Status
Available
Local notes
PB Mon
Collections
Publication
Starfire (2001), 224 pages
Description
A collection of Christmas and New Year's tales in addition to chapters about Christmas taken from the Anne books, all of which present the spirit of giving.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1995
Physical description
224 p.; 4.19 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member jphilbrick
because it's the season. and i'm an addict. and it's the book of the month in the l m montgomery group.....On finishing, it's a somewhat uneven collection. Some, like Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket, I really liked. Others were significantly weaker...but they were all by LM Montgomery, so let's be
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honest, I liked it. Show Less
LibraryThing member rainbowdarling
I was pleasantly surprised to find that this set of Christmas stories was a pure delight. Each of them is in typical Montgomery style, with the addition of the traits that we most value at the Christmas season: good will, giving and merriment. Her character's learn the value of a gift from the
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heart, and how much fellowship can mean more than any tangible gift could. It's a very charming set of stories, and it's a perfect book to inspire the holiday mood. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mialro
A collection of holiday short stories and chapters from L.M. Montgomery's books, this is a heartwarming, cute little book to read for Christmas and New Year's. All the sweetness helps the morals go down, so don't worry about that. :) Recommended for fans of Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, and
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sentimental Christmas stories. Show Less
LibraryThing member callmejacx
This is the perfect book to get you in the right mood for Christmas. It leaves you with a warm heart and a longing for a back home traditional Christmas when presents really did come from the heart. It's the little things what make Christmas. Christmas is about giving from the heart, not so much
This would be a perfect book to read as a family during the holidays. I highly recommend it.
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from your wallet. It's the joy and magic the season brings.This would be a perfect book to read as a family during the holidays. I highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Best known for her beloved children's classic, Anne of Green Gables, and the seven sequels which followed upon it, Canadian author L.M. Montgomery was also a prolific short-story writer, selling her creations to religious and secular magazines and journals beginning in the late 1800s. These
Christmas with Anne opens, appropriately enough, with Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves, the twenty-fifth chapter of Anne of Green Gables. This story of shy Matthew Cuthbert, who decides that Anne must have a fashionable dress with puffed sleeves for Christmas, was as charming as ever. Matthew's appreciation of the fact that sometimes "frivolous" things are necessary, is a nice counter-balance to Marilla's more Puritanical sensibilities.
Christmas at Red Butte struck me as a fairly unremarkable morality tale - Theodora is rewarded for her self-sacrifice in giving up her beloved locket, by the safe return of her brother. I did find it interesting that through the virtue of selflessness, the image is exchanged for the reality...
The End of the Young Family Feud was vintage Montgomery, and such a pleasure! The theme of estrangement being conquered through "accident" (or providence, as the case may be), is a common one in Montgomery's work, and I thought this story really anticipated some of her later, more accomplished tales.
Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket, with its good-hearted message that generosity and kindness are the true spirit of Christmas, which has no room for false pride, was pleasant and satisfying. I did feel that there was so much going on - the orphaned shop girl finds a home, the two older women connect over the death of their children, the young relative learns to see the value of her elder's customs - that it almost felt like an over-stuffed buffet of Montgomery themes.
The Osbornes' Christmas, in which the well-to-do Osborne children gain a better appreciation of the holiday spirit when they decide to "give" Christmas to those less fortunate than themselves, was a little too treacly for my taste, and had a rather pedantic, moralistic tone. Montgomery's work is usually so character-driven that the requisite moral seems a natural part of the narrative, but the brevity of this tale prevents her from developing her characters enough to compensate for the preachiness. I'm also always a little irritated when Montgomery includes any French Canadian characters, as her throw-away remarks reveal a regrettable condescension.
The Unforgotten One was probably the most sentimental of all the tales in Christmas with Anne, but despite being perfectly aware of Montgomery's deliberate tugging on my heartstrings, I still found myself tearing up while reading it. The saintly Miss Avis, remembered with love and devotion by all her relatives one Christmas, is the classic virtuous "homebody," so often encountered in sentimental Victorian literature of this type.
Clorinda's Gifts was another selection (like The Osbornes' Christmas) in which the tale is overwhelmed by its didactic purpose. Aunt Emmy's point, that the gifts which can be bought are rarely the most precious, is well taken. But as the reader has little opportunity to enter into Clorinda's thoughts and feelings, as she comes to understand what this means for herself, it is impossible to really feel strongly about her eventual decisions. This would have been a much stronger story, if Montgomery had allowed the reader to share more of Clorinda's internal struggle.
Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables, excerpted from Anne of Windy Poplars, is one of my favorite stories in this collection. The tale of an unfriendly, and very unhappy young woman, who unfolds in the right environment, it has that sense of hope and potential - of the possibility of change for the better - that I find so appealing in Montgomery's work. The reader will probably have a deeper appreciation of it, if they have already read Anne of Windy Poplars, and know more of Katherine's behavior prior to this episode.
A Christmas Mistake was another tale of a long estrangement, this time between two stubborn cousins, which is healed when an invitation to Christmas dinner is accidentally given to the wrong family. Sentimental and sweet, it will appeal to Montgomery lovers, who will instantly recognize the theme of "accident/providence" having a hand in healing old disputes.
The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road was probably the least impressive selection here. The story of two young men who decorate a neighboring village's schoolhouse for Christmas, in an effort to be kind, it sometimes seemed a little smug and patronizing to me. More to the point, it also felt very "flat," with little conflict or struggle (internal or otherwise) to give it any interest.
The Falsom's Christmas Dinner is yet another tale in which a quarrel is resolved at Christmas, when brother and sister Stephen and Alexina Falsom are reconciled to their close friends and neighbors, Duncan and Josie Tracy. Naturally, their orphaned poverty is also resolved...
A Christmas Inspiration concerns a group of girls at a boarding house who, unable to go home for the holidays, are determined to have a good time. When inspiration strikes Jean Lawrence, the other girls fall in with her idea of putting together a holiday surprise for Miss Allen, the unfriendly older woman who lives in the same house. The idea of befriending, or doing a kindness for, someone who seems unfriendly and/or unreceptive, is another common theme in Montgomery's work, and plays out with satisfactory results in this story.
In The Josephs' Christmas, a prairie family who "keep Christmas in their hearts," despite their poverty, are the beneficiaries of a most unexpected pair of Santa Clauses. I particularly enjoyed Montgomery's description of the little Josephs, and the air of mystery that pervaded their home in the month of December, as they all contrived to make gifts for one another.
In Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner, Prissy Baker hears her estranged Uncle Richard telling a shopkeeper that he will have a cold meal on New Year's, and decides to cook a meal for him in secret. This was the first of three stories devoted to the New Year's celebration, rather than Christmas, and (once again!) concerned the healing of an old breach, this time between two brothers.
When one of her mother's delicious fruit cakes is misdirected to the "other" Ida Mitchell, in Ida's Near Year Cake, heroine Ida decides to let her "namesake" enjoy it, rather than ruin her belief that someone has remembered her at the holidays.
And finally, in Bertie's New Year, a poor young delivery boy finds some new friends and a much-needed new position, through his kindness in loaning his mittens to his sick young cousin.
All in all, this was an enjoyable collection of stories, and makes excellent reading material for the Christmas season. While I certainly wouldn't describe it as one of Montgomery's more inspired works, I think that her many fans will appreciate it. Many of the themes I have come to associate with Motgomery are present, as is the sense of warmth and home.
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stories, numbering over 500, had largely disappeared from the public eye, until Montgomery scholar Rea Wilmshurst began collecting them in themed anthologies, beginning with the 1988 publication of Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans. This collection of sixteen holiday stories is the eighth such anthology created by Wilmshurst, and contains both original stories and excerpts from the "Anne" novels, all of which are sure to please the Montgomery aficionado.Christmas with Anne opens, appropriately enough, with Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves, the twenty-fifth chapter of Anne of Green Gables. This story of shy Matthew Cuthbert, who decides that Anne must have a fashionable dress with puffed sleeves for Christmas, was as charming as ever. Matthew's appreciation of the fact that sometimes "frivolous" things are necessary, is a nice counter-balance to Marilla's more Puritanical sensibilities.
Christmas at Red Butte struck me as a fairly unremarkable morality tale - Theodora is rewarded for her self-sacrifice in giving up her beloved locket, by the safe return of her brother. I did find it interesting that through the virtue of selflessness, the image is exchanged for the reality...
The End of the Young Family Feud was vintage Montgomery, and such a pleasure! The theme of estrangement being conquered through "accident" (or providence, as the case may be), is a common one in Montgomery's work, and I thought this story really anticipated some of her later, more accomplished tales.
Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket, with its good-hearted message that generosity and kindness are the true spirit of Christmas, which has no room for false pride, was pleasant and satisfying. I did feel that there was so much going on - the orphaned shop girl finds a home, the two older women connect over the death of their children, the young relative learns to see the value of her elder's customs - that it almost felt like an over-stuffed buffet of Montgomery themes.
The Osbornes' Christmas, in which the well-to-do Osborne children gain a better appreciation of the holiday spirit when they decide to "give" Christmas to those less fortunate than themselves, was a little too treacly for my taste, and had a rather pedantic, moralistic tone. Montgomery's work is usually so character-driven that the requisite moral seems a natural part of the narrative, but the brevity of this tale prevents her from developing her characters enough to compensate for the preachiness. I'm also always a little irritated when Montgomery includes any French Canadian characters, as her throw-away remarks reveal a regrettable condescension.
The Unforgotten One was probably the most sentimental of all the tales in Christmas with Anne, but despite being perfectly aware of Montgomery's deliberate tugging on my heartstrings, I still found myself tearing up while reading it. The saintly Miss Avis, remembered with love and devotion by all her relatives one Christmas, is the classic virtuous "homebody," so often encountered in sentimental Victorian literature of this type.
Clorinda's Gifts was another selection (like The Osbornes' Christmas) in which the tale is overwhelmed by its didactic purpose. Aunt Emmy's point, that the gifts which can be bought are rarely the most precious, is well taken. But as the reader has little opportunity to enter into Clorinda's thoughts and feelings, as she comes to understand what this means for herself, it is impossible to really feel strongly about her eventual decisions. This would have been a much stronger story, if Montgomery had allowed the reader to share more of Clorinda's internal struggle.
Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables, excerpted from Anne of Windy Poplars, is one of my favorite stories in this collection. The tale of an unfriendly, and very unhappy young woman, who unfolds in the right environment, it has that sense of hope and potential - of the possibility of change for the better - that I find so appealing in Montgomery's work. The reader will probably have a deeper appreciation of it, if they have already read Anne of Windy Poplars, and know more of Katherine's behavior prior to this episode.
A Christmas Mistake was another tale of a long estrangement, this time between two stubborn cousins, which is healed when an invitation to Christmas dinner is accidentally given to the wrong family. Sentimental and sweet, it will appeal to Montgomery lovers, who will instantly recognize the theme of "accident/providence" having a hand in healing old disputes.
The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road was probably the least impressive selection here. The story of two young men who decorate a neighboring village's schoolhouse for Christmas, in an effort to be kind, it sometimes seemed a little smug and patronizing to me. More to the point, it also felt very "flat," with little conflict or struggle (internal or otherwise) to give it any interest.
The Falsom's Christmas Dinner is yet another tale in which a quarrel is resolved at Christmas, when brother and sister Stephen and Alexina Falsom are reconciled to their close friends and neighbors, Duncan and Josie Tracy. Naturally, their orphaned poverty is also resolved...
A Christmas Inspiration concerns a group of girls at a boarding house who, unable to go home for the holidays, are determined to have a good time. When inspiration strikes Jean Lawrence, the other girls fall in with her idea of putting together a holiday surprise for Miss Allen, the unfriendly older woman who lives in the same house. The idea of befriending, or doing a kindness for, someone who seems unfriendly and/or unreceptive, is another common theme in Montgomery's work, and plays out with satisfactory results in this story.
In The Josephs' Christmas, a prairie family who "keep Christmas in their hearts," despite their poverty, are the beneficiaries of a most unexpected pair of Santa Clauses. I particularly enjoyed Montgomery's description of the little Josephs, and the air of mystery that pervaded their home in the month of December, as they all contrived to make gifts for one another.
In Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner, Prissy Baker hears her estranged Uncle Richard telling a shopkeeper that he will have a cold meal on New Year's, and decides to cook a meal for him in secret. This was the first of three stories devoted to the New Year's celebration, rather than Christmas, and (once again!) concerned the healing of an old breach, this time between two brothers.
When one of her mother's delicious fruit cakes is misdirected to the "other" Ida Mitchell, in Ida's Near Year Cake, heroine Ida decides to let her "namesake" enjoy it, rather than ruin her belief that someone has remembered her at the holidays.
And finally, in Bertie's New Year, a poor young delivery boy finds some new friends and a much-needed new position, through his kindness in loaning his mittens to his sick young cousin.
All in all, this was an enjoyable collection of stories, and makes excellent reading material for the Christmas season. While I certainly wouldn't describe it as one of Montgomery's more inspired works, I think that her many fans will appreciate it. Many of the themes I have come to associate with Motgomery are present, as is the sense of warmth and home.
Show Less
LibraryThing member empress8411
As with all Montgomery's work, this is a warm, sweet, pleasant collection of stories. Good always triumphs, family is united, and all ends well. It's perfect for Christmas. I highly recommend.
LibraryThing member CassieWinters
My in-depth review is live on my blog, but my overall rating is that this is a great Christmas collection to read once, but I personally cannot see someone wanting to read this every single Christmas. It lacks a depth, but there are great stories contained within that make it a worthwhile one-time
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read. Show Less
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Pages
224