grace Shelton - I can recognise the illustration style straight away - Grace Lodge. Why was she named Shelton? Was this a printing error?!

If you look back at Journal 39, Rob, you will see the answer to your question!

Thanks for the heads-up! Looking at Journal 39, I see it was from Summer 2009 - and I don't remember ever reading it - certainly don't remember the Grace Lodge article, and that's amazing because she's my favourite EB artist. Looking through the Journal for Summer 2009 I don't even remember my article and the illustrations used. I probably didn't look through this Journal very much if at all, because my mom died in the July of 2009 and my dad and myself were nursing her - not a pleasant time for us.

So the upside of the situation is that I have another Journal to read!

I was surprised that Grace Lodge is credited as 'Grace Shelton' for the internal illustrations of 'Storybook For Five's to Sevens' but as 'Grace Lodge' for the cover - strange! I know the article in number 39 says she sometimes signed herself 'Grace Shelton' so I guess that proves that she did the cover at a later date.

[Nick]

The journal is always very welcome but this latest edition was, for me, by far the best journal yet. I can't pick out a single article as a favourite as all were superb and I really do enjoy feading articles on books and stories that I've not encountered.

Many thanks to all of you that contributed for a superb read.

[Courtenay]

and I really do enjoy feading articles on books and stories that I've not encountered.

Ah, now there's something I'm in two minds about, so to speak. I also enjoy articles (and forum discussions!) that tip me off as to books or stories I haven't read before and might like to track down. But the thing I'm most wary of comes up all too frequently in EBS Journal articles (and in threads here as well)... SPOILERS.

I realise, of course, it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for article writers in most cases. There are always going to be Journal readers who have read the book(s) in question and those who haven't. And in discussing any book or story at more than blurb length, one has to give away at least some of the plot. I guess it's a real balancing act to work out how much is too much. But it does mean I sometimes deliberately avoid reading certain Journal articles if I haven't read the book(s) yet and I'm interested in doing so.

There's another thing that bugs me about certain articles — and this is not aimed at any particular writer, nor at anything in the current Journal (which I haven't read fully yet), but just something I've noticed at times over previous issues. I don't quite see the value in articles that do nothing but give a précis of all the books in a series or all the short stories about some particular character(s), without any deeper analysis or the writer's own thoughts on those stories and why they're memorable and worth reading. Articles like that leave me thinking "Thanks, but I'd rather just read what Enid wrote, not someone else's retelling of what she wrote."

[Rob Houghton]

I agree. I always try not to just summarise the plot...but it's easy to get into that habit. I might have the advantage as I've written a lot of essays in the past, lol!

I also agree with you about 'SPOILERS, Courtenay - even though I know we've maybe not always agreed about them in the past! I agree, too, that it's a 'balancing act' between pleasing people who have read the story and attracting people who haven't. I'm afraid I always have to assume my readers have read the book I'm dissecting, otherwise I'd be afraid of revealing any aspect of the plot!

I find it very difficult to know what a spoiler is - because if I'd never read, for example, The Railway Children, would I even want to hear that the children's father gets sent to prison, or that they befriend Perks, or that the 'hare' gets injured in the railway tunnel, or that the children save the train from a landslide etc? All of these things could be classed as spoilers...so I tend to just write as if everyone has already read the book, hoping that if they haven't, they either don't mind spoilers or will choose not to read my article!

[Courtenay]

I find it very difficult to know what a spoiler is - because if I'd never read, for example, The Railway Children, would I even want to hear that the children's father gets sent to prison...

Oh, you've just reminded me of the worst spoiler I ever had. I was probably about 9 or so and Mum and I were reading The Railway Children together (we'd alternate a chapter each before bedtime, every night), and I was absolutely enthralled with the story, not knowing yet where it was going. Then just as I read the end of the chapter where the children's mother asks them to pray for God's pity "upon all prisoners and captives", Mum blurts out "Their father's in prison!!" I was devastated — "Mum!!! Thanks a lot..." What should have been a gut-wrenching revelation a few chapters later was totally defused. I still love the story to bits, but can't help feeling it lost a good deal of the original impact it should have had for me because of that.

I agree, there are spoilers and spoilers, but one of that magnitude — where the whole story hinges on such a dramatic and quite chilling plot twist — is one I definitely would NOT give away unless I was writing something aimed specifically at people who'd already read it. And I would put a spoiler warning at the start, just to be sure!

(Hope everyone reading Rob's and my exchange here has already read The Railway Children!! )

[Rob Houghton]

(Hope everyone reading Rob's and my exchange here has already read The Railway Children!! )

I was thinking that myself as I was writing my previous post!