Anne of Green Gables and other Coming of Age Books
TV ClubHouse: archive: Library - Miscellaneous thru May 2003:
Anne of Green Gables and other Coming of Age Books
Juju2bigdog | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 07:34 am     Kep421 Monday, December 17, 2001 - 07:36 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BTW, I was reading your posts and someone mentioned Anne of Green Gables. I loved those books as a child. I was a ward of the state and was raised in foster homes, so those books really hit home for me. Anne was my favorite person, because to me she was so real... When PBS came out with the miniseries, I was floored because Megan Follows looked just like the Anne in my imagination...I watch everytime it comes on. I tried to tape it once, off the Disney Channel, but it didn't tape well. I think its great to find another fan of Lucy Montgomery's Anne series. -------------------------------------------- Juju2bigdog Monday, December 17, 2001 - 08:44 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I love Anne just because she is so spunky and cheerful and considers thing that have "scope for imagination." Is it "scope for imagination"? Or something else? Imagination doesn't seem like quite the right word, but it might be. It was quite a wonderful phrase, whatever it was. ------------------------------------------- Kep421 Monday, December 17, 2001 - 08:57 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You're right Juju, it was "scope for the imagination". Did you read the books as a child, or was Anne a recent discovery? ------------------------------------------- Juju2bigdog Monday, December 17, 2001 - 10:28 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just read it this summer by accident, Anne of Green Gables. Haven't read any of the others. --------------------------------------------- Tess Monday, December 17, 2001 - 10:34 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nope, I don't mind at all. I read the books as a child and bought them to read to my daughter when she's just a little bit older. I also bought the tapes and can watch them anytime I want but still tune in when they are on PBS here. I'm raising such a little tom-boy (wouldn't you just know it??) but I hope she loves the books as much as I did/do. In any case, she loves books! ------------------------------------------- Wargod Monday, December 17, 2001 - 04:23 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok I'm the person who bought my house on the one thing it had going for it......built in book case in one wall. How is it that I never read these books as a child or adult?? ---------------------------------------- Kep421 Monday, December 17, 2001 - 07:04 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You should read them now Wargod, I enjoyed them as an adult as much as I did as a child. There is also the PBS miniseries you can view. There are several books, Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Windy Poplars, etc... The books take Anne from an orphan waif who is taken in by an elderly brother/sister couple all the way up to her marrying her childhood sweethart and raising children herself. The stories are very funny and touching... I don't know how you missed them. The books were in every library I visited as a kid. ---------------------------------------- Juju2bigdog Monday, December 17, 2001 - 07:14 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have always known about the books, even since I was a child, just never knew exactly what they were about or got around to reading them. So she does marry whatshisname? The one she is taking so much trouble to ignore in Anne of Green Gables? Neato! ----------------------------------------- Kep421 Monday, December 17, 2001 - 07:39 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gil? Oh yeah, he stays patient till the end...And Diana marries Fr...hey, get the books, or if you can't wait to read them all, or you just don't have time, rent the miniseries and view it over a long weekend...The PBS miniseries stays pretty true to the books and like I said, Megan Follows is excellent as Anne...The guy who plays Gilbert is kinda cute too!!!! --------------------------------------------- Kep421 Monday, December 17, 2001 - 07:47 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh and Juju? Colleen Dewhurst and Robert Farnsworth are spectacular as Matthew and Marilla Cutberth. Remember the part when Matthew goes to buy a dress with puffed sleeves for Anne? It is so priceless in the miniseries I laugh and cry everytime I see it!!! I don't remember the name of the lady who plays Rachel Lynde, but she fits the character to a "T", and the look on her face when Anne "apologizes" for calling her names is just like it is described in the book... sorry Tess, it's just I get carried away when I talk about books I love --------------------------------------------- Tess Monday, December 17, 2001 - 08:03 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kep--no need to apologize--I'm smiling with wonderful memories here. Did you see the 3rd part of the series where Anne and Gilbert are married and in the war in Europe? Megan Follows still plays Anne and you're right...she is absolutely perfect. I may not wait until Sarah is old enough to appreciate these books. Maybe I'll start without her. Kep421 Monday, December 17, 2001 - 08:24 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh yeah, I did see it. Yes, it was great drama and I thought it was real cool to have Anne and Gil in places I hadn't read about...It was like getting a new book!!! Thank you for your kind hospitality...your welcome to my folder anytime!!!! Juju2bigdog Monday, December 17, 2001 - 09:49 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, Matthew buying the dress with the puffed sleeves! One of the cutest parts of the book. Okay, okay, maybe I will rent the miniseries. Maybe. I'd probably rather read the book. Tess Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 01:50 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well Juju and Kep--now I'm up late wrapping presents for mailing (yes your coctail wienies are on their way, Juju) and watching Little Women. Another one of my all-time favorites. I bought this book to read to Sarah also. The version I'm watching right now is the one with Katherine Hepburn. I have loved every version. No matter how many times I see whichever version of the movie or read the book I still cry when Bethy dies. But I love remembering how much the stories meant to me when I was growing up. Kep421 Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 06:17 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh yeah, I read Little Women and Little Men. I wanted Jo and Laurie to get together sooooo bad. It still disappoints me every time I see a movie version!!! Altho I will admit that Herr Baher certainly does seem more suited to Jo....but the Jo/Laurie "miss" still burns my toast (just one of my many issues!!!!) Have you ever picked up a book, thinking it was about one thing and then finding out it was about something totally opposite??? While it hasn't happened a lot through the years (not since I started reading jacket covers), the one book that stands out the most for me because it was sooooo off the mark was Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". I was 11 yrs old and I had just finished reading the Hobbit series. I thought Steinbeck's book was a fantasy about little mice in a fairy land!!! Boy was I surprised There was a great deal I didn't understand the first time I read it, but wow did I ever get an early glimpse into the world of grownups!!!! Suddenly, Cherry Ames, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift and the Hardy Boys just didn't do it for me anymore JuJu and Tess, what were your most memorable books that maybe changed the way you saw the world? -------------------------------------------- Juju2bigdog right here right now: I hope nobody minds me pasting that conversation in here. Just wanted to get the antecedents set down so others can continue the conversation over here rather than in Tess's Members Folder.
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Willi | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 08:34 am     Oh Anne of Green Gables. Nice memories. And, I agree...Little Women is fabulous no matter how many times I watch or read it. Classics. Great idea Juju. I donned camouflage & am helping (or scaring) Kep to find her way here.
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Willi | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 08:37 am     As soon as I steer her in the right direction, I'll start thinking of some other "Coming of Age" books. As a child, books were my lifeline. |
Kep421 | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 08:38 am     Holy Cow, I'm stunned!!!! You mean to say this topic has been here all the time and I never knew it???? I sure hope Tess doesn't get to lonely.... So JuJu, are you going to answer my question? (me to Willi, I preferred the world of books to real life when I was little. I think it kept me sane...) |
Willi | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 08:54 am     Hi Kep! You're good! This is a new thread started by Juju to continue the conversation from Tess' folder (so I have gathered) but the Library has been here for quite awhile as you'll see in the "Watermelon" thread located here in the Library. Have fun!
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Willi | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 08:56 am     Oh...Just so you're not really really confused, "Whatwillidonow" is the long version of the nickname "Willi." Enjoy The Library.  |
Kep421 | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 09:12 am     Oh Willi, I already knew that 'cause I checked you out quite a while ago!!! Thank you so much (and JuJu) for guiding me to this place. I haven't been reading as much as I used to because none of my adult friends read very much. But I've been reading some of these posts and have developed an irresistable urge to run to Borders... I usually don't go to Border's too often because I end up in a chair reading for hours...I can see now that I'm gonna have to risk it!!! I think Watermelon is first on my list... |
Tess | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 12:18 pm     So this is where everyone went. My childhood was mostly spent reading. The books I chose usually depicted happy families, or girls like Anne who were alone but then found someone to love them. I was never into the fantasys of the world of Oz or Alice in Wonderland. I needed the books where children were cherished no matter how rich or poor, books that showed how life ought to be when you're eight or ten.I remember reading The Five Little Peppers and Elsie Dinsmore and crying my heart out. I started on Agatha Christie at age 12 and read every book she wrote. Right now I own every book she wrote in a matched set aquired 2 books at a time. That fueled a love for British Mysteries and a love affair with England even though it is unlikely that I will ever get to see the country itself. I still chuckle when I think of books like Beezus and Ramona and the Bobsey Twins. Of course I owned the complete Nancy Drew series and the Hardy Boys. I'm trying to remember the first "grown-up" book I read. Hard to remember THAT far back. |
Juju2bigdog | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 02:37 pm     I grew up reading every kind of fairy tale I could get my hands on, for which I think goes the credit for my large and irregular vocabulary. Most of the authors were not Americans, and they used a large variety of words not normally used in American speech. I don't specifically recall it, but I expect I had to look up every word I did not know. I loved the Pippi Longstocking books, Swiss Family Robinson, let me think what others. I can recall reading and enjoying the Five Little Peppers now that Tess mentions it, but I couldn't tell you what it is about. Okay, here is a word from Swiss Family Robinson - onager. How many people or 12 year olds know what an onager is? I do. How many people remember a word from a book they read as a 12 year old? Aiiiiieeeeeeee!!! |
Kep421 | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 03:49 pm     I remember the Bobsey Twins!!!! I can only remember the names of the older set "Bert and Nan". It's been way to long for me to remember the names of the younger blond twins....I also remember Pippi Longstockings! I remember mostly thinking "Boy, is this girl rude or what!!!" Oh, and by the way, I know what an onager is!!!! I didn't learn about Beezus and Ramona until my children started to read. But they sure tickled my funny bone. I was always taking my kids books!!! I know what you mean Tess, about books depicting fun family life. I bet you got a kick out of "Cheaper by the Dozen".... I don't remember The Five Little Peppers, what was the story about? |
Babyruth | Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 07:26 pm     Oh my goodness! What a great thread I've stumbled upon--it's full of other booklovers! <doing little happy dance> I just posted earlier today in the movie area abut how much I loved "The Shipping News" which is now a movie to be released on Christmas. I heard of "Anne of Green Gables" the whole time I was growing up. My mother loved them as a child and she would try to get me to read them. I was such a resistant little tomboy and didn't want to read anything "girlie". LOL And now here I am reading about how you all loved those books. Maybe I'll get one and pick it up... When I was a kid, my brother and I read "The Happy Hollisters". It was a series with a LOT of books, about a family of 5 kids ages 12 thru 5 who were always solving local mysteries and getting into troublesome adventures. They were perfect children with perfect (though apparently often absentee) parents and a perfect dog and a perfect cat. My brother and I didn't own many of these books, but our piano teacher did, and when we were dropped off at her house we would read them while waiting for our lessons. I also loved Ramona, Beezus, and Henry and Ribsy. Oh, and Pippi Longstocking, too. I guess she wasn't too "girlie" for me-LOL My brothers and I were all avid readers as kids. |
Bookworm | Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 07:58 pm     I read a couple Anne of Green Gables books, and all of the Romona series. But my favorite were the Little House series. I read those books 2-3 times each. Any other Little House fans out there? |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 09:29 pm     Babyruth and Bookworm, there is a whole section here called The Library. I don't know how you usually access the board, or how other people do it (I normally go in through New Messages and read everything that interests me), BUT if I wanted to go see what is in the Library, here is how I would do it: At the top of this page, second from right, there is a link titled Discussion. Click on that. There you will see all the sections of TVClubhouse. Down near the bottom is The Library, and there are about 20 threads in there. Read any or all, and comment in any that interest you. You comment will reactivate the thread, and likely others will join in after you. Happy reading. |
Kep421 | Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 09:59 pm     Bookworm, yes I read a few of the Laura Ingalls books...but I remember Caddie Woodlawn more. I liked Caddie better than Laura because she seemed more prone to trouble (kinda like I was). Did you ever read Caddie Woodlawn??? |
Bookworm | Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 10:06 pm     Yes, as a matter of fact I did. But don't really remember her much. |
Jbean | Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 07:37 pm     speaking of anne of green gables, unfortunately i haven't read the books but i have seen the movies...anne of green gables and anne of avonlea, and i loved them. there is a newer movie too, although it was just made for a movie, not from a book called anne of green gables, the continuing story. i want to see this so badly, but i somehow always miss it when it is on pbs, and you can't rent it anywhere around here, and i don't really want to buy it. if anyone knows when this will be on pbs next, please let me know. i know you guys are an all-knowing group! if someone does know this, please e-mail me (it's in my profile) THANKS! |
Jbean | Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 07:43 pm     Hey, while i'm here, did anyone read the babysitters club books and sweet valley high? these were some of my favorites! |
Bree_In_Va | Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 08:07 am     Jbean--I own the entire SVH series and most of the bsc. I love those books! Who did you like better, Liz or Jess? |
Wcv63 | Wednesday, June 19, 2002 - 11:34 am     Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea....I found some "kindred spirits"! Also all the Louisa May Alcott books....Little Women, Little Men, Eight Cousins. A classic for children is Black Beauty. Of course you can't forget the Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm books! I saved all my favorite books from childhood and now my daughter (age 9) is reading them. She gets a thrill from seeing my childish scrawl of signature on the inside cover. There is nothing as exciting your child connecting with your own childhood friends. It really is something to see your child mesmerized by the same books you cherished. |
Seamonkey | Wednesday, June 19, 2002 - 01:19 pm     Give a look at the books by Gene Stratton Porter.. Freckles, A Girl of the Limberlost and ?? set in Indiana long ago and quite good. And I think there was a third Alcott about the little women called Jo's Boys. I loved the Heidi books too. And then a little later, My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, Green Grass of Wyoming.. It really IS nice that some books can enchant several generations. |
Lauword | Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 07:09 am     Man, you guys are bringing it all back. In 5th grade I read every Nancy Drew I could get my hands on. The first book I remember falling in love with though was Charlotte's Web in third grade. Its still one of my favorites. Anne and Little House were also fun. For some reason, and I don't know if anyone else has heard of it, The Dollhouse Murders also sticks out in my mind quite a bit. It sounds morbid, but it wasn't. I loved Superfudge and Stuart Little as well. Does anyone remember, Are You There God, Its Me Margaret? LOL. Jbean, I LOVED SVH. I read every one and I loved Liz. I guess I am a good girl at heart. |
Seamonkey | Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 10:14 am     Ah for you who like books on tape there is a WONDERFUL unabridged tape of Charlotte's Web that is read by E. B. White.. absolutely enchanting. SVH was after my time, cuz I'm older than dirt. I actually cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Cherry Ames, Nancy Drew.. my mom magically would appear with a new one at the best times.. if I was a bit low, or bored or home sick.. 'twas a wonderful thing, indeed. She also provided, one at a time, a series of biographies.. Clara Barton, Betsy Ross and many more, that fed my imagination. I just cannot imagine.. what if I'd been "book-starved" as a child. Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, everything by J. D. Salinger (i'm old enough to have ordered some of his before they were published, but Catcher in the Rye of course was already around when I hit H.S. and it was banned so of course our teacher in advanced English told us we must read it |
Snee | Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 11:27 am     i didn't really like the third 'anne' tv movie. it didn't correspond to the series of books time-wise so that bugged me. i devoured the series right up to the end, 'rilla of ingleside'! say, have any of you seen the 'avonlea' series on tv? it ran here (in canada) as a weekly one hour show--7 p.m on sunday nights and starred sarah polley for the first few years. it takes place after the anne days but is wonderful in its continuation of the atmosphere and happenings in avonlea. i loved it! oh, kevin sullivan--the man behind the tv movies--produced it. |
Marysafan | Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 01:50 pm     I started reading quite young...The Bobsey Twins were my first favorites. Nan and Bert, and Freddie and Flossie! I still have my first copy. As I grew older, I read a lot Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and Donna Parker. The I went through my nurse phase and read every book about nurses I could get my hands on. I recently came across a hard cover dust jacket version of Anne of Green Gables and snatched it up. I must find out what I missed! |
Aria | Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 10:46 pm     Oh a thread full of kindred spirits! Who knew!? I have the Anne of Green Gables books on the book case in my bedroom. I bring them out and read them again when I am ill or just feeling blue. I love them more now than as a girl. (BTW Snee, I too watched that series and I watch the movies everytime CBC plays them, drives my husband nuts!) I also read every Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobsey Twins, Little Women, Little Men, Laura Ingalls series in grade school. My mother also introduced me to the Beany Malone Series, and Trixie Beldon. I am still voracious about reading! (thanks Mom & Dad)  |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - 09:07 am     Wow! I am so glad this thread got resurrected. I had forgotten about it. Also forgot I started it, LOL. Well, and now Kep seems to have disappeared. Too bad. Anyhow, to update my instructions above - If you want to go to the Library and see what is in there, now you go to the top of the page and click on Topics, scroll down, and you will see the Library. |
Maesin | Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - 01:04 pm     I just thought I would throw in another couple of series. Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and Many Water". I wore mine out growing up and had to buy anther set. I also liked the "Cronicles of Naria" series by CS Lewis. A group of books for the younger kids that I still have are the Serendipity books by Stephen Cosgrove and Robin James. I give those to my friends kids that are just learning to read. I could go on and on, I loved books when I was little and thankfully, it's something I still love! |
Djgirl5235 | Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 12:14 pm     I have to say that I have always been an "Anne" fan - so much so that in Grade 4 I did an entire speech dedicated to "Anne of Green Gables". I can't wait to have a daughter of my own to share these wonderful stories with. My mom bought all the "Anne" and "Laura Ingles" books for me and I've kept them just waiting for a girl of my own... Just a couple more years to go...it's killing me, really! |
Breezy | Saturday, September 07, 2002 - 05:56 pm     I have read and viewed the whole series of Anne Of Green Gables. I was highly impressed with all of them. The series touched my heart as few have. Megan Follows is an excellent actress, and makes the series one that you won't forget. As a child I loved Pippi Longstocking, and The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. I don't want to forget Nancy Drew series. What fun to have these treasures to read growing up! |
Vanillarose | Saturday, September 07, 2002 - 09:27 pm     Oh, I just love this thread!!!! Anne of Green Gables was definitely my favorite book, growing up! I've also re-read it many times as an adult!! I think it was the first book where I really got lost in the character, as if she were a kindred spirit...almost part of me. I also loved so many other books!!! Heidi Jane Eyre Little Women so many Beverley Cleary books so many books by Nina Bawden (Especially "Three on the Run") and during my teen years there was Tolkien. The Middle Earth he created was just so phenomenal and absorbing! |
Sia | Sunday, September 08, 2002 - 10:27 am     I love the "Anne of Green Gables" series and have already bought a set of boxed paperbacks for my daughter who is only three and CAN'T READ yet, so that's my proof that I really love Anne Shirley! I've bought several videos & will continue to collect them as I find them. Another coming-of-age book that is as thought-provoking for adults as it is for teens and pre-teens is "The Giver." Definitely read this one before your child does--and then read it along with him or her so you can discuss it together. You want two copies of this book. Many schools are now using this novel in English classes, I believe. |
Twiggyish | Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 03:32 pm     Little Women was my favorite as a child. I've also read it with my daughter. It's a wonderful book. Also read Louisa May Alcott's other books in this series. (And still have them) I've read Anne of Green Gables, too..and LOVED it. Heidi is wonderful. I still have my Nancy Drew books =) |
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