CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK: ~ GIVEAWAY HOP ~ MAY 4 - 10.15

May 4 - 10th 2015 
Celebrating CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK
~

~ Glad to be joining Tressa of Wishful Endings for the  CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK GIVEAWAY HOP  honouring children and reading - definitely something I support! Part of the longest running children's literacy initiative - since 1919 Find ALL the info HERE Books have played an integral part of my childhood from my earliest
bedtime story ritual memories to books gifted to me from family members. Fondly remembering Nana and an uncle gifting me 101 Dalmatians. And the wonderful walks across town with mom to the library where I could freely choose from those colourful covers and full shelves!  The Borrowers entire series was one fav. A happy Mother's Day memory held dearly now that she's gone...  Definitely a Joy to promote Children's Books and Reading during this week. ~

My GIVEAWAY OFFER?
~

~ An iconic Canadian Classic, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES #1, by Lucy Maude Montgomery! A favourite around the world, Anne is an exceptional character to introduce to a child's library.   Written in 1908 and set in 1878, it is the story of Marilla and Matthew from Avonlea on Prince Edward Island who, deciding to adopt an orphan to help on their farm, are mistakenly sent a girl instead of a boy.  Anne Shirley is the precocious, red-haired 11 year-old that Montgomery introduces - her adventures and misadventures - through nine books as she grows up. I've often shared my love for Anne as posted here ~
 Teaser Tuesdays+Intros
Anne of Green Gables Review -
Fav Quotes

Just for fun, take an online tour of Green Gables Here.

Here's your opportunity to Enter to Win a copy! ~ a Rafflecopter giveaway ~*~ Adding to the FuN , here's a downloadable bookmark, created by Raul Colon, to copy and use  courtesy of Children's Book Week  ~

Have a Fantastic Children's Book Week  celebrating books and reading with the children in your life!
Carry on hopping here:
~*~ Shared with ~
* Literacy Musing Mondays * Book Nook * Musing Mondays * A Daily Rhythm TT *
* 1st Chptr 1st Paragraph * #JoyHopeLive * Favorite Things *
~~ FIND MORE FHC on BOOK DEPOSITORY | PINTEREST | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | NETWORKED BLOGS | LIBRARYTHING
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TOP TEN TUESDAY: INSPIRING BOOK QUOTES 14.4.15

Responding to Allie's Mini Challenge for Dewey's ReadaThon Here are some favourite "Classic Words of Wisdom" * Inspired by Lost Generation Reader's Top Ten's for today,
I'm  posting my own in response . ~

~ *~

Today's Top Ten Tuesday meme at The Broke and the Bookish ~
Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books
- anything that inspires you, challenges you, makes you think, encourages you, etc. and as the hosts say, "As always, even if you can't think of 10, do as many as you can!"

Beginning my Top Ten 12 with Canadian author, LM Montgomery's,
 Anne of Green Gables ~

* Always inspiriting to begin again with a clean slate!
*

“The ache for home lives in all of us. 

The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."

~ Maya Angelou 

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes 

The safe place where we're accepted as we are not as expected to be!
*

No man is an island.  We need one another! *

From Zephaniah in the Book of Prophets of The Tanakh
The calmness of knowing unconditional Love, acceptance, delight!
*

“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. . . I have loved none but you. . . For you alone, I think and plan . . . I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.
I must go, uncertain of my fate . . .  A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.” 

Captain Frederick Wentworth to Anne Elliot ~ Jane Austen's Persuasion
Such inspiring and hopefilled confession of enduring love! *

Sophia Croft~ Jane Austen's Persuasion
Yes to being a woman of adventure ! *

Ahhh!  the constancy of friendship found both in God and books ! 
*
and my own fav that's consistently re-pinned
~

Heaven is all around us and God evidenced in every point of creation.
Those whose eyes are truly open are aware and acknowledge the holiness,
the holy ground they walk upon,
by taking off their shoes

*

I could  post ten by CS Lewis alone plus more !

Here are a couple top picks...

Love this inspiriting as I age - 
not just the youth have proprietary rights to dreaming!

*

My sentiments following the loss of my mom...
*

Such a challenging reminder!
*
 Another of LM Montgomery's ~ 
"Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them
only to find out too late that
it's what they bring to the world that really counts."  ~ Living giving vs taking...
*

From the Historical Book of Esther in The Tanakh
This always speaks encouragement to me throughout
the many challenges and uncomfortable places I find myself in life and in advocating justice. Powerful!

* ~ Hoping you've found some inspy in these selections. ~ so many from which to choose, I found it hard to narrow down to ten! Here's MORE on FHC Pinterest  I'm enjoying reading yours!  Thanks to LostGenerationReader 's great choices :)

* Upcoming Top Ten topics ~
* April 14: Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books (anything that inspires you, challenges you, makes you think, encourages you, etc.)
April 21: Top Ten ALL TIME Favourite Authors (yeah, I'm mean like that! You could narrow it down to a genre if it REALLY kills you...or just make your list a top 20 :P )
April 28: Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____ (are musically inclined, have lost someone, have depression, who grow up poor, etc.)
May 5: Ten Books I Will Probably Never Read
May 12: Ten Authors I REALLY Want To Meet
May 19:  Top Ten Tuesday Freebie -- YOUR CHOICE OF TOPIC.
May 26: Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer or
Ten Books I Think Make Great Beach Reads
June 2: Top Ten Books I'd Love To See As Movies/Tv Shows 
June 9: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015
[let's talk about what we are excited about for the rest of the year]
June 16: Top Ten Books On My TBR For Summer 2015
June 23: In honor of 5 years of Top Ten Tuesday ( our first Top Ten Tuesday debuted June 21, 2010) -- My Ten Favourite Top Ten Topics We've Ever Done In The Past 5 Years
June 30: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2015
July 7: Top Ten Hyped Books I've Never Read * Shared with ~ * Mom's Small Victories * Literacy Musing Mondays * Book Nook * 
and... in other book related news  I've signed up for Michelle's [Seasons of Reading]
April 20-26.15 Spring ReadaThon ~ signups open
[all about mysteries for this reader! - includes anything scary such as gothic, paranormal, thrillers, etc] Reading just 1 book qualifies! *

* which also encompasses the 24 hr Dewey's Readathon on April 25th  ~

signups Open 

* FIND MORE FHC on BOOK DEPOSITORY | PINTEREST | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | NETWORKED BLOGS | LIBRARYTHING

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AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: ANNE OF AVONLEA ~ LM MONTGOMERY author ~ COLLEEN WINTON narrator 28.6.14

ANNE OF AVONLEA ANNE OF GREEN GABLES  Series #2  by LM Montgomery Narrator Colleen Winton At sixteen, Anne is grown up...almost. Her gray eyes shine like evening stars, but her red hair is still as peppery as her temper. In the years since she arrived at Green Gables as a freckle-faced orphan, she has earned the love of the people of Avonlea and a reputation for getting into scrapes. But when Anne begins her job as the new schoolteacher, the real test of her character begins. Along with teaching the three Rs, she is learning how complicated life can be when she meddles in someone else's romance, finds two new orphans at Green Gables, and wonders about the strange behaviour of the very handsome Gilbert Blythe. As Anne enters womanhood, her adventures touch the heart and the funny bone.  -goodreads *

Series: Anne of Green Gables #2

Audiobook Edition

Author:  Lucy Montgomery
Narrator:  Colleen Winton

Published: May 30, 2013

Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press
Audio Book Length:  9 Hrs 25 Min

*

My Thoughts?

Reading this was like visiting an old friend!

The warmth and delight of discovering impetuous red-aired Anne as a child in
"Anne of Green Gables,"
{click for review}now developed charmingly through two years of her teen life,as her adventures are enlarged to include the rural Prince Edward Island community of Avonlea...

*

" an August afternoon with blue hazes scarfing the harvest slopes, little winds whispering elfishly in the poplars and a dancing slendour of red poppies outflaming against the dark coppice of young firs in a corner of the cherry orchard was fitter for dreams than dead languages."

*

Postponing her 17th birthday from the vagaries of March in favour of a spring picnic with her friends, the walk through vales and lanes spanning bridges and brooks describes picturesque settings for their talk that soon takes a 'heavenly' turn ~
*

"Minnie May asked me the other day if we would wear our best dresses every day in heaven," laughed Diana.
"And didn't you tell her we would?" asked Anne.
"Mercy, no!   "And didn't you tell her we would?" asked Anne. "Mercy, no!  I told her we wouldn't be thinkng of dresses at all there." "oh, I think we will ... a little," said Anne earnestly.
"There'll be plenty of time in all eternity for it without neglecting more important things.  I believe we'll all wear beautiful dresses... or I suppose "There'll be plenty of time in all eternity for it without neglecting more important things.  I believe we'll all wear beautiful dresses... or I suppose raiment would be a more suitable way of speaking.   I shall want to wear pink for a few centuries at first... it would take me that long to get tired of it, I feel sure.   I do love pink so and I can never wear it in this world."
  *

Anne's role as local school teacher providing vivid depictions of student and parent personalities, scrapes of all kinds, and disciplinary reactions, had me rolling with laughter!  the unexpected arrival of 6 year old twins into her life when their mother dies, introduces comedic routine on a daily basis.

*
"If I'm as good as good can be all day tomorrow  will you let me be just as bad as I like all the next day?" asked Davy.

*
Little Davy's propensity for trouble is matched only by Anne's own. Her wit and creativity in responding to their predicaments is unmatched!
Beautifully descriptive of rural life of another century Anne books offer great reading satisfaction~
especially in light of having lived in Anne's land of Prince Edward Island and experiencing first hand L.M. Montgomery's  accurate depictions of islanders' 'thought' regarding outsiders!

*

  Lovely opportunities for numerous mouthwatering tea and garden parties, proponents of conflicting theologies within the same households, well developed charactersand plentiful humour, kept me enjoyably occupiedto the final moment.

*

The variety of love stories included would satisfy the most romantically inclined reader amongst us!

*

"Gilbert wisely said nothing more;but in his silence he read the history of the next four years in the light of Anne's remembered blush..."

*

Tissues at hand, definitely recommended!

* Having the opportunity to review an audiobook version published by  Post Hypnotic Press and
narrated by Canadian, Colleen Winton, added new enjoyment to the classic story.
Hearing the characters come to life in conversation and description is a pleasure.
I was part of the story as Anne leads us on her merry adventures.
 Each character is individually personalized by tone, inflection and expression of Ms Winton's narration.
* I appreciate the quality of Post Hypnotic Press audio  of Anne's escapades and new directions.   Whilst Ms Winton's straightforward portrayals of  Rachel Lynde and Marilla Cuthbert are filled with character respective for their ages, my choice for a series focused on Anne would have tended to a more age accurate narrator's voice.  Anne's lilting vivacity hasn't been captured, for my ear.
*   I've included the sampler, kindly provided by the publisher, for your convenience in having a listen.
We all hear and relate individually to narrators of our personal story favourites, so I'll leave the response open to you.
* A seamless recording of uninterrupted listening entertainment, I thank Post Hypnotic Press for the pleasurable opportunity of hearing and reviewing their audio of Anne of Avonlea . * * Author Bio: Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), called "Maud" by family and friends and publicly known as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success. The central character, Anne, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. The first novel was followed by a series of sequels with Anne as the central character. Montgomery went on to publish 20 novels as well as 500 short stories and poems. Many of the novels were set on Prince Edward Island, Canada and places in the Canadian province became literary landmarks. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935.

LM Montgomery, was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, in 1911 after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911 in Prince Edward Island. Her three children were born at Leaskdale, and she wrote close to a dozen books while she was living in the Leaskdale Manse before the Macdonald family moved to Norval, Ontario in 1926. 

"Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it's what they bring to the world that really counts."
~ Lucy Maud Montgomery 

Maud died in Toronto April 24, 1942
and was buried at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia...more

* Narrator: Colleen is a Vancouver actor, singer, dancer, director and choreographer...and now a narrator. Her career has taken her all over the country and  includes the Stratford, Shaw and Charlottetown Festivals, the original Canadian companies of CATS and Show Boat, extensive film/TV credits, and numerous directing/choreographing credits. Her stage work has been honoured with numerous nominations and a Jessie and Ovation award and she received a cultural award given by her local Chamber of Commerce. She recently played Marilla Cuthbert in a production of the musical Anne of Green Gables at Theatre Calgary (Spring 2013). * Post Hypnotic Press audio of the Anne series is available  for your listening enjoyment online HERE.  * * Appreciation to Post Hypnotic Press and Audiojukebox for providing an mp3 for listening and reviewing without cost or compensation.

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*Inspire Me Monday*

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: ANNE OF GREEN GABLES - LM Montgomery author ~ Colleen Winton narrator

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by Lucy Maude Montgomery Narrated by Colleen Winton

Anne, a young orphan from the fictional community of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia (based upon the real community of New London), is sent to Prince Edward Island after a childhood spent in strangers' homes and orphanages. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, siblings in their fifties and sixties, had decided to adopt a boy from the orphanage to help Matthew run their farm. They live at Green Gables, their Avonlea farmhouse on Prince Edward Island. Through a misunderstanding, the orphanage sends Anne Shirley.

Anne is described as bright and quick, eager to please, talkative, and extremely imaginative. She has a pale face with freckles and usually braids her red hair. When asked her name, Anne tells Marilla to call her Cordelia, which Marilla refuses; Anne then insists that if she is to be called Anne, it must be spelled with an e, as that spelling is "so much more distinguished." Marilla at first says the girl must return to the orphanage, but after a few days she decides to let her stay. Marilla feels that she could be a good influence on the girl and had also overheard that another disagreeable woman in town might take Anne in instead.-publisher

Series: Anne of Green Gables #1
Audiobook Edition
Published: May 30.13
Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press
Length: Unabridged 10 hrs 6 min

My Thoughts?

There's nothing like Anne to inspire laughter and Lucy M Montgomery for atmospheric descriptions of beauty!

Elderly unmarried siblings, Matthew, and sister, Marilla, have sent word to a neighbouring villager, Mrs Spencer, to bring them a boy to help as a farmhand when she visits a Nova Scotia orphanage in the spring. The message gets twisted enroute, delivering them the unexpected 11 year old Anne! 

The joys and tribulations of Anne's addition to their tranquil Prince Edward Island lives are delicious to experience. A girl of dreams and dialogue beyond her years, unlimited ideas and imagination to share with anyone lacking, Anne is quickly endeared to the reader by Lucy Maud's characterizations and descriptions. 

“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” 

The humour of Anne's escapades is effectively and dramatically juxtaposed against the societal expectations of the Victorian era and island culture. 

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly
that you will.” 

It’s easy to immerse oneself into the life of Anne as we cheer her on in pursuit of kindred spirits!  

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. 

It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” 

An especially satisfying read expressing much appreciation of beauty, a turn of the century girl's journey from childhood to young womanhood, and a realistic cast of characters populating this introductory story of Anne...

This time round I've had the pleasure of Anne on audio via the Post Hypnotic Press audiobook presentation. Narrated by Colleen Winton, the characters of the story were differentiated and personalized with varying voice expression, inflections and range of tone. Ms WInton captured their personalities well. My personal preference would have been the choice of a younger voice to represent Anne, especially as the main character of the story, an essential consideration. Ms Winton was capable and steady in her narration.

Post Hypnotic's recording was clear and uninterrupted by background interference. Dubbing or retakes were seamless, allowing for a pleasurable listening experience. 

A lovely way to enjoy our beloved Anne of Green Gables.

*

Author Bio:

Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), called "Maud" by family and friends and publicly known as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success. The central character, Anne, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. The first novel was followed by a series of sequels with Anne as the central character. Montgomery went on to publish 20 novels as well as 500 short stories and poems. Many of the novels were set on Prince Edward Island, Canada and places in the Canadian province became literary landmarks. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935.

LM Montgomery, was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, in 1911 after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911 in Prince Edward Island. Her three children were born at Leaskdale, and she wrote close to a dozen books while she was living in the Leaskdale Manse before the Macdonald family moved to Norval, Ontario in 1926. 

Maud died in Toronto April 24, 1942 and was buried at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia...more

*

Narrator:

Colleen is a Vancouver actor, singer, dancer, director and choreographer...and now a narrator. Her career has taken her all over the country and  includes the Stratford, Shaw and Charlottetown Festivals, the original Canadian companies of CATS and Show Boat, extensive film/TV credits, and numerous directing/choreographing credits. Her stage work has been honoured with numerous nominations and a Jessie and Ovation award and she received a cultural award given by her local Chamber of Commerce. She recently played Marilla Cuthbert in a production of the musical Anne of Green Gables at Theatre Calgary (Spring 2013).

* Post Hypnotic Press audio of the Anne series is available  for your listening enjoyment online HERE.  * * Appreciation to Post Hypnotic Press and Audiojukebox for providing an mp3 for listening and reviewing without cost or compensation. * Tweet *

*

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