Anne (with an 'e' of course) starts out as a mistake. The elderly Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had planned on adopting a boy to help Matthew with the chores on their Prince Edward Island farm. What are they to do with the red-haired, high-spirited girl who arrives instead?<br><br>Anne Shirley, with her boundless imagination and heart, slowly brings joy into the narrow lives of those around her, and into the lives of readers who have delighted in her adventures since Lucy Maud Montgomery began writing about her in 1905.<br><br>Anne's courage, her enthusiasm, and her ability to love, have made her one of literature's most beloved characters in Canada and around the world.<br><br>This beautifully illustrated volume, with a foreword by Kate Butler MacDonald, one of L. M. Montgomery's grandchildren, is a treasure for those who find in Anne a familiar friend as well as for those who are discovering this “kindred spirit” for the first time.