Bittersweet - essential for all L.M. Montgomery fans - Rated 
I didn't want to buy this book. For some reason, I had got the impression that it would just be a collection of vignettes strung together, populated by the 'stock characters' of L.M. Montgomery about getting into 'scrapes' and matchmaking; that it wouldn't have the heart or complexity of some of her greater books.
Well, there are scrapes, and there are matches made. There are busybodies, there are plucky kids, there are crotchety old men who are won around by said plucky kids. But somehow, it all seemed fresh. The first couple of chapters introduce the varied Blythe kids and the new Meredith children who live a slightly Pippi Longstocking-esque life with their absent minded widower father and useless old Aunt Martha. Then Mary Vance shows up. I like to think that Mary Vance is what Anne Shirley could have been, had she not had such a fine and fanciful soul. With Mary Vance, L.M. Montgomery gets to have irreverent fun with a salty-tongued orphan used to working from dusk til dawn. Mary is also taken in by a sober old woman and mends her ways somewhat, but unlike Anne, she never 'rounds out' - she'll always be a comic character and a thorn in everybody's side. She's a good balance to the relentless sweetness of characters like Walter and Una. Especially when she's chasing a terrified Rilla through Glen St. Mary with a dried codfish!
Faith Meredith, too, has a bit of Anne about her - her scene with Norman Douglas reminds me of Anne winning over Mr. Harrison in Anne of Avonlea. And I just wanted to shake Mr. Meredith as the little Merediths go about raising themselves by meting out punishments for their 'scrapes' - Una fainting from a self-imposed fast and Carl spending all night in a wet graveyard! Mr. Meredith wakes up in time and with a helping hand from Una, all is resolved.
And then there is the war. Rainbow Valley was published in 1919, but set about ten years before the start of the First World War. L.M. Montgomery meant it as a foreshadow of Rilla of Ingleside, as well as a reminder of the happy places and innocent high spirits that she held so dear and so necessary to protect. The childrens' imaginations are seized by the story of the Pied Piper, and Walter spontaneously foresees a time when the Piper will call and he and Jem, Jerry and Carl will have to follow, while the girls must wait at home. It's so poignant...
The only disappointment, perhaps, is the relative absence of Anne and Gilbert (poor Gilbert, as soon as Anne agreed to marry him his life purpose seemed to be fulfilled and he never spoke another word! I miss that mischievous boy of the first book!). Although the other characters describe Anne as 'still a little girl inside', she has most definitely grown up and has a sort of benevolent, angelic presence in this book. I guess that was the fate of the post-puberty heroine in those days!
An atypical "Anne" book, but one of Montgomery's best - Rated
I really think the only reason not to find "Rainbow Valley" one of L. M. Montgomery's better novels in the Anne series is because it has the least to do with Anne or her children. This one is really more about the four Meredith children who belong to Ingleside's new widowed minister, so I can see where some readers would be less than pleased with the direction of the story in which even Anne and Gilbert's children and secondary characeters. However, a scene near the end of the novel where young Una Meredith communes with the mother's wedding dress before going off to secure a new wife for her father is as touching as anything Montgomery ever wrote. All in all, "Rainbow Valley" reminds me more of "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road" than any of the other Anne books, with the Meredith children having a series of humorous misadventures. I am also impressed because as you can tell from the ending when Walter Blythe speaks of "The Piper," that Montgomery is already committed to writing about what happens to these children during World War I in her next Anne book, "Rilla of Ingleside." Even though it is atypical "Rainbow Valley" is my second favorite book in the Anne series and I am the proud owner of a first edition copy.
A truly enchanting,story capturing the magic of childhood. - Rated
I have read this book many times,since I first discovered it as a child.Each time I read it I immerse myself into the lives of Anne ,Gilbert and their clan,and put the rigours of modern life behind me,enjoying the magic I first discovered as a child,a must read for girls everywhere!!
As funny and adventurous as other LMM books! - Rated 
I think this book is as worth-reading as the rest of the other Anne books. I think people who love kids will love this book even more because both the children of Ingleside and the Manse are so cute and witty as usual. Like Anne, I myself also take a special liking to Faith. She is so much like Anne when she was in her Green Gables days. It bought back memories of Anne Shirley especially when Faith made those apologizes and explanations...oh..that blessed child is so much like Anne herself. I also like Walter for his courage to fight for both her mother and Faith. But I think this book has put too much focus on the Meredith clan...and that there really aren't much about Shirley and Rilla in this book.
A Great book!!! - Rated
There wasnt to much of the Merediths, and it was just as good as the others. I loved every sentence of it.
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