Girl wins trip to P.E.I. with letter to Anne

North Kildonan girl wins Anne of Green Gables national letter-writing contest

Before she even started writing her letter to Anne of Green Gables for a national contest, Rebecca Brooks of North Kildonan proved her creativity and knowledge of the famous character.

“Dear Anne Shirley,” was already printed on the piece of paper each participant was to use to write their letter.

However, 11-year-old Brooks thought she’d personalize it by putting “Anne with an e” in brackets after it.

That no doubt caught the attention of the judges, who chose her letter as one of the top five winners in the national letter-writing contest.

In the book, Anne Shirley’s teacher misspelled her name on the board by leaving out the ‘e.’ After that, she introduced herself to others by saying, “Hi. I’m Anne with an e.”

In addition, the talented young Brooks helped make her letter stand out by staining it with coffee and burning holes through it to make it look as though it could have been written 100 years ago, when the book was first published.

The contest was held to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the novel, Anne of Green Gables, written by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Last February, Canadians of all ages were invited to submit a letter of 500 words or less describing what Anne Shirley meant to them.

At the end of April, a panel of judges selected the top five winners from different age categories.

The entries were judged on four criteria: originality, spelling and grammar, relevance to subject and style.

Brooks’s letter reveals how she thinks she and the novel’s main character possess the same traits. She even introduced herself the same way.

“I’m Rebecca with two e’s,” she wrote in her letter.

“You seem as if you’re in a fantasy world where everything is fun, but…it isn’t of course. (It’s like that for me also sometimes).”

Brooks also shared a story about one of her risky adventures in her letter.

“We both do daring and risky things. You walked on the peek [sic] of a roof, and I stood up in a kayak, a long way away from shore on the first time I ever rode in one.”

She even broached the topic of boys.

“Two years ago there was a boy that used to pick on me, like Gilbert did to you. But now, me and you are friends with our enemies.”

Brooks’s mom, Lori, said she can see the similarities between her daughter and Anne Shirley.

“She’s very creative, doing things that aren’t typical of an average child,” Lori said.

The contest also seemed to spark a new interest in reading for her daughter, Lori said, adding that she usually spends more time writing stories than reading them.

In addition to other prizes, Brooks received a travel voucher for a trip to Prince Edward Island, the setting of the story, courtesy of Tourism P.E.I. She and her mom plan to go to the Island sometime this summer.