Thoughts & Things

An Old Favourite: Anne of Green Gables

After reading a post in Bookriot about owning multiple copies of the same book  , I thought I would share a story about a book that I personally own multiple copies of--Anne of Green Gables.

I don't remember reading the book for the first time. All I remember is how much I loved it. I read all the books. I watched all the movies. I watched every episode of the animated series. I think I may have initially read a library copy of the book, as I was quite the library lover when I was little (and still now, quite obviously).

Anne of Green Gables was a magical experience for me as a child. I was fascinated by the setting in Prince Edward Island, as well as the setting in time because of my interest in history. All of the characters were fascinating, and the story made me laugh and cry and everything in between. Anne Shirley was intensely relatable for me, and she is one of the characters I can first remember relating to in fiction as a child. I still love seeing characters who love to read and write and use their imaginations, but Anne was one of the very first I can remember falling in love with.

The first copy I was given was a junior readers' edition. I remember liking it, but it was never quite the same for me as the proper unabridged original. I received a more adult copy of it as well, I believe within a year of the first. I also received an incredibly handsome hardcover edition, with a rich green velvet cover. I also later received a boxset of the first three books (the best three, of course).

When my grandmother took a trip to the east coast and spent time in PEI, she visited Green Gables and purchased me a copy of a beautiful illustrated edition of Anne of Green Gables. I sat down and read it through as soon as she gave it to me, despite having read it a hundred times before. I know I still own this edition, but I am not sure where it went, which absolutely breaks my heart. (As a side note, I would like to add that on the same trip, my grandmother got me a "French" picture book in Quebec so I could practice reading in French. It turned out the book was actually in Spanish, and my grandma just didn't know the difference.) I later took a road trip to the east coast with my family, and I was able to personally visit Green Gables, which is one of my most precious childhood memories. I didn't purchase another edition at the time, because I already had five (although I now wish I had ignored common sense and gotten myself another), but I did get a Green Gables bookmark, as well as some postcards (which I collected then and now).

I refuse to part with any copy of Anne of Green Gables. Well, except maybe to allow others to experience the same joy. I think it might even be time for a re-read in the near future.