I recently listened to Rachel McAdams’ reading of Anne of Green Gables on Audible. I usually try not to use my Audible credits on books I already own (unless they’re super long and I don’t know when I’ll have time to read them), but after listening to the sample of this on Audible, I just had to. I love Rachel McAdams, and I loved this story.
For some reason when I was a kid, I didn’t read many children’s classics. In fact, I can really only think of two off the top of my head: The Giver & Where the Red Fern Grows…and then there are those that were classics to MY childhood, like Twig, Holes, the His Dark Materials trilogy, and Harry Potter (which, okay, I think it’s safe to say the Harry Potter books are classics as well). As an adult, I am interested in going back and indulging in some of these stories, to see which ones I may want to read to my son one day. Did I mention I seriously cannot wait for that?
This is a beautiful story of an orphan girl who is adopted by an older Canadian couple (but maybe they’re brother and sister? I guess I didn’t catch that part…) on Prince Edward Island. Anne Shirley has the most magnificent scope for imagination and while she is quite spunky and a dramatic one, she never lets the lousy circumstances she has had to deal with as an orphan get her down. It’s a story that teaches us about the importance of responsibility, imagination, education, and friendship. It also paints a gorgeous picture of Prince Edward Island and life there around the turn of the 20th century.
I wish I had read this as a late elementary age girl, I think it would have taught me to never feel sorry for myself and that life is what you make it during a time when every girl should learn such things. But reading this story as an adult has been rewarding as well. It brings back the feeling of innocence and joy from childhood that doesn’t really exist in adulthood. I will definitely be continuing the series because I can’t wait to find out what happens next for Anne.
The Litertarian 