L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Write-Off
Written: Apr 25 '02 (Updated Apr 18 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Touching, endearing, wonderfully written, great characters... I could go on and on
Cons: Absolutely none!
The Bottom Line: This set of books would be a wonderful and well treasured gift for any girl around 8-12 years of age... keeping in mind that I still read it every year.
dramastef's Full Review: Robert Blaisdell and L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Gre...
It was so very difficult for me to choose a favorite Bedtime Story as my daughter and I read anywhere between three and six books each night. As many people who read my reviews know, I have been reading to Isabelle since before she was born and have been adding to her ever growing library for years and years (and she’s not quite three!). I didn’t want to choose Isabelle’s favorite story, since that changes on a weekly basis and I try to review them as they change. Instead, I chose a book (actually the first in a series of books) that I hope becomes Isabelle’s favorite bedtime story, as it’s long been one of my own… In fact, my daughter’s middle name comes directly from this book.
But, enough of my rhetoric… on to what makes this book my favorite Bedtime Story:
The Plot and Unforgettable Characters:
When our story begins, we meet the woman of Green Gables, Marilla Cuthbert. Marilla is a woman set in her ways. She is in her 50’s or 60’s, never been married, and at first glance is a very hard woman. She lives with her brother, the gentle, sweet and shy Matthew Cuthbert, who has just been sent to the train station to pick up the little boy they are going to foster in order to get some more help around the farm for Matthew. The very nosy, very gossipy, but very generous neighbor, Ms. Rachel Lynde doesn’t know what to think of Matthew leaving his chores in the middle of the week dressed in his Sunday clothes, so she hurries back to Green Gables to see what she can see.
At the train station, imagine Matthew’s surprise when, instead of a boy, there is an eleven year old girl awaiting him. Not having the heart to turn her away, he takes her with him back to Green Gables. Matthew, being short of conversation, is immediately labeled by Anne a kindred spirit. Our Anne, an orphan since infancy, has a wonderful imagination, vocabulary and conversational ability. On the drive back to Green Gables, Anne talks non-stop, and somewhere along the way wins Matthew’s heart. Her conversation jumps from moment to moment, sentence to sentence… I realize the following excerpt is long, but it embodies the knack Anne possesses for talking and her imagination and liveliness.
I'm so homely nobody will ever want to marry me-- unless it might be a foreign missionary. I suppose a foreign missionary mightn't be very particular. But I do hope that some day I shall have a white dress. That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss. I just love pretty clothes… This morning when I left the asylum I felt so ashamed because I had to wear this horrid old wincey dress… When we got on the train I felt as if everybody must be looking at me and pitying me. But I just went to work and imagined that I had on the most beautiful pale blue silk dress--because when you ARE imagining you might as well imagine something worth while--and a big hat all flowers and nodding plumes, and a gold watch, and kid gloves and boots… I wasn't a bit sick coming over in the boat. Neither was Mrs. Spencer although she generally is. She said she hadn't time to get sick, watching to see that I didn't fall overboard. She said she never saw the beat of me for prowling about. But if it kept her from being seasick it's a mercy I did prowl, isn't it? And I wanted to see everything that was to be seen on that boat, because I didn't know whether I'd ever have another opportunity. Oh, there are a lot more cherry-trees all in bloom! This Island is the bloomiest place. I just love it already, and I'm so glad I'm going to live here. I've always heard that Prince Edward Island was the prettiest place in the world, and I used to imagine I was living here, but I never really expected I would. It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it? But those red roads are so funny. When we got into the train at Charlottetown and the red roads began to flash past I asked Mrs. Spencer what made them red and she said she didn't know and for pity's sake not to ask her any more questions. She said I must have asked her a thousand already. I suppose I had, too, but how you going to find out about things if you don't ask questions? And what DOES make the roads red?
Once Marilla and Matthew decide to keep Anne, the hilarious adventures ensue. Anne has a knack for getting into trouble, and letting her imagination get away from her. She meets the neighbor girl, Diana Barry and the two of them immediately become best friends… until, that is, Anne sets Diana drunk on accident and Mrs. Barry forbids their friendship, sending Anne diving into the depths of despair. To rid herself of her dreaded red locks, Anne buys a potion from a traveling salesman that turns her hair a horrid shade of green. She breaks her school slate over the head of a fellow classmate, Gilbert Blythe. And all this in the first book.
A warning, however, if you do read this to your child, or give it to your child: Near the end of the book (in the second to last chapter), Matthew dies and it is heart wrenching.
That aside... I absolutely cannot wait until my daughter, Isabelle Anne is old enough to begin reading these books with me, chapter by chapter, adventure by adventure!
Other Anne Books:
Once you read Anne of Green Gables you will immediately want to read the next five books, which take us through Anne’s college years, her first teaching job, her engagement and marriage (to non other than our Gilbert Blythe), and her motherhood…
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne's House of Dreams
Anne of Ingleside
Sometimes included in this series are two other books that chronicle the adventures of Anne’s youngest child, ‘Rilla:
Rainbow Valley
Rilla of Ingleside
Writing Style:
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series is one of the most touching and endearing stories I’ve ever read. Long before the famous PBS movie series came out, Anne of Green Gables had acquired a well deserved following. The books themselves are broken down into pretty short chapters. The first book has 38 chapters, each of which are the perfect length for a nighttime segment.
The writing style is flowery in it’s narrative sequences, and very descriptive and well written in all other parts. The books take place on Prince Edward Island, Canada. L.M. Montgomery paints a world on the Island that makes me wish I could go back and live in the simpler time of the late 1800’s on that very Island.
Further Information:
Because of the popularity of the Anne series, there are numerous websites devoted to fans such as myself… some of my favorite include the office Prince Edward Island website which has a picture of the actual Green Gables:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/greengables/index.php3
You can read the entire book online (though what strain that would be on one’s eyes!) at:
and you can buy wonderful merchandise at the only official Anne of Green Gables store at:
http://www.anneofgreengables.cc/
Write Off spiel:
I want to thank MaryTara and Ariel10575 for inviting me to join in this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Write Off, honoring one of my favorite traditions between my daughter and I. I urge you to take a look at some of the other entries and begin your own rituals with your children!
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