Prince Edward Island is one of the 10 provinces of Canada. Located at the east side of Canada, PEI is a beautiful island with approximately 122 000 residents. PEI has a strong economy and especially culture. The island attracts thousands of tourists not only for the popularity of the green house, but also for the multiple activities and landscapes you can enjoy all through summer. Beaches, golf courses, eco-tourism, great seafood, lots of cultural events, great museums such as the Confederation Centre of the Arts and of course the fact that the island is home to Green Gables and all of Anne’s adventures are all reasons tourists come every year.

The lush landscape found it the island has drawn tourists from around the world and inspired many artists. One of them is our beloved author LM Montgomery who has found in the beauty of PEI of the late Victorian Era her inspiration for her well-known books. The settings of her classic novel, Anne of Green Gables, takes place in the Avonlea village, located at about a 40 minutes drive from Charlottetown PEI.

If you intend to visit PEI, make sure to also visit the Prince Edward Island Anne Green Gables House, which is located in Cavendish, in the Prince Edward Island National Park (where is the Avonlea village). This popular tourist destination attracts every years thousands of visitors who come from around the world to visit the house that has inspired the setting for L.M. Montgomery. Moreover, the house and its surroundings features many other museums and other sites you ought to see, such as the the Haunted Woods and the Balsam Hollow trails.

Anne and Gilbert, The Musical at the Jubilee Theatre
Anne and Gilbert the musical is a musical play based on LM Montgomery’s books, Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island. This beautiful play explores the love story between the main characters of the Green Gables series, Anne and Gilbert. This musical offers an outstanding performance from all characters (from Anne Shirley, to Diana Barry, even Josie Pye!) and will bring laugh, strong friendship bonds, human complexity and of course love! This musical captures beautifully the confusions of becoming an adult, the complexity of love and the fun new experiences when becoming a young adult. But mostly, this play fully captures the essence of Anne of Green Gables : romantic and fun. You can catch this musical at the Jubilee Theatre.

Raspberry cordial
A recipe from Prince Edward Island made popular by the beloved book.
“Diana poured herself out a tumblerful, looked at it’s bright-red hue admiringly, and then sipped it daintily. “That’s awfully nice raspberry cordial, Anne,” she said. “I didn’t know raspberry cordial was so nice.” ” Anne of Green Gables chapter 26

You will need 1lb or 3ox of raspberries (frozen or fresh), 1 1/4 cups of sugar, 4 cups of boiling water and 2 lemons. Mix the sugar and the raspberries in a saucepan and let cook at low temperature for 20 min, until all the sugar has dissolved. Mash thoroughly then drain through a strainer. Discard the pulp and add the juice of the two lemons to the strained juice. Stir and slowly add the 4 cups of boiling water. Let it cool down then refrigerate for several hours. Enjoy!

To find more information about PEI and other Anne stuff, visit http://www.anne-of-green-gables-dvd.com/.

This post refers to the Kevin Sullivan production.

Anne of Green Gables & The Sequel.

The DVD version of AoGG casts bios, previews of the other “Anne” works by Sullivan films, and some of the movies in production.

Also, the key charms of the DVD version are the following: First, the DVD offers the actual audition of Megan Follows for the part of Anne Shirley. You will be fascinated by her debuts and first attempts at “nailing” the character of Anne Shirley, the considerable changes in Megan Follows’ performance, but also her overall natural talent. Then, the DVD  contains precious cut scenes, such as those with the wife of Reverend Allen. Third, Kevin Sullivan and the film’s director give their “Directors Commentary”. You find out that where most scenes were actually filmed: mostly in Ontario and some scenes on Prince Edward Island), that many of the actors would play different time periods in the movie in a same day (Megan Follows could be playing a 16 years old Anne Shirley in the morning and a 12 years old Anne Shirley later in the afternoon), and many other funny stories and bloopers.

The special features also shows another other side of Kevin Sullivan: he sometimes seems surprised by the fans adoration for some special scenes. For example, Sullivan does not understand why the episode where Anne thanks Matthew for the puffed sleeves dress. is such a big deal (…) Nevertheless, it is amazing to see Kevin Sullivan ability to capture the essence of that fierced red hair girl through Megan Follows, as well as  the rest of the cast Jonathan Crombie (Gilbert Blythe), Colleen Dewhurst (Marilla Cuthbert), Richard Farnsworth (Matthew Cuthbert) and Schuyler Grant (Diana Barry).

So whether you already have a videotaped version of Anne of Green Gables or not, make sure  to pick up the Anne of Green Gables DVD version as you will find your new expenditure worth every penny.

This new AoGG animated series is based on the characted Anne Shirley, from Green Gables.  This series is not based on the beloved books and movies, but expands Anne’s adventures and deals with preteen issues while keeping the joyful and romantic tone and spirit of the character. This new series bring a new light on the series and appeal a lot to younger kids. Kids and even adults of all age will enjoy AoGG new adventures!

Anne of Green Gables The Animated Series, Vol. 1 – Babysitter Blues / One True Friend	Anne of Green Gables The Animated Series, Vol. 2 – The Sleeves / Butterflies	Anne of Green Gables The Animated Series, Vol. 3 – The Avonlea Herald

AoGG dvd, The Continuing Story : B-
This last movie was not horribly bad as other people said, but it does pale greatly in comparison with the first two. The continuing story was made in 2000 and people had extremely high expectations. I would have to say that out of the three movies (AoGG, Anne of Avonlea, The continuing story), AoGG:The continuing story is far the movie I liked the least. I would not say that it was a total flop , but my expectations were way higher. The quality of the story certainly does not compare with the first two movies. First, the movie does not follow any story from the books. I believe was based after Rilla of Ingleside, but certainly doesn’t reflect the book at all. Second, The Continuing Story doesn’t have that romantic/dreamy/poetic side the first two movies have. Third, the movie takes place in a totally different setting, during World War One, which is the setting of Rilla of Ingleside. The story does fall a little bit flat and the writers seem to have lost the essence of who is Anne Shirley. I would say that out of AoGG context, this is an okay movie, but taking in account that this movie is supposed to be the continuing story, it really takes out a lot of what made us love Anne. While I would give both AoGG and Anne of Avonlea A++++, I give the last DVD a B-, because, despite of the story being not great, we still love Megan Follows. The first two movies left me with a warm feeling in my heart, and the last dvd, I’m afraid, left me somewhat cold.

Conclusion : Anne of Green Gables DVD, big yes to the first ones, the third one only for the ones who can keep their expectations low!

Purchased AoGG DVD set

I just purchased the AoGG DVD set (AoGG + Anne of Avonlea) for my daughter… and for myself!! I myself am a big fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s books. I have every single book from the Anne series, from AoGG to Rilla of Ingleside. I have read the books … gosh several decades ago. I remember when I first discovered the book, going to the library and devouring those books days and night. When I first saw the movie… well I simply fell in love with everything. Kevin Sullivan did such a good job for the first 2 movies (AoGG and Anne of Avonlea). The cast was amazing and wonderfully played their character. My favorite character has to be Anne Shirley (played by Megan Follow) for sure! The settings and the costumes were in the movies were also wonderful. Although the DVDs do not exactly followed the story from the books (it’s a compilation of the book), I think they really preserved the essence of the story and recreate the magic and the dreamy flavor of the book.

http://www.anne-of-green-gables-dvd.com is the place to go for more information about AoGG DVD set.