Snowed In by Barbara M. Lucas & Illus by Catherine Stock

This past weekend we were rather snowed in--not for months on end, but for a full 36 hours, which felt dramatic enough. 

This is the story of Grace and Luke. At first you think they are just waving goodbye like a regular day. 

But then they go to the store and pick up a lot of supplies. 

And they get boxes filled with books from the library. 

Snow is just beginning to fall as they reach home. 

By the next morning, they are snowed in for the rest of the winter. 

As a child, that sounded enchanting. As an adult, it sounds a little petrifying. I like staying at home as much as the next person, but.... I can leave when I want. I can imagine feeling a little boxed in if I couldn't leave. 

They do their chores. 

And read. 

I have always had a bit of a love affair with the west, so a book combining the west and a love of reading is going to win me over pretty easily. 

Apparently this story came from a cowboy Barbara Lucas talked to once--he showed her some of his own writings and they talked about his schooling, since his writing showed an incredible depth of literary knowledge and intelligence. He said he got to school when he could, but was often snowed in for the winters, so his parents always made sure there were a lot of books around. 

Aren't these pictures great? 

Imaginary wanderings.

Heart eyes!

And then it was spring again and the way to town thawed out. 

As long as the supplies held out, no one got incredibly sick, the house didn't burn, and no wolves/bears/murderers came to call, I could see this being an idyllic time. 

Basically, I would like to be a pioneer, but with no inconveniences. Sounds reasonable. 

Anne Arrives by Kallie George and Illus by Abigail Halpin

I was a little skeptical of this book. I mean how can you distill LM Montgomery into a short little picture book? 

BUT it really only handles a chapter or two per book (because other books are in the works!), so it isn't wildly condensed.

And it is illustrated by Abigail Halpin who happens to be a favorite of mine.

End papers

Floral borders are the best.

Wild roses and Mrs. Lynde puzzling over Matthews unprecedented trip to Carmondy in the middle of the day. 

Rachel Lynde going over to grill Marilla about circumstances. 

Anne waiting patiently.

The thing about favorite books being turned into illustrated versions is things do not always look exactly how they look in your head. The White Way of Delight looked differently. And it wasn't sunset yet. 

I feel like I need to reread this just so I can see if I was missing some details. Because that is entirely possible. 

Discussing the burden of red hair.

Disappointment.

Communing with the Snow Queen outside her window.

Anne determined to be happy even though she was being sent back.

The red roads of Prince Edward Island

And then the delight of staying and getting to name the geranium on the window sill.

Mrs. Lynde receiving mortal offense. 

Anne in high dudgeon. 

Anne, crowned and boqueted with wildflowers. 

Icicles by Anonymous From Sing a Song of Seasons by Nosy Crow

Icicles

We are little icicles

Melting in the sun

Can  you see our tiny teardrops

Falling one by one? 

                                   --Annoymous

I Heard a Bird Sing From Sing a Song of Seasons

  I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing 

         In the dark of December

 A magical thing      

        And sweet to remember.

       "We are nearer to spring 

                Than we were in September,"

I heard a bird sing  

         In the dark of December.

                                                     --Oliver Herford

From the anthology of Poems Sing a Song of Seasons selected by Fiona Waters & Illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon

Kilmeny of the Orchard by LM Montgomery

LM Montgomery, while I love her dearly, can be a teensy weensy bit melodramatic. This book is where she showcases all her mad melodramatic skills. 

The book is told from the point of view of the man you see brooding in the background on the cover, which is somewhat unusual for LM Montgomery. Eric Marshall has just graduated from college and is at a loose end before going to work for his millionaire father. A friend needs a break, so asks Eric to substitute teach for him for a month on PEI in a small town named Lindsay. 

And wouldn't you know it, Eric goes and falls in love with the one impossible girl in Lindsay. Kilmeny Gordon has never been out in public and has never spoken. Her mother decided her own personal beauty was a terrible burden, so decided Kilmeny should stay out of the public eye for fear she would realize she is beautiful. There is a complicated backstory to her mother, which you learn through the book. It is sad, dark, and mildly insane. LM Montgomery was never afraid to bring a little dark into her writing. 

Kilmeny can play violin like magic, is incredibly beautiful, and totally innocent due to her lack of contact with the outside world. One thing I don't exactly like is that Kilmeny's worth is definitely dependent on her beauty. Eric is a millionaires son. Falling in love with a poor girl from a rural PEI town is not really part of his millionaire father's life plan for Eric. Eric tells his father and anyone else who questions his choice of girl "Just wait until you see Kilmeny." Not interact with her and enjoy her wit, but just observe her beauty; that will justify my choice of woman. Kilmeny has a lot of great characteristics, so she is not some vapid beauty. Eric appreciates her musical talent, her wit, her intelligence, her pleasure in life, but it is her beauty that he keeps mentioning. 

There are occasions when stereotypes are brought into LM Montgomery's works, and this is one of them. Kilmeny has an adopted brother-ish sort of person who happens to be Italian. The poor guy is forever being irrational, brooding, and passionate. Because that is how Italians are apparently. At least in 1910's PEI. 

So Kilmeny of the Orchard is melodramatic, somewhat shallow, and stereotypical. If you read this book with a modern sensibility, you will likely roll your eyes. However, most people come to this book after Anne or Emily and already adore LM Montgomery, so they will love this book based on that fact alone. And really, for this time and in this place, the sensibilities in this book are pretty representative.

And guess what? I love this book. I can't take it seriously, but this was one of my first ever LM Montgomery books. (It just so happens this is her shortest novel.) I listened to Anne when I was very little, so loved her, then read this when I was too young to tackle of book of Anne's length, but wanted more LM Montgomery. So I love this book for sentimental reasons. Plus, I was much more melodramatic as a nine year old or whatever I was when I read this. So I probably didn't roll my eyes at all. 

There is poetry in this book, lyrical descriptions of PEI in May, and an overall happy ending. And, it is by LM MONTGOMERY, for crying out loud. So you can do a lot worse. Just don't think you will find LM Montgomery's clever, biting wit or hilarious situations. 

Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery

I have had this post sitting around for awhile, needing words. Like two years. Turns out that writing about one of your favorite books in ALL THE WORLD is difficult. I mean, where do you begin? The writing. The setting. The characters. The timelessness. The Canadianness. The marvelousness.  And quotes--LM Montgomery's writing is so marvelous it just demands to be quoted. But where to start? 

There is simply too much. 

However, this week, I have been enjoying the #12daysofannestagram pictures up. So fun! 

So I decided to get it together and do my own week of Anne. Or rather LM Montgomery. 

There are a lot of very beautiful editions of Anne of Green Gables nowadays. Every once in awhile, I am tempted to buy one. 

   

But I am a sucker for sets. I don't want a beautifully illustrated book and 6 other books that don't match the first. 

For sheer color, this set is hard to beat.  

These are my current favorites. These are by Elly McKay, a Canadian artist. It is all cut paper that she arranges just so and photographs. Or at least that is what I understand of her process. That Rainbow Valley cover!! And Windy Poplars and House of Dreams. I just really want these ones so I can look at them more closely. 

When it really comes down to it, I kind of like the one I first read, this orange-y colored 1980's edition. Familiarity. And I happen to already own the entire set. Some day when I become rich, I might buy a beautiful set. For now, I only glance at the cover and dive into the words, so the cover isn't overly important. But having beautiful things is important. So someday.... 

Still, I wonder if I will always associate this beat up, unbeautiful cover with the delight and rapture of a first time reading of Anne....

Anne is delightful. She is fierce. Imaginative. Delighted with life. Longing for all the right things. Sees all the right things. 

There are so many different reasons to love Anne. Her fierce independence, her determination, her imagination, her ability to see magic where everyone else sees the prosaic, her passion, her poetry, her fanciful fairy world.... So much to love! I love Anne the most fiercely for her ability to see magic where everyone else sees the prosaic. 

Anne loves the world around her. She can see beauty and mystery in walking across a cow pasture. I love, love, love that about her. Because that is how I want to see the world. I want to be amazed by all the incredibleness of everyday things. Because how marvelous to be delighted by the things that are right around you! How dreary to have to travel great distances to be amazed. I am all for traveling great distances too. But I expect to be just as entranced by the new place as I was at home. 

If you can find wonder in the way the sunlight hits the drops of dew on the front lawn in the early morning or the endless shades of blue in a ripening blueberry, life will never be mundane. 

Anne carried her own bit of wonder with her. She could pull it out at will to escape from her hard childhood or wander into it in daydreams to enhance the present. I love Anne for teaching me to see the poetry in the way the light falls through the maple leaves onto the lawn and to thrill to the wildness of birch leaves turned upside down and silver just before a storm. 

Anne of Green Gables one hundred and ten years old this month. And it still feels fresh to me. Sure, there are some outdated references to heathens and the French Canadians, but mostly, it is the story of a young girl making the best of the difficult hand she was dealt. The story of a young girl finding the beauty and potential in every situation. 

And I will always, always think of Anne when I pick apple blossoms and carry them inside. Of Marilla grumbling about the petals falling everywhere while Anne is in raptures about the magnificence and generosity of apple trees in giving us blossoms so freely and lavishly. 

Oh Anne. 

Bringing the Outside In by Mary McKenna Siddals & Illus by Patrice Barton

Oh May and June. All those dandelion, apple blossom, and lilac bouquets. The discoveries and finds that were hidden under the melting snow. The wild asparagus discovered on morning walks and kept in a vase on the counter until it is sizzled up for supper. The dirt and sand covering the hallway floor. The fresh air blowing in after a winter of tightly closed windows. The new mown grass tracked in after dew covered exploration... 

We are bringing the outside in. 

This sweet book follows four kids through the four seasons.

The text is rhythmic and simple, perfect keeping tiny listeners attention.

I am not entirely sure if they are all family, but they look like it. Which is pretty cool. You don't see mixed families very often in books. 

Summer

Fall

Winter

Coziness!!

All those treasures and pictures and stories and memories...

I adore kids loving the outside.

Mommy's lap and pictures and stories of outside. 

Can life get better? I submit that it cannot.