“Like so many people, my reaction to the news of the tragic and untimely death of Jonathan Crombie was grief, then a burning desire to read all the books and watch all the movies. (Well, maybe not all the movies: I’m firmly in the camp that maintains The Continuing Story was a travesty.)
There’s just one problem with my plan. While we own four copies of Anne of Green Gables, we own not a single copy of books 2-8. (I owned these as a kid and it’s anybody’s guess where those books ended up.) I popped online to make amends, and was delighted—and horrified—to find that my options have ballooned in the past two years.
A word to Montgomery fans: now is the best of times, now is the worst of times. There have never been so many gorgeous editions of Anne to choose from, which means deciding on just one set is terribly difficult. Here’s your guide.
Anne of Green Gables, only
Many publishers have put out striking editions of the first—and only the first—Anne book.
Puffin in Bloom edition ($16)
This beautiful full-color, gold-lettered version of Anne of Green Gables comes from the Puffin in Bloom collection by Rifle Paper Company. IÂ splurged on this collection last fall and love it. I wish they would do more Montgomery titles because I would snatch them all up, but as of this time, none are planned.
Folio Society edition. ($62.95)
This swoon-worthy edition is from the Folio Society, which offers the highest-quality hardcovers for the serious collector. Each book is clothbound, hand-illustrated, and comes with its own slipcover. I own this edition and it is gorgeous. The Folio Society offers periodic sales and a membership program to take a bit of the sting out of the prices.
Puffin clothbound classics edition ($16.95)
I own this edition, which came as part of a beautiful boxed set of children’s classics. This beautiful edition features an introduction by Lauren Child, a short biography of L. M. Montgomery, and a discussion guide. I’ll let you decide how you feel about the pink (although I will say this colorful set looks beautiful on the shelf.)
Anne of Green Gables collections.
If you want the whole series, you have fewer options, but they sure are pretty.
Sourcebooks editions ($8.99 each)
These new editions are illustrated by Canadian artist Jacqui Oakley. Each cover features a portrait of Anne, a home from the story, a flower native to Prince Edward Island, and an animal. Books 1-6 are available; paperback only.
Tundra Books paperback editions ($8.99 each)
This series (all eight books!) features hand-cut illustrations by Canadian paper artist Ellie MacKay. These illustrations were made using paper and ink, and then were set in a miniature theatre to be photographed, which gives them a unique three-dimensional quality. Note: I had a hard time finding these in the U.S. right now.
Tundra Books hardcover editions ($19.99 each)
These 8 editions are made to look like they’re clothbound, with ribbon bookmarks and stunning endpapers. Each cover says “ANNE” against a different colored background. Each book features a bonus short story by L. M. Montgomery.
Simon & Schuster editions (hardcover $16.99-$18.99 each; paperback $5.98 each)
These new releases from Simon & Schuster feature plain colorful backgrounds overlayed with a simple white papercut illustration. Books 1-4 were published last fall, Rainbow Valley came out in January, and Rilla of Ingleside is coming May 12, 2015. I have high hopes they’ll complete the series soon, but the publisher hasn’t said for sure.
A paperback box set of the first four books is available on Book Depository for $23.92.
Bantam paperback box set ($68.25; easy to find for half that)
A classic set featuring all eight books.
76 comments
Oh those are all so beautiful! I’m torn between them all! I purchased a copy of Peter Pan from the Puffin clothbound collection last year with the intention of buying more in that set. Something about the feel of the cloth cover in my hand makes me feel good 🙂
I do love Puffin in Bloom and Simon and Schuster covers you listed as well.
I have the basic Bantam set, and although they’re not the prettiest covers, I will always treasure my set. My younger brother sent it to me as a surprise gift during my first semester of college. What kind of 16-year-old boy does that?! It definitely made the homesickness easier to bear with the comfort of Anne by my side. 🙂
And P.S., I completely agree with you about The Continuing Story. It should never have been made!!!
What a great brother!
I have the Sourcebook collection, minus the Windy Poplars (I have the Tundra edition of that book, just because I love the pretty cover). I must say that I really enjoyed some of the Anne books but had to ‘tough out’ through the others. By the time I got to Anne of Ingleside, my interest started to wane a bit. I would attribute this to the fact that the books weren’t written immediately one after the other. L.M. Montgomery went through several life changes in-between writing the books, and the differences in her writing style show through from time to time. Nonetheless, I love the Anne series.
I hear you: I always struggle through Windy Poplars. Epistolary isn’t my favorite.
This is too funny because unprompted, prior to any news or any of your recent posts about Anne of Green Gables (being the perfect spring book or this post) I have been working through the series, too. I love reading childhood books as an adult, it really feels like I’ve never read any of them as I see through new eyes.
One of my nieces has the complete set in paperback. I don’t know which publisher, but she loves the illustrations. I made embroidered hardcovers with slips (similar to a book cover you’d use with a hardcover book) so that she could keep her paperbacks in good condition. On a side note: what is it with publishing houses that they often print gorgeous special editions of the first book in a series, but not the entire series? I mean, seriously…
You MADE slips? Wow!
And about the special first books: I mean, seriously.
Yep. Bookbinding and related things is (are?) one of the things I do.
Grammar is not my friend today.
I am also binge-reading all of the Anne series right now. My childhood series has somehow survived all of the moves over the last twenty years! I find it fascinating to see which book resonates with me each time as I reread. Right now Anne of Ingleside is my favorite–and coincides with my own time of raising littles.
They are all so beautiful. Would be great to set out as coffee table pieces
I loved the Anne of Green Gables series. I only have boys though and I have some doubts about passing down my love of this series to them. Mostly, I think they are not going to love it.
So many of the book recommendations to share Mom to child seem to be geared to Mother/daughter (including mom daughter book clubs). Any great recommendations for Mom/son books?
I totally get what you’re saying, but my 12yo son LOVED Anne of Green Gables. It was assigned reading for school and I think all the boys were surprised at how much they enjoyed it. (He’s currently reading and loving The Hobbit.)
Here’s a list of Books Boys Love: https://modernmrsdarcy.com/books-boys-love/
And here are the books that are included in my classics collections that also include Anne of Green Gables. I’ll leave it to you to decide which are good picks for your sons: Black Beauty, Peter Pan, The Call of the Wild, The Wind in the Willows, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Secret Garden, Huckleberry Finn, Oliver Twist, The Wizard of Oz, The Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, White Fang, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
I taught elementary school for many years and it is sometimes surprising what boys will like. The always loved The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz, Trumpet of the Swans, Charlotte’s Web, Treasure Island. For younger ones My Father’s Dragon and the 2 sequels were big hits plus the original Boxcar Children story. I think boys might like Anne because she is not a conventional girl. A couple of more recent books, but really good ones that all kids like are
The One and Only Ivan and Gooseberry Park. Both are short books that make great read alouds. Both are about friendship and courage. Also The Doll People series was a huge hit with both boys and girls. The books are about dolls in an old dollhouse but the boys did not mind because the main characters ( 2 girl dolls) are so brave and daring.
My oldest son is in his mid-twenties, and the Anne series has always been one of his favorites.
This spring, my ten-year-old son has been reading some of the old books that I had as a child. He really enjoyed Eleanor Estes’s books: The Moffats, Ginger Pye, etc.
The Secret Garden is still on his TBR pile, we’ll see how he likes it. I haven’t tried to give him Anne of Green Gables to read yet – perhaps in a year or two.
I know you posted this months ago, but on the off chance you check back, or that someone else comes along with the same question, I will say: My mother has been reading Swallows and Amazons to my 11-year-old son, and he loves it! There’s a whole series of those, two. I think the author is Arthur Ransom(e).
I can’t believe how much I want the Folio Society edition. I wish they’d done all the books. And that they didn’t cost more than some of my kitchen appliances.
Yes and yes. (They’re slowly putting out all of Jane Austen’s works, so maybe there’s hope for a full Anne series? That doesn’t help with the second part of the equation though.)
Only somewhat related to this post, but have you ever watched the 7 (?) seasons of the Road to Avonlea series? We have all of them and love them. My husband and I watch them with our kids or even just by ourselves. There are some pretty cheesey episodes, but the overall themes and characters are good. The Gus Pike and Felicity love story is one of my all time favorites. Supposedly they are stories adapted from Montgomery’s other novels. Jonathan Crombie even makes a guest appearance! (Marilla and Rachel Lynde are also in it).
Yes!! But it’s been years and years. Maybe decades.
Love those beautiful books! I want them all : ) I had a boxed set of the series but it disappeared in one of my many moves over the years. The same with my boxed set of Little House Books. I guess I will have to get new ones…sigh….. : )
I remember buying a Little House boxed set at the Scholastic book fair when I was in third grade. I was allowed to spend $3.00, and the set cost five, so I smashed my piggy bank and stuffed the coins into a (clean) sock, hidden in my coat pocket, so I could buy the set. I got into trouble for smashing that little green piggy, but I wore those books down to dust from reading them so many times!
I’ve never watched beyond the first movie, and I think I’ve only seen it once. It was wonderful, but I’m very protective of books that strike a deep, deep chord and seeing them on the screen. I’m goofy that way.
“I’m very protective of books that strike a deep, deep chord and seeing them on the screen.”
I completely understand this.
I am so encouraged that there are finally hardcover editions of ALL the Anne books! I remember being so disappointed that I couldn’t find hardcovers of every book when I was a kid. I’ve looked every few years to see if they’ve started printing them without any luck. I guess times have changed! So. Happy. Also, I really, really want that Folio edition of Anne. I think I might drop a few not-so-subtle hints to my husband that this is what I wish for for Mother’s Day. 😉
Love the Sourcebooks edition! It’s fun to see Anne grow and change from one cover to the next, and I like how the cover recognizes that each book focuses on a different home.
LOVING the Tundra set! I also had that burning desire to read all the books and watch all the movies. I didn’t even know about the 3rd movie until recently… and I also heard it’s not worth my time. I immediately went onto Amazon to get a copy of the first movie and they are sold out! Agh!
Ohhh, love all the beautiful covers and links! Thank you!
So many pretty editions, so little space!! I love the illustrations on the new paperbacks, but on the other hand that Folio edition is just so simply and lovely. Absolutely love all of the Anne of Green Gables books!
Swooning over those Tundra editions spelling out “ANNE” on the covers!
Tundra covers for the win! I like all of them, though. The Tundra artist even has art prints in larger sizes. I had the Bantam books like so many of us did, including a poster size print of the first book my parents had framed. 🙂
Such beautiful choices! I still have my set from childhood which are a little dog-eared by now – each book has a photo from the movies, on the cover. And it was my dad who had the fond memories of the series and introduced me to it. I hope to pass on the love of this series to my boys 🙂
A book I’ve enjoyed beyond the Anne series, is a later-published work titled “The Blythes are Quoted”. It’s the “rediscovered last work of LM Montgomery” – a collection of stories, poems, and brief sketches that all involve the Blythes in some form or another. I found it a fascinating tie-in to the books 🙂
I’ve had The Blythes Are Quoted on my to-read list for years. Thanks for the nudge to actually get to it!
I had never heard of the Continuing Story before but just clicked through and read the description. I’m glad I never saw it! I just gifted my entire (almost complete set) of LMM from when I was in grade school to my cousin’s 11 year old daughter. She’s just started reading them, and I promised her when she was finished with all of the Anne series, I would send her the movies to watch. Someone should make a movie based on the Emily series but only if they do it well!
So pretty! The Ellie MacKay ones are new to me. I’d love to see them up-close!
I am SO with you about the final movie. It actually made me angry. In “Rilla” they made such a point of the men doing their duty and the women being strong when they left. And the movie was very…different.
I first saw the Ellie MacKay covers of Anne of Green Gables on your blog. I was planning on ordering them until I was in Costco one day and there they were! I’m in Canada and it was about two months ago. I keep saying I bought them for my daughter but not sure I can give them up 🙂 They are so pretty!
Costco?! JEALOUS.
Wow. I’ve never even read any of the Anne books (maybe it’s time to change that?), but even I am ogling at some of these gorgeous covers! I think the Canadian ones are my favorite.
Tundra also has hard-cover editions of the Emily series. I’m making several strong hints for what my birthday and Christmas gifts should be this year. haha
Has anyone seen the Tundra paperbacks in person? They aren’t carried locally so I’d have to buy online, and I hate spending so much sight unseen. Wondering if the binding is sturdy, pages thick, etc.
Thanks to anyone who can share!
I ordered a set weeks ago and they just arrived this afternoon. They are lovely. I haven’t actually READ any of them yet (but I’m starting with Anne of Avonlea because I just read Green Gables over the winter) so I haven’t put them to the test by any means, but they are beautiful, the pages aren’t whisper-thin, and the covers are just gorgeous in person.
Thanks so much! As a follow-up, what do you do when a set comes with a box? Do you keep the books in the box or toss the box? I’m not a big box fan, but it seems so wrong to throw away the box. Curious what others do!
I’m curious where you ordered the books online? I’m struggling to find where to purchase them. I’ve been on the tundra website, but it’s actually not very helpful.
I found them on Indigo.ca and Amazon.ca. Even with shipping, those are cheaper than buying from a third party off the U.S. Amazon site. The only thing I’m not sure about is if there’s a customs charge and how much it would be.
They are wonderful, good quality!
My childhood set was falling apart, so I ordered myself the Tundra set for Christmas. (Oh, I mean I ordered it for my husband to give to me so I could tell my daughters to take extra-good care of it, because it’s Mommy’s.)
The set is beautiful, right down to the font. Just lovely. I ordered on Amazon.ca and did have to pay a bit extra for shipping to the US, but it was worth it and the per-book cost was still very reasonable even with shipping.
Thanks Sharon!
I went ahead and ordered a set from Amazon.ca for myself for Mother’s Day. Can’t wait for them to arrive!
So I am apparently obsessed with this blog post because I keep coming back to it.
I received my Tundra set and am super happy with the quality of the books. They look and feel great! I wasn’t sure what to with the box since I’m not a box fan, but mine came a little beat up and with a tear on the side so I’ll take that as my permission to toss the box and put the books on the shelf individually.
Meanwhile, I was at Costco today and saw this set that includes Anne of Green Gables. I was tempted to buy it (only $45!), but I resisted since I already have my Anne collection. Still it looked like a sturdy, quality set although it was shrink wrapped so I couldn’t look at the individual books.
http://www.amazon.com/Word-Cloud-Box-Set-Lavender/dp/1626863180
Wonderful! Isn’t it SO pretty?
I absolutely love Anne of Green Gables, have a soft spot for it because I started reading it when I was really young, to be honest I can’t recall if I finished the entire series. I recently (last few years) purchased the Bantam box set, still haven’t done a re-read, really want to though.
I love the ones that you’ve got in this post I’m not sure if I want to buy the entire set, I really like the Simon & Schuster set or the Tundra Hardback set or the Sourcebook edition. The singles I love the Folio Society…I just can’t decide if I should purchase the whole set when I haven’t even opened my Bantam edition yet, may put that on Ebay and get a new set 🙂
Which did you end up getting or have you got all of it?
I got the SourceBooks paperbacks.
Thank you for this! I’ve been considering adding this series to my collection and I’m glad to know which publishers have the whole series and which only have a few (or one!) Those Tundra sets are both beautiful — now to decide and track them down 🙂
Just wondering if the editions you mention where you did not note an illustrator by name means that the original illustrations are present. Also, I’ve read some comments regarding an original version (typos/misspellings included), and wondered which volumes offer edited versions (corrected for grammar – not content). Thank you for any advice you can offer!
I really consider Anne Shirley my childhood best friend 🙂 I loved having a whole series to read and was so happy to discover the Emily of New Moon series as well to help my LM Montgomery phase last a bit longer. I hope you don’t mind but I have one other version to recommend. This picture book version is great for introducing the young ones to the series. Check it out! https://shop.bydesign.com/UsborneBooksAndMore/#/shop/detail/537500
I adore Anne Shirley! She has always made such good sense to and when I think of her confidence, forthrightness and sincerity, I know her thoughts and decisions are the best ones.
I get so perturbed with myself. I am not a picky woman, a high maintenance woman, a snobby woman and definitely not a woman of means.
Everytime I have a choice to make, for instance, this purse or that purse; I always like the most expensive one! I amaze myself everytime! As I browsed through these lovely editions, I didn’t notice the prices, but I definitely knew which one I wanted. I screamed when I looked back at the price of the edition I craved. You guessed it ! I wonder what Anne Shirley would make of all this!
I have the entire set of the pocketbook edition. Also have the entire Emily set. I also recommend the “Patricia” series and “Marigold”. Thanks for showing all these editions of “Anne of Green Gables”.
Marilyn
I found the Tundra paperback set on Amazon Canada! They shipped to the US and let me check out with my US Amazon account and everything. So excited!
Desperately trying to find the hardcover Tundra editions for my daughter for Christmas. She is a HUGE fan and even made a trip to PEI with friends last May. I am just now finding this post – can anyone advise how to get the Tundra hardbacks?
I just had success! I ordered from Amazon Canada. The shipping will be a bit slow – maybe there will be a Christmas miracle – but I will have them for my daughter at some point.
Wow – I had no idea all of these were available!! We only have the first one, but I’ll be on the look-out for some of the others.
I own the Puffin in Bloom edition (it’s soooo pretty!). And I own just one (Anne of Green Gables) in the Sourcebooks edition. I want to own a whole set, but I am so torn between buying the rest of the Sourcebooks set, or buying the Tundra set! I really can’t decide, and I want both!! How crazy would that be?! Anyone here own more than one set? I collect pretty editions of my favorite book of all time (Jane Eyre), but I don’t know if I can justify owning two sets of the Anne series just for the cover art.
I spotted two ‘new to my eyes’ editions of Anne last weekend at Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis. Check out the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Anne and the entire Anne and Emily series by Virago Modern Classics. Lastly, in my daughter’s Scholastic book catalogue, I spotted the Anne of Green Gables GRAPHIC NOVEL (which, of course I had to buy!), adapted by Mariah Marsden. I always love to see new editions of Anne for new generations, even if the graphic novel version does make my heart palpitate a bit. I always check for copies of Anne in every bookstore I go to just to see what I can find. ?
I LOVE these stories and want to by an illustrated edition for my 7 year old daughter. Which would be the best option if I’m looking for the most illustrations??
None of these are particularly lavish. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get an illustrated Anne of Green Gables along the lines of the recent Harry Potters?
Exactly!!! They are the perfect edition to our collection!
Oooh I LOVE the Anne of Green Gables series. I read and re-read the series many times in my youth. On our fifth wedding anniversary, my husband surprised me with the Easton Press editions of the series (beautiful green leather bound with gilded pages). There are a few of the editions you listed here that I have never seen before…I’m off to check them out!! Thanks!!
Great post. Thanks for sharing with us.
I received the Bantam Anne Of Green Gables book collection a few years ago. The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL, and the font is very pretty (I believe it is Times New Roman-my FAVORITE!!!) The only disappointment is that the books are all paperback. The books are lovely, and I want them to last for years to come. That isn’t the case with paperbacks :(. Oh well, perhaps I’m just complaining too much. All in all, if you do decide to buy the Anne Of Green Gables series, MAKE SURE IT’S THE BANTAM EDITION.
Hello. Thank you for your lovely list of collections for Anne of Green Gables.
I am searching for a set with illustrations throughout the pages; does this exist?