Book Cover of Heidi

Heidi

by Johanna Spyri

Filled with descriptions of the magnificent Swiss Alps, the lives of the simple country folk who live in their picturesque peaks and valleys and the gentle and innocent days of childhood, Heidi by Johanna Spyri is a book that no child should miss reading. Since it first came out, it has captured the hearts of children (and adults) all over the world, been extensively filmed, televised and staged and translated from the original German into more than 60 languages. Heidiland, a theme park, is one of the big attractions in Zurich. Heidi The Girl from the Alps by Swiss children's author Johanna Spyri was published in two parts in 1880. It tells of Heidi, a little Swiss girl whose parents' sudden death leaves her to be brought up by her aunt. Aunt Dete is a career-woman who though she loves Heidi, does not have the time or resources to look after a child in busy Frankfurt. She leaves Heidi with Heidi's grandfather, who lives in the Swiss mountains. The lonely, embittered old man lives like a hermit on the mountain-top and has nothing to do with the people in the village below. Known to all as “Alm-uncle” Heidi's grandfather is good-hearted but mistrustful of the villagers. He refuses to send Heidi to school and allows her to roam the pastures with a young goat herder, Peter. They become good friends but events take a turn when Aunt Dete decides that Heidi must stay in Frankfurt and learn to earn a living. She is employed as a companion to a rich invalid child, Clara, and soon learns to read and write along with the little girl. The city begins to take its toll on the young Heidi and she becomes ill and depressed. How Heidi returns to her beloved mountains, reforms her crotchety old grandfather and helps Clara regain her health forms the rest of this delightful story. This unassuming and easy to read book remains fresh and unspoiled, still receiving an enthusiastic response throughout the world. Generations of kids have enjoyed reading about the naïve and spontaneous Heidi, the mischievous Peter, the bitter and lonely Alm-uncle, the strict and authoritarian housekeeper Fraulein Rottenmeier, the long-suffering Clara and Clara's kind and gracious grandmother Frau Sesemann. This sweet and charming story earned eternal fame for its shy, retiring author who endured several personal tragedies and wrote many other pleasing stories, but none so famous as Heidi, The Girl from the Alps.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

German

Published In

1881

Author

Johanna Spyri image

Johanna Spyri

Switzerland

Johanna Louise Spyri was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book Heidi. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she s...

More on Johanna Spyri

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

  The Goody-Naughty Book Cover image

The Goody-Naughty Book by Sarah Rippey

The Goody-Naughty Book was originally published as two books back to back. Opening the book from one end, the reader experiences "The Goody Side" wher...

The Dream Coach Cover image

The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish

The Dream Coach is a children's book by Anne Parrish. It contains four fairytale-like stories linked by the theme of a Dream Coach which travels aroun...

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz Cover image

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum

Its publication soon after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake got readers instantly hooked on the story in which Dorothy and her friends sink into the...

The Mysterious Island Cover image

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

The Mysterious Island is another exquisite novel written by the master of adventure writing, Jules Verne. The novel has been seen as the sequel to two...

Pollyanna Cover image

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

This is a timeless classic expressing the universal message that every aspect of life should be looked at in a positive way. It follows the actions of...

The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes Cover image

The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes by Padraic Colum

"Because she used to herd Goats in the high places and the rocky places, she went by the name of Girl-go-with-the-Goats. But that was not the name tha...

At the Back of the North Wind Cover image

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

At the Back of the North Wind is a children's book written by Scottish author George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Word...

The Wise Woman Cover image

The Wise Woman by George MacDonald

The Lost Princess: A Double Story, first published in 1875 as The Wise Woman: A Parable, is a fairy tale novel by George MacDonald. The story des...

Rinkitink in Oz  Cover image

Rinkitink in Oz by L. Frank Baum

Rinkitink in Oz is the tenth book in the Land of Oz series written by L. Frank Baum. It was published on June 20, 1916, with full-color and black-and-...

The Road to Oz Cover image

The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter Met on an Enchant...

Reviews for Heidi

No reviews posted or approved, yet...