Heron

When I googled "heron" it said that the species most prevalent in Canada is the Great Blue Heron, which can be found from Nova Scotia to Alberta, with a large concentration in Prince Edward Island, the great blue heron capital of North America.  It stands anywhere from 3.2 to 4.5 feet tall and its wings span spreads anywhere from 5.5 to 6.6 feet.  The great blue heron, a colonial nester, builds stick nests, 1 metre in diameter, in the treetops.  The largest known colony of nests in P.E.I. was recorded at 507 in 1997.  The large bird arrives in Canada in the late March and departs in the late fall.  Great blue herons are expert fishers, swallowing their prey whole.  They live on average 15 years.

Alex Colville's Heron circa 1977 courtesy https://www.consignor.ca/artwork/AW26854.

Anne of Green Gables' World Wide Appeal

"Despite its distinctly Canadian setting, Anne of Green Gables belongs to the world." (Canada Post)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/157626055678408038/

Every Canadian knows about the flame-haired orphan who warmed her way into the hearts of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.  We know about Anne hitting Gilbert over the head with her slate when he teased her about her red hair.  We know about her kindred spirit, Diane, and about her tear felt goodbye to her beloved Matthew.  We remember her academic success and the trials of her first teaching assignment.

"[However] despite its distinctly Canadian setting, Anne of Green Gables belongs to the world."  (https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2008/2008_june_aogg.jsf).  Who would have thought that a book with such a Canadian flavour would first be published by an American company?  Lucy Maud Montgomery had already been turned down by Canadian publishers and as a last ditch effort, in 1908, approached an American one, the Page Company of Boston  (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/07/anne-of-green-gables-could-have-sat-in.html).  

It should be no surprise, then, that one of Anne's earliest fans was the famous American author Mark Twain who wrote to Montgomery and praised her for creating "the dearest and most lovable child in fiction since the immortal Alice [in Wonderland]" (http://www.enotes.com/topics/anne-green/critical-essays/anne-green-gables-l-m-montgomery).

It was only a year later that Anne was translated into Swedish, titled Anne pa gronkulla.  It was so well received that two further Swedish translations followed in 1941 and 1962.  

The Swedish edition was followed in 1911 by a Polish translation titled Ania Z Zielonego Wzgorza.  During the Second World War, members of the Polish Resistance were given black market copies of Anne of Green Gables to read at the Front, inspiring them to fight for their principles.  

In 1939, a Canadian missionary visited Japan and left her prized copy of Anne of Green Gables with a friend who secretly translated the text into Japanese, Akage No An (Red-Haired Anne).  After the war, when the Japanese school system was looking for good quality Western literature, Anne of Green Gables was selected for its curriculum.  Today, generations of Japanese celebrate Anne by visiting Green Gables on Prince Edward Island.  Many celebrate Anne-themed weddings at home.  Thousands of Japanese tourists flock to the Island each year, the women often dying their hair red and fashioning it in pigtails.  The Japanese cannot get enough of Anne.  

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/new-stamps-released-tourism-spikes-as-p-e-i-celebrates-anne-1.697908

Don Harron's "Anne of Green Gables"

The longest running musical in Canadian history debuted on CBC in 1956.  It first appeared on the stage in 1965 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Canadians fell in love with it http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/anne-of-green-gables-the-musicaltrade-emc/.

Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 classic book, the musical features a red-haired pig-tailed orphan named Anne who arrives in Prince Edward Island looking for a home.  Marilla and her brother Matthew have requested a boy to help them on the farm, but are shocked to find a girl at the train station.  Despite their wishes, Anne works her way into their hearts and they keep her.

She falls in love with their home, Green Gables, and their community, Avonlea.  Anne dreams of one day being a famous author and enters a writing contest sponsored by the Rollings Reliable Baking Powder Company for which she wins first prize.  As she daydreams, Gilbert watches her from afar, the boy who tugged on her pigtails on that first day of school, to which she responded by smashing a slate over his head.  Anne's relationship with the tender hearted Matthew is precious.

The musical features songs like "Humble Pie", "Wondrin" and "Ice Cream".  Anne of Green Gables appeared on the London stage in 1969 and Off Broadway in 1971.  It continues to appear on Canadian stages and has been performed every year since 1965.

Megan Follows plays Anne of Green Gables on CBC series circa 1985 courtesy http://www.laineygossip.com/Anne-Of-Green-Gables-musical-movie-confirmed/28005.