Anne of Green Gables Anime Doll by Takara Tomy

On July 31, 2016, Takara Tomy Toys is releasing a limited and exclusive Anne of Green Gables doll based on the 1979 anime series by Nippon Animation. The beautiful anime, also known as Akage no An, was directed by Isao Takahata as part of the World Masterpiece Theater series. The Anne of Green Gables doll was designed to celebrate 40 years of Nippon Animation. Read more about the Takara Tomy Toy release here.

The sweet Anne Shirley doll is part of the "Rikaraizu" series, which faithfully represents anime characters. The Anne of Green Gables doll is approximately 23 cm tall and has two outfits (shown below):


Anne's first outfit is the brown wincey dress she arrived at Green Gables wearing. The second outfit is the beautiful dress with puffed sleeves that Matthew Cuthbert gives Anne for Christmas. The doll can be posed on its own stand, and it comes with a hat, bag, shoes, and other accessories.

Created July 31, 2016. Last updated January 20, 2024.
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L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1911-1917

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1911–1917 edited by Jen Rubio was published by Rock's Mill Press in 2016. The unabridged editions of L.M. Montgomery's journals paint a fuller, darker picture of her inner thoughts and moods, her passions, and her literary ambitions. With a preface by Jonathan F. Vance, this third volume of L.M. Montgomery's complete journals describes Montgomery's early married years and the birth of her sons. Montgomery records her thoughts on the Great War, which deeply affected her and informed her storytelling in Rilla of Ingleside (1921).


Here is the description of the volume from the Rock's Mill Press:

The years following L.M. Montgomery’s departure from Prince Edward Island were among the most eventful of her life. She travelled in England and Scotland on her honeymoon; she began her new role of minister’s wife in Leaskdale, Ontario; she gave birth three times; and, in August 1914, she watched Canada go to war. The original publication of Montgomery’s journals in 1987 contained only a selection of her entries. Published now for the first time ever is the full record from 1911 to 1917, a wonderful account of the small and the large, the tragic and the funny. She delights in the birth of her first son. A second baby, however, is stillborn on the eve of war. By the time her third is born, war has become a disquieting reality, with local boys dying overseas. This edition includes all of Montgomery’s original photographs, many of which have never been published. The hundreds of annotations, completely new and exclusive to this edition, incorporate the most up-to-date historical thinking. A new preface by historian Jonathan F. Vance is lively and insightful. Montgomery's record of global war and politics is fascinating; she would draw on it later in writing her novel Rilla of Ingleside, available in an annotated edition from Rock's Mills Press. Another Rock's Mills Press title, Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery Reworks Her Manuscript, reveals how Montgomery crafted and revised her work.

Paperback, 368 pp. ISBN-13: 978-1-77244-022-5

Reviews

"Initiated in 2012, with Rubio and Waterston editing the first two volumes, the production of Montgomery’s Complete Journals now continues under the expert direction of Jen Rubio. (Mary’s daughter)."
-Carole Gerson, Literary Review of Canada (full review)

"Jen Rubio, the editor of L. M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911–1917, leaves no stone unturned in identifying places, people, world events, and, most especially in this volume, the battles of the Great War, the variety of recruiting efforts, and aspects of daily life on the home front during those turbulent years."
-Barbara Carman Garner, Children's Literature Association Quarterly

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Book cover of L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1911–1917.

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Created July 25, 2016. Last updated August 22, 2024.
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Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery's Reworking of Rilla of Ingleside

Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery's Reworking of Rilla of Ingleside edited by Elizabeth Waterston and Kate Waterston was published by Rock's Mill Press on February 25, 2016. The book includes a full transcription of Montgomery's 518-page handwritten original manuscript of the novel as well as the additional 71 pages of “notes” Montgomery composed while writing the story. L.M. Montgomery's handwritten pages were transcribed by Kate Waterston. The book also includes annotations of the text. Examining the manuscript and the finished novel provides insight into L.M. Montgomery's creative process as a writer.

Here is the description of the book from Rock's Mill Press:

L.M. Montgomery began writing Rilla of Ingleside shortly after the end of World War I. Her story of the war was not about soldiers fighting and dying on Flanders Fields, but about Canadians struggling to “keep the home fires burning.” It is a novel that today remains at once both deeply moving and, on occasion, very funny. As she wrote the novel over a period of two years, Montgomery accumulated 518 handwritten pages. Alongside this stack was another 71 pages, titled “Notes.” These notes---literary second thoughts, as it were---added textual flavour, improving the novel’s realism, emotional depth, and humour. Montgomery’s handwritten manuscript of Rilla was acquired by the University of Guelph Archival & Special Collections in 1999. This manuscript has been painstakingly rendered in a readable format by Kate Waterston and is now published as Readying Rilla, with an introduction by Montgomery expert Elizabeth Waterston.

This edition is a surprisingly engrossing read, but offers a different experience than the finished novel provides. Here we sense Montgomery’s own thought processes, and witness the way she carefully refined her novel. The world has changed much since 1921: now books are mostly composed on computer, leaving behind little record of the writer’s creative journey to a final published work. But editing is a key process in creating any great work of fiction, and here is one of the most detailed records of creativity available.

L.M. MONTGOMERY, OBE (1874–1942) wrote 20 books in her lifetime, including Anne of Green Gables (1908), Rilla of Ingleside (1921) and Emily of New Moon (1923). She also kept a series of journals from the age of fifteen to the end of her life.

Reviews

“I love L.M. Montgomery's novel Rilla of Ingleside, and this gives a whole new way of seeing and appreciating it. As always, Elizabeth Waterston's prose is beautiful, and her introduction makes the reader want to dive right in to see what pattern can be intuited from the kinds of changes [Montgomery] made on the manuscript. Altogether a fascinating read.
- Elizabeth R. Epperly, author of The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass: L.M. Montgomery's Heroines and the Pursuit of Romance

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Book cover of Readying Rilla: L.M. Montgomery's Reworking of Rilla of Ingleside from Rock's Mill Press.

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Created March 15, 2016. Last updated June 9, 2024.
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L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (2016)

L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables is a TV movie adaption of L.M. Montgomery's novel that was developed and produced by Breakthrough Entertainment. Starring Ella Ballentine as Anne Shirley, Sara Botsford as Marilla Cuthbert, and Martin Sheen as Matthew Cuthbert, the film tells the story of how a young orphan named Anne Shirley finds her home at Green Gables.

The adaptation was filmed in Canada and directed by John Kent Harrison. The screenplay was written by Susan Coyne. The film had several executive producers: Nat Abraham, Ramon Estevez, Joan Lambur, Ira Levy, Kate Macdonald Butler (L.M. Montgomery's granddaughter), Michael McGuigan, and Peter Williamson. The music for the film was composed by Richard Pell and Lawrence Shragge.

The 90-minute long movie aired on YTV in Canada on February 15, 2016. Subsequently, the film was broadcast and distributed in several counties and regions worldwide, including Germany, Australia, Central Europe, the UK, the United States, and Japan.

The movie is the first in a trilogy and is followed by L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables: The Good Stars and L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables: Fire and Dew.

Here is the film's description:

It’s 1907 on Canada’s beautiful Prince Edward Island, where brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are hoping to adopt a boy to help on their farm, Green Gables. But instead of a boy, the irrepressible and imaginative Anne Shirley arrives by mistake. Will Anne find a way to stay at Green Gables?

Image credit:
Poster for L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. © Breakthrough Entertainment

Reference:
Anne of Green Gables. IMDb. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4820224/


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Created March 12, 2016. Last updated November 23, 2024.
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Forty Years of Nippon Animation Exhibition

The Suginami Animation Museum in Tokyo, Japan is holding an exhibition called "Forty Years of Nippon Animation," which features displays on many memorable anime produced by the studio, including Anne of Green Gables (Akage no An). The exhibition opened on January 27, 2016 and will extend through April 17, 2016.

Nippon Animation is the studio responsible for creating the beloved World Masterpiece Theater and Chibi Maruko-chan. In 2015, the studio celebrated its 40th anniversary. The Suginami Animation Museum is celebrating this milestone with an exhibition on the studio's history. The exhibition spotlights the World Masterpiece Theater, the long-running Japanese television anime series based on classic children's stories. These beloved stories included Anne of Green Gables (Akage no An), A Dog of Flanders, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Swiss Family Robinson, Princess Sara (based on A Little Princess), 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, and Rascal the Raccoon.

The exhibition includes a chronology of the World Masterpiece Theater and presentations of clips and episodes from many of the series. Photographs of the real locations in Europe, Canada, and the US where several stories were set are on display. These photographs were used to model the animated settings in the series, including Anne of Green Gables, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Little Princess, and Romeo and the Black Brothers.

The Suginami Animation Museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day (closed on Mondays). The museum is located at 3F Suginami Kaikan, 3-29-5 Kamiogi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 167-0043.

Image credit:
Poster advertising the Forty Years of Nippon Animation Exhibition at the Suginami Animation Museum.

Websites and References:
Suginami Animation Museum
"Forty Years of Nippon Animation" Exhibition at Tokyo Art Beat
Japan Journal, Part 4: Animation Museums in Tokyo: Suginami - A review of the exhibit at Brian Camp's Film and Anime Blog

Created January 30, 2016. Last updated October 3, 2024.
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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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L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valleys: The Ontario Years, 1911-1942

L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valleys: The Ontario Years, 1911-1942 was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in October 2015. This volume of scholarship examines L.M. Montgomery's life and work during her decades living in Ontario, Canada. The book was edited by Rita Bode and Lesley D. Clement. There are contributions by Elizabeth Waterston, Mary Beth Cavert, Margaret Steffler, Laura M. Robinson, Caroline E. Jones, William V. Thompson, Melanie J. Fishbane, Katherine Cameron, Emily Woster, Natalie Forest, E. Holly Pike, Linda Rodenburg, Kate Sutherland, Lesley D. Clement, and Kate Macdonald Butler.

Here is the description of the volume from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) and Anne of Green Gables will always be associated with Prince Edward Island, Montgomery's childhood home and the setting of her most famous novels. Yet, after marrying Rev. Ewan Macdonald in 1911, she lived in Ontario for three decades. There she became a mother of two sons, fulfilled the duties of a minister's wife, advocated for copyright protection and recognition of Canadian literature, wrote prolifically, and reached a global readership that has never waned.

Engaging with discussions on both her life and her fiction, L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valleys explores the joys, sorrows, and literature that emerged from her transformative years in Ontario. While this time brought Montgomery much pleasure and acclaim, it was also challenged and complicated by a sense of displacement and the need to self-fashion and self-dramatize as she struggled to align her private self with her public persona. Written by scholars from various fields and including a contribution by Montgomery's granddaughter, this volume covers topics such as war, religion, women's lives, friendships, loss, and grief, focusing on a range of related themes to explore Montgomery's varied states of mind.

An in-depth study of one of Canada's most internationally acclaimed authors, L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valleys shows how she recreated herself as an Ontario writer and adapted to the rapidly changing world of the twentieth century.

Contributors include Elizabeth Waterston (Guelph), Mary Beth Cavert (Independent), Margaret Steffler (Trent), Laura M. Robinson (Royal Military College), Caroline E. Jones (Austin Community College), William V. Thompson (Grant MacEwan University), Melanie J. Fishbane (Humber College), Katherine Cameron (Concordia University College), Emily Woster (Minnesota-Duluth), Natalie Forest (York), E. Holly Pike (Memorial-Grenfell), Linda Rodenburg (Lakehead-Orillia), Kate Sutherland (York), Lesley D. Clement (Lakehead-Orillia), Kate Macdonald Butler (Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Inc.).

Reviews

“With its interest in placing Montgomery’s work in new cultural and historical contexts, L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valleys expands our understanding of this canonical Canadian author. Although there is no disputing that PEI had an enduring impact on Montgomery's literary sensibility, Ontario played its part too, as the essays in this collection abundantly reveal.” Janice Fiamengo, University of Ottawa

“Coherent and well-structured, L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valleys breaks new ground with its singular focus on the Ontario years. It will unquestionably command the attention of an academic audience, but is also accessible to the general reader who has an interest in Montgomery or in Canadian culture.” Joy Alexander, Queen’s University, Belfast

“L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valleys is important because it resists Montgomery’s own obsessive returns to Prince Edward Island, as well as those of her readers and critics. The collection remains grounded in her Ontario experience, demonstrating its influence on all the writing she did in the second half of her life.” The Times Literary Supplement

The book includes the following content and essays:

Introduction by Rita Bode and Lesley D. Clement

Prologue

1. Leaskdale: L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valley by Elizabeth Waterston

A New Home in Leaskdale: War and Religion

2. “To the Memory of”: Leaskdale and Loss in the Great War by Mary Beth Cavert
3. “Being a Christian” and a Presbyterian in Leaskdale by Margaret Steffler

The Changing World of Women: Mother, Daughter, Friend

4. “A Gift for Friendship”: Revolutionary Friendship in Anne of the Island and The Blue Castle by Laura M. Robinson
5. The New Mother at Home: Montgomery’s Literary Explorations of Motherhood by Caroline E. Jones

Shadows in Rainbow Valley: Loss and Grief

6. The Shadow on the House of Dreams: Montgomery’s Re-Visioning of Anne by William V. Thompson
7. “My Pen Shall Heal, Not Hurt”: Writing as Therapy in Rilla of Ingleside and The Blythes Are Quoted by Melanie J. Fishbane

Interlude

L.M.M. by Katherine Cameron

A Sense of Place: Reading and Writing

8. Old Years and Old Books: Montgomery’s Ontario Reading and Self-Fashioning by Emily Woster
9. (Re)Locating Montgomery: Prince Edward Island Romance to Southern Ontario Gothic by Natalie Forest

Travels to Muskoka: Commodification and Tourism

10. Propriety and the Proprietary: The Commodification of Health and Nature in The Blue Castle by E. Holly Pike
11. Bala and The Blue Castle: The “Spirit of Muskoka” and the Tourist Gaze by Linda Rodenburg

Life in Toronto: Professional and Cultural Links

12. Advocating for Authors and Battling Critics in Toronto: Montgomery and the Canadian Authors Association by Kate Sutherland
13. Toronto’s Cultural Scene: Tonic or Toxin for a Sagged Soul? by Lesley D. Clement

Epilogue

14. Dear Grandmother Maud on the Road to Heaven by Kate Macdonald Butler

Appendix

Montgomery’s Ontario Legacies: A Community Presence in the Twenty-First Century by Rita Bode and Lesley D. Clement with the assistance of Kristina Eldridge and Chloe Verner


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Book cover of L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valleys: The Ontario Years, 1911-1942 from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

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Created October 20, 2015. Last updated June 7, 2024.
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Ana of California: A Novel

Ana of California (2015) by Andi Teran is a modern retelling of L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables. Published on June 30, 2015, the story is 368 pages in length. Teran's tale is about a Mexican-American teen named Ana Cortez is who has been expelled from her fifth foster care home in East Los Angeles. When Ana is given the choice of either living at a group home or entering a trainee program on a farm in Northern California, she takes her chances on the farm. The farm is run by Emmett Garber and his sister Abbie. When Ana arrives, Emmett (like Matthew Cuthbert) is expecting a boy.

Andi Teran is a native of El Paso, Texas. In an interview with Penguin Random House, she spoke about her love of Anne of Green Gables saying, "I was enchanted by Anne’s boldness, conviction, and wild imagination. I so wanted to be in her story club and start one of my own (which, sadly, never happened). Anne was virtually incapable of being anyone other than herself, which is an important message for young people. She was stubborn at times but willing to consider someone else’s opinion. She was also willing to grow and change despite the difficulties of her past, and she had a true compassion for others. It’s both a brave and difficult thing to open up to others, but Anne did it with gusto whatever the hilarious consequences. L. M. Montgomery masterfully created a character that became both a role model and a bosom friend to all of her readers; one that many of us still feel is a friend today." Reflecting on her contemporary retelling, Teran said, "As a mega fan of the original, it was important to me to keep certain iconic scenes, too—not all of them; just a few—and I hope fellow fans enjoy the modern interpretations."

Here is the description of the book from Penguin Random House:

A modern take on the classic coming-of-age novel, inspired by Anne of Green Gables

In the grand tradition of Anne of Green Gables, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Andi Teran’s captivating debut novel offers a contemporary twist on a beloved classic. Fifteen-year-old orphan Ana Cortez has just blown her last chance with a foster family. It’s a group home next—unless she agrees to leave East Los Angeles for a farm trainee program in Northern California.

When she first arrives, Ana can’t tell a tomato plant from a blackberry bush, and Emmett Garber is skeptical that this slight city girl can be any help on his farm. His sister Abbie, however, thinks Ana might be just what they need. Ana comes to love Garber Farm, and even Emmett has to admit that her hard work is an asset. But when she inadvertently stirs up trouble in town, Ana is afraid she might have ruined her last chance at finding a place to belong.

Reviews

"In this modern adaptation of the beloved Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, the red-haired heroine from Nova Scotia has been updated to a curly haired Mexican American teen from East Los Angeles. Fitted with a similar, tragic backstory, Ana has a penchant for getting into scrapes, and her hard-won resilience echoes her predecessor's example. However, in this tale, Ana channels her creativity through art and her appreciation of punk music instead of writing, and the cast of the small town that she gets sent to as part of her road to emancipation is more diverse. Gender-flipped roles and contemporary issues make this a fresh take that even the uninitiated will appreciate. The brother/sister pair who take her in to help with their ailing farm have their own drama, and her love interest (Cole) and best friend (Rye) are troubled teens themselves, adding to the realism that permeates this work. Farm life, social issues, and small minds are threads that young adults will relate to, and Ana's memories of her past life with a loving grandmother and a gang-ridden upbringing will add a level of poignancy. The latter half picks up the pace, and here is where Teran departs from the original story line. Even secondary characters are well-developed, and the food descriptions will make mouths water. Despite some harrowing scenes, Ana's place at Garber Farms is never in doubt. VERDICT A heartwarming homage to a classic with a diverse twist that will be a hit with fans of realistic fiction."
—Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal

"Anne of Green Gables fans will rejoice; newcomers will find a satisfying tale; and Ana’s high jinx will leave both types of readers smiling and asking for more."
–Kirkus Reviews

"Debut fiction author Teran’s contemporary reimagining of Anne of Green Gables brilliantly captures the essence of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic story of a girl who will win your heart with her well-meaning imperfections. Highly recommended."
–Library Journal

ISBN-13: 978-0143126492


Image credit:
Book cover of Ana of California: A Novel.

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Created July 13, 2015. Last updated January 4, 2026.
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