Book Review: Anne Arrives

Anne Arrives: Inspired by Anne of Green Gables by Kallie George

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Anne of Green Gables has been around for over 110 years now. Considering L. M. Montgomery's death year of 1942, with the original copyright date of the text, that puts this classic Canadian story in the public domain. It's lovely that everyone can enjoy it for free or inexpensively. Except that it also means everyone and anyone can appropriate any parts of the story or characters for their own use. Anne Arrives is an example of taking Montgomery's beautiful writing and simplifying it down so far that it looses all meaning.

Illustration
The strongest part of Anne Arrives is easily the illustrations by Abigail Halpin. I love the prominent freckles, orange-red hair and petite look of Anne. If nothing else there are some lovely spreads to enjoy if you need a quick dose of Anne's adorable look.

Writing
It's really unfortunate to me that Kallie George has taken Montgomery's gorgeous, classic prose and dumbed it down to five or six sentences per chapter. All the dialogue is in a simple basic, 'See Spot Run' style. I realize that is because this is a book for early readers. However, perhaps it's worth noting that Anne is not really a story that early readers can fully benefit from.
If I pretend I have no knowledge of the Anne story, when I read the opening pages it feels like a very sexist story. It heavily implies that girls can't do chores, can't help on a farm and aren't able bodied enough to be of help to Matthew. Now, obviously time frame is relevant for context and the nuance of the story. As well as it being a small town and an older time period. All of this is lost in this simplified version of the story. I'm not convinced that this is the Anne we want children to first experience and it certainly doesn't feel like the Anne I know and love. My family is from PEI. My Nana (Grandmother) grew up in a farmhouse just a few kilometers away from Montgomery's family home and so Anne was a huge part of my childhood, even though I didn't live there.

Overall
As much as I love Anne I just don't feel that there is any justice or substance to this format and it has no appeal to me. I believe it is worth the delay for any little girl (or boy) so that they can experience an authentic and true Anne Shirley. This beloved classic story is too lovely to put into less sentences than are likely on the first page of the original book.

To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Buy Anne Arrives at Amazon OR get the original story!  ;)