Royal Canadian Mint Unveils New Coin Celebrating L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables

Today, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a new $1 coin that celebrates L.M. Montgomery as Canada's literary icon. The unveiling took place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island at the Green Gables Heritage Place, the location that inspired L.M. Montgomery's most famous novel Anne of Green Gables. The release celebrates the 150th anniversary of L.M. Montgomery's birth in 1874.

This coin is the first circulation coin to honor an author. The new loonie will be entering circulation across Canada tomorrow June 27, 2024.



The Royal Canadian Mint launched a beautiful webpage today to announce the coin. It includes biographical information on L.M. Montgomery, the beautiful collages featured in this post, as well as information on the coin's artist and design.

According to the Royal Canadian Mint website:

"Not many Canadian authors have captured the hearts and imaginations of readers quite like L. M. Montgomery. Through her beloved stories and characters, the creator of the internationally-acclaimed Anne of Green Gables has transported millions of readers, over many generations, to the little province she called home.

One of Canada’s most enduring and endearing cultural figures, Montgomery is an icon who continues to impart a lasting impression. This year, we honour her brilliant imagination and exceptional talent with a commemorative $1 circulation coin—a tribute to her life’s work."

The coin's artwork is by Brenda Jones. She's an artist from Prince Edward Island who has a connection to Anne of Green Gables. According to a "fun fact" posted on the Royal Canadian Mint website, her grandparents owned the Green Gables house.

The coin features an image of L.M. Montgomery holding a fountain pen, with a manuscript and inkwell nearby. Below her portrait is her signature and cat icon. To the left is an image of Anne Shirley looking towards patchwork quilt fields representing Prince Edward Island.


It's a beautiful coin. I can't imagine they'll remain in circulation long. Anne fans might just pocket them all.


Official Websites:
L.M. Montgomery Literary Icon at the Royal Canadian Mint
Behind the Design: L. M. Montgomery Commemorative $1 Circulation Coin

Image credits:
Images and collages by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Created June 26, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Megan Follows on Playing Anne of Green Gables

Megan Follows is known for playing the outspoken, imaginative and talkative Anne Shirley in the 1985 TV miniseries Anne of Green Gables, which was based on L.M. Montgomery's novel. In December 2023, Follows reminisced about how playing Anne Shirley changed her life in a podcast conversation with the CBC's Tom Power. In the introduction to the podcast, Power mentions how the conversation made him rethink Anne of Green Gables and consider how radical the story was then and how relevant it still is today. I loved their conversation. Give it a listen!

Sometimes actors dislike being identified with a particular role, but not Megan Follows. She expressed gratitude about playing Anne Shirley and emphasized how great it was to play a character that was "a girl that got to express rage." When asked about her relationship with the character, Follows responded, "I love Anne...She and I have a great relationship. We're tight. We're bosom buddies. I think she's an extraordinary character, and uhm, I always felt incredibly grateful to have played her and to have been introduced to a strong-willed, female-driven story where you got to be number one from the point of view of a story." Often, Follows reflects, women are the appendage in stories and not the backbone or driving force. In contrast, Anne has a driving force to belong and to be seen for herself, and Follows believes that this is what resonates with people.

Megan Follows delved back into L.M. Montgomery's stories in preparing to record an Emily of New Moon audiobook a few years ago and then to direct a new Audible Anne of Green Gables audiobook featuring Michela Luci, Catherine O’Hara, Victor Garber, and Sandra Oh. Follows remarks that her deep dive back into the stories allowed her to discover "the subversiveness of the text." She had previously understood Montgomery's humor, but now she observed her way of pointing out hypocrisy through Anne. Follows feels that the power of the character scares people.

Follows sees Anne's compulsive talking as coming from a dark place where Anne chooses to go toward the light, not out of naivety, but for her own survival. As an example, she mentions how Anne planned to sleep in a cherry tree at the train station. She believes that Anne came up with this idea for safety, but that Anne focused on the beauty of the blossoms because she was terrified to be abandoned and alone in the world. Follows says that Montgomery used poetry because children don't actually speak this way.

Follows also reflected on her amazing experiences working with Colleen Dewhurst (Marilla Cuthbert) and Patricia Hamilton (Rachel Lynde). She discussed how Richard Farnsworth (Matthew Cuthbert) was only available for six days of filming, so she worked very long hours with him to film his scenes. Later, she did scenes with a grip stand with a hat on it as a stand-in. Follows also talked about the raspberry cordial scene with Schuyler Grant, who played Diana Barry. They were giving Grant glasses of watered down grape juice or Ribena, and she really did get sick after filming the scene multiple times. Follows briefly mentioned that her heart always smiles for Jonathan Crombie and that they laughed a lot.

Power asked Follows about her audition for Anne. Strangely, the day after her audition, her tape disappeared, and she had to redo her audition at the last minute. Follows mentions that there was another actress who was the first choice for Anne Shirley and that she had to fight for the role. Luckily, she had advocates at the CBC and someone at PBS who believed that she was the right fit for the role.

Later, when asked about how the success of the miniseries affected her, she reflected that she is grateful that she did a good job playing Anne, and that she has received a tremendous amount of goodwill because of the character and how much the character and writing mean to people.

Toward the end of the conversation, Follows talked about how she is currently developing a limited series on the life of L.M. Montgomery, her legacy and the power of her writing. I can't wait to hear more.


Image credit:
Photograph of Megan Follows as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables © Sullivan Entertainment.

Created May 24, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Review of the Oh My Anne Mobile Game

Last month, I received a notification that the "Oh My Anne" mobile game was available to download for iOS, and I decided to check it out and review the game.

This new mobile app was announced back in December 2022. The game is based on L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. After the game's soft launch, it was released more widely this spring.

You can view the lovely "Oh My Anne" trailer here:

The game's trailer begins with Anne looking for her daughter Rilla Blythe. Rilla is holding a dandelion puffball. When Anne asks Rilla what she is doing, Rilla uses sign language to explain that she is making a wish to the "dandelion fairy" to be less of a burden to her mother. Anne is shocked at Rilla's fears and reassures Rilla that she is not a burden. Anne explains that when she was young, she was just like Rilla and that the unconditional love she received at Green Gables changed her life. Rilla asks to hear more about the story of Green Gables. Anne tells her to make a wish to the dandelion fairy to hear the story.



Anne counts to three and Rilla makes her wish and blows. A dandelion seed flies through the air and across time to the door of Green Gables where a young Anne Shirley turns around.



The mobile game begins with this same sweet trailer. I found it touching and surprising that Rilla was deaf and had fears that she was a burden to Anne considering that Rilla was not deaf in L.M. Montgomery's stories.

After the trailer, you begin the gameplay. Each day when you log in to the game, you receive a reward for your attendance.



In episode 1, Anne encounters Green Gables with Matthew.



According to the game's storyline, Marilla was injured when she fell off her rocking chair, so Green Gables is quite dusty. Anne aims to help by cleaning and re-decorating Green Gables with new furniture. She's just entered the house and hasn't even met Marilla yet, so her behavior is quite forward and a bit odd.



You can play various matching games to earn coins and dandelion fairy points. These coins and points allow you to redecorate and move forward in the gameplay.



In this matching game, Anne Shirley is being chased by an angry bee.



The game is free-to-play, but there are additional locked features and rewards for players who purchase in-game virtual goods for microtransactions with real money. These features include special photos and dresses for Anne.



The dialogue for the game is a bit amusing. At times, Anne is even more dramatic in the game than in L.M. Montgomery's stories.



Overall, the game is good for passing time if you enjoy matching puzzle games and decorating games. The animation scenes are playful, and Anne is very expressive. I'm not quite sure where the storyline is going as Anne discovers more about Green Gables and Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. I think younger players might find the game more enjoyable than older ones (like me).

I hope that the animators who created the trailer will make an animated Anne of Green Gables film in the future. I was intrigued at the relationship between Anne and Rilla, the fact that Rilla was deaf, and the use of sign language in the trailer. I'd love to see how they would continue Anne and Rilla's storyline in a novel way.

Have you played the "Oh My Anne" mobile game? What did you think of it?

Image credit:
Screencaptures from the "Oh My Anne" mobile game and trailer.

Created April 21, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Lane Moore on Anne of Green Gables

This week, I finished reading a book called You Will Find Your People: How to Make Meaningful Friendships as an Adult by Lane Moore. She's a writer, musician and comedian.

Having moved this summer, and feeling lonely in general, I thought the book might be helpful to me. I’m always searching for kindred spirits and hoping for that ideal bosom friendship depicted in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. I think that this belief in true and lasting friendship is a common bond shared by people who love the Anne series. What I didn’t know when I started reading You Will Find Your People is that its author Lane Moore loves and identifies with Anne Shirley too and that Anne would turn up in her book.

In Chapter 2, Moore talks about Anne Shirley and Diana Barry’s friendship as being an exception to the general categories of female friendship depicted in the media. She writes:

"There are of course so many beautiful exceptions in pop culture. Particularly, Anne Shirley and Diana Barry's lifelong, deeply devoted, Platonic Soulmates friendship in Anne of Green Gables. (Though, their friendship is arguably two people who are totally in love with each other, and I will forever stand by this correct assumption, but that's for another book.) But if such a Platonic Soulmate exists, where do you find that devotion that sees you through adolescence, into adulthood, into marriages and kids and moving and new careers? Where do you find that magical, poetic friendship where you both grow on parallel tracks—even if they're not the same tracks exactly—into people who still connect deeply, not only as the people you once were, but also as the people you're constantly becoming?"

I wonder that too, where do you find that truest of friendships depicted in Anne of Green Gables? Sometimes I’ve wondered if this type of friendship really exists or if it’s simply fiction, but I still hope it’s something real and attainable.

Later on in the book, in Chapter 14, which is titled, "Friend Breakups: How to Know When to Leave, How to Do It, and How to Cope with the Grief," Lane Moore begins the chapter with a quote from L.M. Montgomery’s novel:

Even though we meet as strangers now I still love her with an inextinguishable love.
-Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

Anne's statement really captures the grief when a friendship feels lost.

After finishing the book, I read a beautiful essay where Lane Moore talks about friendship and Anne of Green Gables called, "I Want a Bosom Friendship Like Anne Shirley and Diana Barry." She wrote the essay for Powell’s Books Blog on April 25, 2023. (Until just a couple months ago, I used to live a few blocks from Powell’s). Moore's essay is really lovely, and I think any fan of Anne of Green Gables should read it.

Moore writes about her lifelong goal, saying, "For me, I want a bosom friendship like Anne Shirley and Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables more than just about anything in this world." She writes, "When I was a kid, I would read Lucy Maude Montgomery's words describing bosom friends, which boiled down this very romantic sentiment: two people who were absolutely platonic while at the same time being absolutely soulmates." She continues, saying, "I knew I wanted bosom friends. I wanted friends who I could be openly romantic with, maybe a little dramatic with, and also extremely silly with, who I could get drunk on cherry cordials with…"

I love her description of Anne and Diana’s friendship: "Their friendship was about full acceptance and full support of each other. In the face of cruel classmates, and a frustrating world, Anne had Diana's back and Diana had hers just the same."

No wonder so many of us long for a friendship like theirs.


Moore has also mentioned Anne of Green Gables in the following interviews. Check them out:

"What Attachment Styles Teach Us About Our Friendships: They’re Not Just for Romantic Relationships" by Lane Moore, Elle (June 28, 2023)

"Lane Moore: 5 Books That Make Me Feel Less Alone" by Lane Moore, Strand Book Store (October 30, 2018)

Image Credits:
Left: Photograph of Lane Moore from her website.
Right: Screen capture of Megan Follows as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel © Sullivan Entertainment.

Created September 5, 2023.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Read Anne of Green Gables with Reddit's Online Book Club

Recently, I joined Reddit's Book Club Community because I thought it would be fun to read books with a big online group. By chance, soon after joining, Anne of Green Gables was chosen as Reddit's Book Club Runner Up Read.



Have you ever wanted to read or re-read Anne with a group? Well, here's your chance!


Purchase and read Anne of Green Gables:



Created April 18, 2023.
© worldofanneshirley.com

About the Oh My Anne Mobile Game

The Google Play store includes information about the "Oh my Anne" mobile app, which had its soft launch last month. Version 1.0.0 of the app was released/last updated on December 3, 2022 by NEOWIZ. The game is rated "E" for everyone, and there are in-app purchases.

NEOWIZ provided the following description of the game to the Google Play store:

A heartwarming game about Anne Shirley's story in Avonlea!
Enjoy calming, relaxing match 3 puzzle levels & renovate the Green Gables.
Unlock endless chapters about Anne’s encounters and makeover!
Adventures in Avonlea are at the doorstep!

"But if you call me Anne, please call me Anne with an 'e'."

Encouraging & Heartwarming Story!
It all began when Matthew and Marilla accepted Anne to the family..
Folllow Anne through her times of true romance, friendship, and tears - all unexpected!
Watch how her relationship with the townspeople of Avonlea flourish!

“I thought my story at Green Gables was about to end, but it was just the beginning.”

Enjoy Renovating the Green Gables
Oh my, what a dusty room!
Mop the floors! Change the carpets!
Unlock & renovate rooms, spread happiness in the air!
Help Anne Bring warmth back to the Green Gables, and to her loved ones as well.
Renovate your mansion, give it a fantastic makeover!

"Seeing the place nice and clean makes me so happy.”

Easy Match 3 Puzzle Levels
Match puzzle pieces, use delicate booster effects to beat levels!
Equip yourself with Anne’s mighty spirit!
Show off your match 3 skills by clearing various fun challenge modes ahead!

“I couldn''t tell where to begin at first, but after placing the tiles one by one, before I knew it, I was already done!”

Experience Calming and Relaxing Game
Sit back, and enjoy relaxing makeovers.
The most heartwarming words from Anne, will certainly brighten up your day!

"You can enjoy anything if you make up your mind to enjoy it."

The Google Play store features the image above ("Follow Anne's Romantic Story") as well as the following images and screencaptures of "Oh my Anne" with explanations of how to play the game.

Meet new friends and the townspeople of Avonlea:



Unlock more rooms and renovate Green Gables:



Watch and immerse yourself in Anne's precious moments:



Play match-3 levels:



Earn daily rewards:



Collect beautiful dresses:



Anne Shirley dreams of a dress with puffed sleeves:



Some of the game's aspects don't seem to relate to the story, but I'm still interested in checking out the app.

Created January 25, 2023.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Oh My Anne Mobile Game Soft Launch

In December, NEOWIZ, a South Korean online game developer and publisher, announced the soft launch of a mobile app called "Oh my Anne." It’s a mobile game based on the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. "Oh my Anne" has launched in Canada and in select regions so far, and the global launch of the game will soon follow. It will be available on iOS and Android.

It's a game about Anne Shirley's time in Avonlea. The player helps unlock chapters as Anne brings warmth to Green Gables and to Anne's loved ones. Through the game, Anne develops relationships with the townspeople of Avonlea. The story follows Anne through moments of friendship, romance, and sorrow. The gameplay also involves match games and makeover/renovation elements where the player collects dresses for Anne and helps her clean and renovate Green Gables.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the game from NEOWIZ's announcement on twitter:





The artwork and animation look so lovely. I'm curious about "Oh my Anne." and I hope to be able to check it out soon. Has any reader downloaded the game? What did you think of it?

Read more about the game in an article by Catherine Dellosa at PocketGamer.


Created January 24, 2023.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript Digital Exhibition

Today, a digital exhibition launched called "The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript: L.M. Montgomery and the Creation of Anne" that features a digitized version of L.M. Montgomery's original handwritten manuscript for Anne of Green Gables. Fans of Anne of Green Gables can explore the text to see L.M. Montgomery's writing process and analyze how she developed the story.

Check out the exhibit at: annemanuscript.ca

---

Here's the press release for the exhibit by the Confederation Centre of the Arts:

January 19, 2023 – For the first time ever, L.M. Montgomery’s original manuscript of Anne of Green Gables is available to readers everywhere through a new digital exhibition.

The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript: L.M. Montgomery and the Creation of Anne officially launched online today. The digital exhibition will allow people to explore Montgomery’s original text, see what was written on the back of pages, and find out how famous moments were developed or revised. The interactive website includes never-before-seen material, such as Montgomery’s publishing contract for the novel.

“Visitors can pore over every pen stroke – there are bits of short story drafts and heavily scratched out passages that just beg for one to zoom in. We have also added hundreds of photo and video annotations to learn from,” says Dr. Emily Woster, an L.M. Montgomery scholar who curated the exhibition. “This is a celebration of Montgomery’s creative process, and we invite scholars and fans alike to explore the site and trace the origins of Anne.”

The high-quality digitization of the manuscript gives visitors a unique opportunity to learn about the author and Prince Edward Island, and reflect on Anne’s legacy in print, on screen, and on stage – including the nearly 60-year history of Anne of Green Gables–The Musical™ at The Charlottetown Festival.

The digital exhibition is presented by Confederation Centre of the Arts, the University of Prince Edward Island’s Robertson Library and L.M. Montgomery Institute, and developed with funding from the Digital Museums Canada investment program. The Digital Museums Canada investment program helps build digital capacity in Canadian museums and heritage organizations and gives Canadians unique access to diverse stories and experiences. Digital Museums Canada is managed by the Canadian Museum of History, with the financial support of the Government of Canada.

The history of the novel dates back to the summer of 1905, when Montgomery began writing Anne’s story in the kitchen of her home in Cavendish. The classic novel is beloved the world over, inspiring millions of readers in over 40 languages. The original manuscript resides in the archives at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, and only a lucky few have been able to see it or study it in person.

“This important project will vastly increase access to the manuscript, generating new understanding and appreciation of the novel’s beginnings and of its author,” says L.M. Montgomery Institute chair Dr. Philip Smith. “The digitization by the expert staff at UPEI’s Robertson Library will allow enthusiasts around the world to discover Montgomery’s creativity in interactive ways not previously available.”

The digital exhibition is available in English and French and can be viewed online at annemanuscript.ca.

Press release retreived from: https://confederationcentre.com/news/digital-exhibition-anne-manuscript/ (January 19, 2023).

Created January 19, 2023.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Nikole Hannah-Jones on Anne of Green Gables

I’m always intrigued by how many people around the world have been touched in various ways by Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables.

Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist. She led and developed The 1619 Project for The New York Times Magazine, which re-frames and re-examines the legacy of slavery in the United States. The project was initially published in 2019 on the 400th anniversary of the 1619 arrival of the first enslaved African people in Virginia. For her work, Hannah-Jones was named one of The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 by Time Magazine. That same year, Nikole Hannah-Jones published a book with her colleagues titled, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. She’s currently a professor at Howard University.

Last fall, prior to the publication of her book, the L.A. Times Book Club interviewed Nikole Hannah-Jones. She was asked her about her favorite books, music, movies, and TV shows for the book club’s newsletter, which was published in the Los Angeles Times by the book club editor Donna Wares on November 6, 2021.

Among Nikole Hannah-Jones’s answers was this gem mentioning Anne of Green Gables:

TV that got me through the pandemic: "Tiger King," of course. My daughter and I spent many nights watching "Anne of Green Gables" together, "Law & Order" reruns, "Dateline" murder mysteries, "Living Single" reruns. I am obsessed with "Dopesick," "Snowfall" and "Impeached."

Like Nikole Hannah-Jones and her daughter, watching Anne of Green Gables has helped me during the pandemic too.

Reference:
Wares, Donna. (2021, November 6). Book club: Get to know Nikole Hannah-Jones and ‘The 1619 Project.’ Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/newsletter/2021-11-06/book-club-newsletter-nikole-hannah-jones-the-1619-project-book-club

Image credits:
Left: Photograph of Nikole Hannah-Jones by Levi Walton in The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 issue of Time Magazine published September 15, 2021.
Right: Screen capture of Megan Follows as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables © Sullivan Entertainment.

Created September 30, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Upcoming Film Adaptation of The Blue Castle

Cinegryphon Entertainment is producing a feature film adaptation of The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery according to an exclusive report in The Hollywood Reporter. Cinegryphon is an independent entertainment company specializing in film and television production that was founded in 2021 by Scott Aharoni, Mustafa Kaymak, and Sinan Eczacibasi.

Scott Aharoni described the story, saying:

"Valancy’s inspiring story is a beautiful reminder of how there is no such thing as wasted time — that no matter how ‘old’ or ‘late’ we may be, we can always start taking ownership of our own lives and live the one we’ve always desired or dreamed of having."

Personally, I’m really fond of Valancy and The Blue Castle, so I’m looking forward to this production. I'm curious to see who will play Valancy.

Created June 2, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Thoughts on "The 'Anne of Green Gables' V.R. Experience"

On Monday, The New Yorker published an article titled, "The 'Anne of Green Gables' V.R. Experience" by Weike Wang. The article appears in the "Shouts & Murmurs" section, which contains humor, satire, and funny observations. It's a curious piece, and I recommend reading it if you're an Anne of Green Gables fan.

The article begins without mentioning any history of Anne of Green Gables and fails to mention the novel's author, L.M. Montgomery, by name. These were odd omissions. But perhaps Anne is such an iconic character that she and Montgomery no longer need an introduction.

Rather than spending time on introductory matters, Weike Wang dives into a description of your Anne of Green Gables virtual reality experience. You (as Anne Shirley) have a choice in skin tones, but must have long red hair styled in two braids. Your journey in the carriage occurs in the autumn and without Matthew (unlike the book), and you meet the Cuthberts at Green Gables.

Later, your virtual reality experience continues in the classroom where your teacher leaves a vowel out of your name to your dismay. When your classmate Gilbert Blythe insults you, you have the option to hit him with a virtual arsenal of weapons including the standard slate, as well as a retractable prop dagger, a dead fish, and more. After class you go on "life-affirming adventures" with your bosom friend Diana Barry.

Then you must study, eventually graduating with your teaching license from Queen’s and winning the prestigious Avery scholarship, which allows you to attend a four-year college. Your friends, including Gilbert, celebrate you. Weike Wang notes that you can choose to end your virtual reality experience here, "feeling galvanized, like you can do anything," or you can choose to stay for the final two minutes. In these final minutes, your family loses their savings, Matthew Cuthbert dies of a heart attack, and you defer your dreams for a time and stay at Green Gables. Then you marry Gilbert, have seven children, and live in an idyllic home. Wang writes, "though you do leave the room less galvanized, you are relieved that the immense pressure to amount to something has resolved itself and, in the natural course of adulting, priorities must change."

The article had a bit of humor and weirdness, but it also left me thinking about the author's purpose. Was it simply a humorous piece, poking fun at virtual reality and Zuckerberg's metaverse, or was it more? Weike Wang brings up an interesting point, namely, that in this virtual reality version of Anne's story, you could stop your experience at a wonderfully high point in Anne's life. When Anne wins the Avery scholarship, she has so many ambitions and dreams ahead of her, and she's on the cusp of success.

Do many modern women truly want to live out Anne's full life story? When she's young, she's charismatic and passionate, and she doesn't conform. She's not ordinary. But later, she gives up her dreams of teaching and writing for her loving brood of children and devoted (but mainly absentee) husband. As Weike Wang notes, "A person can’t trailblaze forever; she has to slow down sometimes and take stock of societal norms." This piece left me wondering where I would choose to conclude my own Anne of Green Gables virtual reality experience and whether I would prefer to leave before those final two minutes.

Created January 27, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Google Doodle Celebrates Lucy Maud Montgomery on her 141st Birthday

Today's Google Doodle celebrates L.M. Montgomery's 141st birthday with three animated doodles by Olivia When featuring scenes from Montgomery's beloved story Anne of Green Gables.

In one Google Doodle, Anne Shirley and Diana Barry are laying in a field of field of flowers. Anne is writing, while Diana is reading. The pair are wearing flower crowns in their hair.

In a second Google Doodle, Anne Shirley turns green when she tastes the layered cake she prepared for Mrs. Allen's visit to the Cuthbert home. Anne accidentally flavored her cake with anodyne liniment, thinking it was vanilla. Marilla had poured her liniment into an old vanilla bottle and hadn't relabeled the bottle.



A third Google Doodle pictures show scenes on the Lake of Shining Waters, with Anne walking to school, Anne and Diana running together, and Gilbert Blythe saving Anne after she played Elaine, in the chapter titled, "An Unfortunate Lily Maid."



Google posted the following info about the L.M. Montgomery Google Doodles:

Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote her first novel in 1905. It was rejected by every single publishing house that received it. A few years later, Montgomery tried shopping it again and succeeded. Her story about the adventures of a red-headed girl in Prince Edward Island became a smash hit. That novel ultimately became one of Canada’s most all-time popular books, being translated into around 20 languages and selling more than 50 million copies to date. Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels made Montgomery a wildly successful author and turned PEI into a destination for the book’s thousands of fans.

One of Canada’s most celebrated writers, Montgomery also wrote hundreds of poems and short stories as well as a number of novels apart from the Anne series. She was the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts and was also appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Today, on what would have been her 141st birthday, we salute Lucy Maud Montgomery with a Doodle that pays tribute to her most iconic book.

Doodler Olivia When, herself an Anne of Green Gables fan, wanted to honor Montgomery by illustrating several scenes from the beloved novel, including a particularly memorable one in which Anne mistakenly bakes a cake with liniment (a medicated oil) instead of vanilla. Here’s to Anne with an “e” Shirley and her revered creator, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Created November 30, 2015. Last updated September 4, 2023.
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