Welcome Curious Kittens! This is a special 2-part series based on my pilgrimage to Prince Edward Island for the Anne of Green Gables experience. L.M. Montgomery’s books on the stubbornly cheerful and tenacious red-headed spitfire influenced me deeply in my growing up years and this is my homage to it. I’ll be giving you sneak peeks into the mini-collection of paintings inspired by the trip that I’m working on (coming up in the next few weeks!), as well as the trip photos, books and resource materials that are helping me understand deeper the world Anne lived in. If you’re an Anne fan, this is a wonderful time to reconnect with the story and the land that inspired it!
This week I will start with the list of reading material I’ve picked up in PEI as well as some of my favorite Anne books.
♠Anne of Green Gables (Book 1)
Start here of course, if you haven’t read the books. And if you have it might be time for a trip back to PEI for a re-read! Looking for your own collection of Anne books? Shop around carefully, there are some absolutely gorgeous modern editions with hand-painted cover illustrations, particularly this one by Elly McKay, made from paper cut-outs!
♠Anne of Avonlea (Book 2), Anne of the Island
The next two books in the Anne series are my favorites after the original. It tells of Anne growing up and falling in love. Just beautiful.
♠Imagining Anne: The Island Scrapbooks of L.M. Montgomery
This was a 100 anniversary book, beautiful with it’s gold-foiled hard cover and scans of L.M. Montgomery’s scrapbooks of Prince Edward Island in the time she wrote Anne of Green Gables. It’s just enchanting to see the inspiration that shaped the world she created in her Anne books.
♠The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery: Volume I, 1889-1910
It was quite the surreal experience to talk to L.M. Montgomery’s descendant in the little bookstore on the Prince Edward Island homestead she grew up in. The author wrote many journals but this was the one I was recommended-the first volume featuring entries from the years she wrote Anne. A fascinating peek into an artist’s mind and experiences, one who wrote so beautifully and lyrically even in her private journals.
♠The Alpine Path by L.M. Montgomery
This is a wonderful little book, written autobiographically about the author’s career as a writer. It’s a beautiful vignette of her dreams and ambitions but is especially interesting because it’s possible to see that she wrote some of her life into Anne Shirley’s.
♠The Poetry of L.M. Montgomery
Lovely little book of poems of the author’s nature observations around Prince Edward Island.
♠Anne of Green Gables TV Mini-Series
Oh Megan Follows was the perfect Anne. Revisit the enchanting tv series!
♠Anne and Gilbert: Selected Songs Performed by the Original Cast
A fun little musical soundtrack. While it is more meaningful to have watched the musical (which we did when we were in PEI) there are still some heart-tugging tunes to fall in love with here.
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Explorer Tip: I hope you’ve enjoyed this little respite from your regular inspirations, remember, it’s not enough to just know about them from me, you’ll need to dive in and read the books yourself to spark your own imagination and creativity. Be the voracious explorer I know you are, now go!