She wanted to stay there forever...

"She wanted to stay there forever, alone with the happy thoughts that came to her among its flowers and grasses."

-L.M. Montgomery
A Tangled Web

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read A Tangled Web:


Created February 3, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Joy and regret...

"Joy and regret struggled together in her heart."

-L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Avonlea

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Anne of Avonlea and the Anne of Green Gables series:



Created February 2, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

And she was richer in those dreams...

"And she was richer in those dreams than in realities; for things seen pass away, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

-L.M. Montgomery
Anne of the Island

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Anne of the Island and the Anne of Green Gables series:



Created February 1, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Emily of New Moon Jigsaw Puzzle

Have fun completing this online Emily of New Moon jigsaw puzzle. Before beginning, you can rotate the puzzle pieces and increase the number of pieces to make the puzzle more challenging. You can also customize the background color.

The cover art is by M.L. Kirk for the 1923 version of Emily of New Moon published by Frederick A. Stokes Company.



Created January 31, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

One cannot get tired...

"One cannot get tired of really beautiful things..."

-L.M. Montgomery
Kilmeny of the Orchard

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Kilmeny of the Orchard:



Created January 30, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Crochet Yourself an Anne of Green Gables Doll

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!

Created January 29, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The sky above her...

"The sky above her was a wonderful soft deep violet."

-L.M. Montgomery
Magic for Marigold

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Magic for Marigold:



Created January 28, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© 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