Heidi by Johanna Spyri

by Johanna Spyri

A True Classic. A Masterpiece. A Must-Read. One of the milestones of the written world. Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her maternal aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland after the early deaths of her parents, Tobias and Adelheid. When some people ask Dete to come to the city and be their maid, Dete takes 5-year-old Heidi to her paternal grandfather's house, up the mountain from the Dörfli. He has been at odds with the villagers and embittered against God for years and lives in seclusion on the alm, which has earned him the nickname 'The Alm-Uncle'. He briefly resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl's evident intelligence and cheerful yet unaffected demeanor soon earn his genuine, if reserved, affection. Heidi enthusiastically befriends her new neighbors, young Peter the goatherd, his mother, Brigitte, and his blind maternal grandmother. With each season that passes, the mountaintop inhabitants grow more attached to Heidi.

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 9, 2021

About the author

Johanna Spyri was a Swiss author of children's stories, best known for Heidi. Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers in the area around Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.

Reviews

[Nicole Palumbo Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Older children's books have a weird mix of harsh and saccharine. Heidi is an abandoned child who sleepwalks in the streets and has a cruel caretaker, but she also spreads love and kindness wherever she goes. I couldn't get past the idea of Shirley Temple as Heidi in my head (showing my age a little - Shirley Temple movies always seemed to be on tv on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid). I did like that the story didn't end as soon as Heidi returned to the Alps. We get to see how her grandfather has to change, and how the city people have to change. This was a sweet, if predictable, story.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me a lot of The Secret Garden with the emphasis on the healing power of nature, maybe a little too much in that extreme. I liked The Secret Garden better. I really liked the talk about the goats and the Swiss Alps. It was annoying when the author had the characters take a religious spin, overall good though.

[Anaïs · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤

[Grace Knutson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This should be branded as required reading at Sunday School