Have you ever wanted an Anne of Green Gables doll? Do you know how to crochet or wish to learn? Well, here's your opportunity to make your very own Anne Shirley doll!
Check out Literary Yarns: Crochet Projects Inspired by Classic Books by Cindy Wang. This book teaches the basics of crochet and provides tutorials on how to create cute and beloved characters from literature. You just need some yarn, a crochet hook, and a little patience. Along with providing a pattern to make an Anne Shirley doll, the book contains 21 other crochet projects to make amigurumi—sweet stuffed yarn creations. The literary characters include the monster from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the master detective Sherlock Holmes from the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Dorothy and friends from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, the White Rabbit from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and many more.
I love to crochet, so Literary Yarns is now on my wishlist. I think an Anne Shirley doll would be a perfect companion for my L.M. Montgomery collection on my bookshelf.
Cindy Wang also has a fun website where she shares her wonderful creations called The Geeky Hooker (Not THAT kind of hooker. The kind armed with a crochet hook). Her latest project, little Grogu from The Mandalorian, is so stinking cute. From time to time, she drops off her little critters in various places for strangers to discover and adopt. It would be so special to discover a surprise like that. Check out her website and follow her on Twitter @GeekyHooker for more of her adventures!
In 1908, after Anne of Green Gables was published, the novel was reviewed by The New York Times Book Review. The book was harshly reviewed by an anonymous reviewer who said the character Anne Shirley, “greatly marred a story that had in it quaint and charming possibilities.”
Personally, one of the first words I think of in describing Anne Shirley is "charming." It's a bit sad that the reviewer missed out on Anne's charms, don't you think?
In 1924, bylines were required for the The New York Times Book Review, and reviewers had less freedom to be callous because they were no longer anonymous. Read more about the unsympathetic reviews written anonymously for The New York Times Book Review prior to 1924 in "When the Book Review Went Really Harsh" by Tina Jordan published in The New York Times on August 27, 2021.
I came across this fun collaboration between Nippon Animation's Anne of Green Gables with Ullala Pajamas. Ullala Pajamas makes old-fashioned, girlish chemises, night dresses, and pajama sets, and they designed a special set of clothes inspired by Anne of Green Gables.
I love all the product shots. Don't you?
They also remind me of the outfits from Dickinson, the Apple TV+ streaming series on Emily Dickinson starring Hailee Steinfeld. I love the fashion from the Dickinson time period too.
You can shop for outfits from the Anne of Green Gables x Ullala Pajamas collaboration below:
How lovely is this set of silhouette prints of Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley? They're by Sealhouette and available on Etsy. Along with the version shown above with Anne and Gilbert's names, there are versions available with quotes by the two characters. Check out the artist's store for more beautiful silhouette prints from literature, TV, and film.
L.M. Montgomery is better known for her novels than her poetry though she published approximately 500 poems during her lifetime. In 1916, Montgomery published a volume of poetry entitled The Watchman and Other Poems. The majority of L.M. Montgomery's poems are devoted to nature, particularly the landscape of Prince Edward Island, and rural life on the sea shore. Montgomery's love of poetry is reflected in many of her novels where characters quote poetry or recite poems and ballads. Just one example is Anne Shirley reciting and reenacting Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" in Anne of Green Gables.
Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Canada on November 30, 1874. During her lifetime, L.M. Montgomery wrote 20 novels, over 500 short stories, one book of poetry, an autobiography, a life's worth of journals, approximately 500 poems, and a nonfiction book called Courageous Women. Of her work, L.M. Montgomery is best known for writing the novel Anne of Green Gables and giving the world the beloved literary character Anne Shirley, an imaginative, intelligent, loving, red-haired orphan in search of a home.
Image credit:
Photograph of L.M. Montgomery, 1930. Toronto Public Library from the Toronto Star Photograph Archive, Public Domain.
Purchase and read L.M. Montgomery's journals to learn more about her life:
