Two Terrible Years

"They have been two terrible years—and yet I have a queer feeling of thankfulness for them—as if they had brought me something very precious, with all their pain. I wouldn't want to go back and be the girl I was two years ago, not even if I could."

-L.M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Rilla of Ingleside and the Anne of Green Gables series:



Created July 21, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Puffin in Bloom Book Collection Box Set

Here's a lovely box set of classic books by Puffin Books that includes L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. It's part of their Puffin in Bloom series. The collection includes four cherished stories: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Heidi by Johanna Spyri. All four books are among my favorites.

Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co. painted the cover illustrations for all four hardcover books as well as the keepsake box. See the illustration of Anne Shirley on the book cover of Anne of Green Gables below:




These books would be a treasured gift for any child (or adult) who loves stories about smart, strong girls and young women.

Purchase the Puffin in Bloom Classics Collection or the individual Anne of Green Gables novel:



Created June 19, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

I love a storm...

"I love a storm like this at night when I don't have to go out in it..."

-L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read the Emily of New Moon series:



Created June 15, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Out of Print Anne of Green Gables Sweatshirt and T-Shirt

I came across this pretty and cozy Anne of Green Gables fleece sweatshirt today. It’s by Out of Print, a company that sells wonderful book-themed products based on literary classics. Out of Print’s mission is to spread the joy of reading, and each purchase helps to fund literacy programs and book donations to communities in need.

The cover artwork illustration of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery is by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co. Anna Bond painted Anne Shirley for Puffin Books for their Puffin in Bloom book collection.

There’s also a dolman t-shirt with the same Anne of Green Gables print:



Purchase the Out of Print Anne of Green Gables Sweatshirt and T-Shirt:



Created June 14, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

L.M. Montgomery by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (Little People, BIG DREAMS Book 22)

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling children’s book series that highlights the lives of outstanding people, including writers, singers, scientists, artists, designers, and adventurers. Each biography tells the story of how the person started out as a child with a big dream.

The 22nd book in the biography series is titled L.M. Montgomery. The story of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life was written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. Anuska Allepuz illustrated the story. This 32-page hardback book was first published on October 4, 2018.

Here is a peak into the book:


The publisher’s description states:

Meet Lucy Maud Montgomery, the famous Canadian author of Anne of Green Gables.

Born in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery lost her mother when she was very young. Left in the care of less-than-encouraging grandparents, she found comfort in reading, writing, and her imagination. When Maud grew up, she wrote about the childhood she wished she had, creating one of the best-loved characters of all time: Anne of Green Gables. This moving book features stylish illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the author's life.

At the Little People, BIG DREAMS website, you can download a fun activity page and print out bookmarks featuring L.M. Montgomery and other famous authors, including Jane Austen, Maya Angelou, Simone de Beauvoir Anne Frank, and Agatha Christie.

The whole series looks wonderful for children to teach them about remarkable people and inspire them to "Be Bold Be Brave and DREAM BIG."

Purchase the Little People, BIG DREAMS book on L.M. Montgomery and a matching game featuring Montgomery and other outstanding women:



Created June 12, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

In a Garden

"Nobody ever wants to know the time in a garden."

-L.M. Montgomery
The Story Girl

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read The Story Girl and The Golden Road:



Created June 11, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Little People, BIG DREAMS Matching Game Featuring L.M. Montgomery

Check out this fun matching game for children featuring L.M. Montgomery. It’s based on the popular Little People, BIG DREAMS book series, which explores the lives of outstanding people, including scientists, writers, designers, artists, activists, and adventurers. Each of these people began their life as a child with a big dream.

The memory game features the following 20 outstanding women: Maya Angelou, Jane Austen, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Agatha Christie, Marie Curie, Simone de Beauvoir, Amelia Earhart, Ella Fitzgerald, Anne Frank, Jane Goodall, Audrey Hepburn, Frida Kahlo, Ada Lovelace, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Georgia O’Keefe, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, Mother Theresa, and Harriet Tubman. The picture of L.M. Montgomery is by the illustrator Anuska Allepuz.

The game includes 20 pairs of cards and an educational biography card with information on each woman’s life and accomplishments. The matching game is recommended for children 3–12 years old. It would be a great gift to teach and inspire a child while having fun.

Purchase the Little People, BIG DREAMS matching game and book on L.M. Montgomery:



Created June 9, 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

a double ribbon of dancing buttercups...

"The road to Lowbridge was a double ribbon of dancing buttercups, with here and there the ferny green rim of an inviting grove."

-L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Ingleside

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Anne of Ingleside:



Created May 24, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

What's in a Name? Rainbow Valley: L.M. Montgomery, Johnny Cash, Love Affair, and John Wayne

I recently finished a book called Forever Words: The Unknown Poems by Johnny Cash. This collection of Johnny Cash's poems and lyrics was published posthumously in 2016. It's a great book if you're a fan of The Man in Black.

So how does this relate to L.M. Montgomery? Well, as I was reading the book, I read the lyrics for a song Johnny Cash wrote in the 1970s called "Chinky Pin Hill." (It's now been recorded in a beautiful rendition by I'm With Her). The third stanza of the song reads:

We'll stop in Rainbow Valley
Where the church is standing still
And we'll be newlywed married
On Chinky Pin Hill

Seeing the name "Rainbow Valley" got my attention because it's the name of the seventh book in the Anne of Green Gables series. L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valley was published in 1919.

Johnny Cash had capitalized Rainbow Valley as a real, definable place. Could Cash have come across Montgomery's Anne series on a bookshelf somewhere and remembered the name? Or was there a real Rainbow Valley out there?

I started digging around the internet. It turns out that there is a Rainbow Valley on Mount Everest where many climbers have fallen to their deaths in their colorful gear. Well, I was clearly following the wrong thread there.

I continued searching and came across a cheerful song called "Rainbow Valley" by a band from London called Love Affair from 1968. The lyrics are sweet and charming:

The sun always shines
down in my Rainbow Valley.
There's one that's always mine,
down in my Rainbow Valley.

Maybe this song title made its way into Johnny Cash's lyrics? I also wondered, could Love Affair have been inspired to name their song by L.M. Montgomery's book?

Going back even farther, there's a 1935 film titled Rainbow Valley starring John Wayne. I wonder what inspired the title of this film. Were all these people simply influenced by rainbows in valleys, or could they have been inspired by one another?

What's in a name? My hours of digging provided me with no definitive answers. Sometimes art is all about hidden dialogues and connection, picking up inspiration from people, words, sounds, and observations and putting them all together in unexplainable ways to create something new.


Created May 10, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The sea has one only...

 

"The woods call to us with a hundred voices, but the sea has one only—a mighty voice that drowns our souls in its majestic music. The woods are human, but the sea is of the company of the archangels."

-L.M. Montgomery
Anne's House of Dreams

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Anne's House of Dreams:

Created May 5, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Limited Time Deal on Rilla of Ingleside Audiobook

If you love audiobooks, there's a great deal on a new version of Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery at Chirp right now. For the next 25 days, you can purchase Rilla of Ingleside as a digital audiobook for $1.99. The regular price is $15.99.

This new digital audiobook was just released by InAudio on February 22, 2022. The book is read by Erin Bateman, and the run time is 11 hours and 32 minutes.

Chirp describes the book as follows:

"This follow-up to the treasured classic Anne of Green Gables has over 21,100 five-star Goodreads ratings! On the brink of World War I, Anne and Gilbert Blythe’s youngest daughter is still a teenager. But when she falls in love with a soldier and her brothers enlist in the conflict, Rilla must summon all of her courage as her life changes forever."

Publisher's description:

"Rilla is Anne and Gilbert Blythe’s youngest daughter, an excitable 15-year-old who is unaware of how the world works, and is only interested in having fun. But the world is on the brink of a global war, and soon Rilla’s family and life are turned upside down, as several of her brothers enlist in the army and are sent to fight overseas.

The book follows Rilla’s life through the duration of World War I, as she grows up quickly from the responsibilities put on young women in this time. She adopts an orphaned child and raises him, runs the local Junior Red Cross, falls in love with a soldier just before he deploys, and even assists in the elopement of a soldier to his beloved.

This novel captures the anxiety of living with one’s family away at war, as well as captures the unique perspective of a woman’s life at home during the First World War (and is the only Canadian novel that shows this perspective written by a contemporary of the war). Through the sadness and bleak moments brought to the world in this war, and the loss that the Blythes face, there is yet again hope to be found in the love of the families and neighbors of Ingleside."

Created May 1, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Anne Of Green Gables "When I Read, I Dream" Barbie Doll

Twenty years ago, in 2002, Mattel released an Anne of Green Gables Barbie doll. Mattel’s eight-inch-tall Anne Shirley doll was part of their “When I Read, I Dream” Timeless Treasures Collection.

Which dolls were part of Mattel's “When I Read, I Dream” collection?

This collection included the following four dolls based on storybook heroines:

• Anne from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables
• Heidi inspired by Johanna Spyri’s Heidi
• Fern from E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web
• Jo inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
  

How did Mattel describe their Anne of Green Gables recreation?

The back of the doll's box introduces the collection and Anne Shirley:

"When I Read, I Dream™ collector dolls celebrate the friends we make between the pages of best-loved books. Meet Anne Shirley, the lively and talkative little girl from Green Gables of Prince Edward Island.

The spirited Anne is always full of surprises, not only for her adoptive parents, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, but also for delighted readers of the L.M. Montgomery classic.

She is re-created here in a Victorian-style peach-and-green print dress, boater hat and, of course, her 'life-long sorrow'—her signature red hair. Standing at the Green Gables gate, she looks ready for adventure, perhaps a drift downriver in a leaky boat or a trembling walk through the 'Haunted Wood'!"

Mattel's Technical Product Details webpage for the doll (Product# 50726) describes it as follows:

"When I Read I Dream™ collector dolls celebrate the friends we make between the pages of best-loved books. Anne is re-created here in a Victorian-style outfit in soft shades of peach and celadon green. Her dress has a peach sailor-like collar accented with a celadon bow and a crisply pleated peach linen skirt. Atop her head is a boater hat trimmed with a green ribbon. Off-white tights and white shoes add finishing touches. Anne is beautifully detailed, right down to her green eyes and, of course, her “life-long sorrow”—her signature red hair."

The Barbie Collectibles Website provides the following description of the Anne Shirley doll:

"From the beloved children's story Anne of Green Gables comes this darling 8" doll. Anne wears a delightful peach and green sailor-style dress accented with a green bow, and a pleated peach linen skirt. Her ensemble also includes off-white tights and matching shoes, and a straw-like boater hat accented with a green ribbon. Her darling red hair and sparkling green eyes make this doll perfectly precious!"

According to Planet of the Dolls, the doll’s body was based on that of Barbie’s little sister Stacie from the 1990s.

Is the Anne of Green Gables Barbie doll still available?

Mattel's Anne of Green Gables Barbie doll is no longer available in retail stores, but you can still find it on ebay and other resale websites.

Created April 27, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

A real poet...

"You can never be a real poet if you haven't made at least one poem about spring."

-L.M. Montgomery
Emily of New Moon

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read the Emily of New Moon series:



Created March 21, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

I hate this war...

"'I hate this war,' said Rilla bitterly, as she gazed out into the maple grove that was a chill glory of pink and gold in the winter sunset."

-L.M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Rilla of Ingleside and the Anne of Green Gables series:



Created March 11, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Anne of Green Gables 13-Month Undated Planner and Diary

I came across a beautiful Anne of Green Gables planner and diary today on Etsy by CALIKET. It's called "Anne Story" and is a classic story diary. This 13-month undated planner can be used to keep track of your day-to-day tasks, and you can also fill it with drawings, quotes, and diary entries. It looks so pretty and has such sweet drawings of Anne Shirley.

The CALIKET Etsy shop sells several Anne of Green Gables greeting cards too, including one with the sweet image of Anne Shirley featured above and one with Anne under a blooming cherry tree.

Created February 7, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

For the first time in her life...

"For the first time in her life Pat found out what it was like to say good-bye to some one who was not coming back."

-L.M. Montgomery
Pat of Silver Bush

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read the Pat of Silver Bush series:



Created February 6, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

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