331C: Girl With The Ribbon

I'm looking for an illustrated children's collection of stories. The story I remember most vividly is that of a girl that always wears a ribbon around her neck (I think it was yellow), and eventually her husband removes it and her head falls off.  It is NOT from the book "In a Dark, Dark Room."  The illustrations were simple black (or blue?) and white, with pops of color (kinda similar to Robert Bright's).  The book also had a story about a young man that only had a couple hairs on his chest, and he was trying to grow more to prove that he was brave (my memory of this plot line is pretty fuzzy though).  I borrowed it from the library as a child in the 90s (I was 5ish?), and it was pretty beat up then so maybe published significantly earlier?  I attribute this book to my lifelong irrational inability of wearing anything around my neck (necklaces, scarves, turtlenecks, etc.) and would love to prove that this book exists.

3 thoughts on “331C: Girl With The Ribbon

  1. Rebekah Folsom

    The story is “The Green Ribbon” found in “In a Dark, Dark, Room and Other Scary Stories” by Alvin Schwartz. Although I read it in an earlier compilation from the 1970s also, this is the earliest reference I could find of it. There are internet articles about how people are haunted by the story (rightly).

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  2. Meg Wilson

    The story about the ribbon appeared in Cricket Magazine in the mid-70’s. (I think you’re right that the ribbon was yellow, and the husband removes it when she is at the end of her life.)

    I don’t know if this helps, but it at least dates it from earlier than the ’90’s.

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