Heidi

Introduction

A story for children and those that love children.

Translated by Helen B.Dole

(1880)

As a little girl with no parents, Heidi was raised in the beautiful mountains where her grandfather and grandmother lived. She had a happy and naive life, spending time with the old pair and her only friend, an 11 year old boy named Peter. But as the girl grew older and was sent to school, she began to understand how great and valuable, and so gentle, home had been. A pretty story that readers will find themselves reading over and over again in times to come.--Submitted by Molly.

Originally published in two parts as Heidi's years of learning and travel (German: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and Heidi makes use of what she has learned. (German: Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat) This is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps. It was written as a book "for children and those who love children" (as quoted from its subtitle). Heidi is one of the best-selling books ever written and is among the best-known works of Swiss literature.

Adelheid ("Heidi") is a girl who has been raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland after the early deaths of her parents, Tobias and Adelheid (Dete's sister and brother-in-law). Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather (her father's father), who has been at odds with the villagers and embittered against God for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. This has earned him the nickname Alp-Öhi ("Alm-Uncle" in the Graubünden dialect). Alm-Uncle 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 and his mother and blind grandmother. With each season that passes, the mountaintop inhabitants grow more attached to Heidi.

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Recent Forum Posts on Heidi

Heidi, a Girl of the Alps

I felt my tears come when I read the part of the novel in which Heidi started to sleep walk. She dreamed about her home high up in the mountain and her grandpa each night, only to wake up and know again that she was still in the city. Each night she went back to her grandpa in a dream, which made her walk out unconciously to search for things that she could never in her life get out of her head. She loved her grandpa and her home. It is one of the most charming pieces of literature I've ever read in my life.

Posted By virginiawang at Sat 6 Jun 2009, 10:33 AM in Heidi || 0 Replies

I love the novel, Heidi, a Girl of the Alps.

Hello, I read a few chaperts from Heidi, a girl of the Alps recently, and my tears often trickled down. I guess it was because I grew up with my grandpa, just like Heidi, in a countryside, and I found some difficulty in getting along with some of my relatives who were rich and famous, when I was growing up. When Heidi was moved to a place far away from her home high up in the mountain, she became really sad deep within her heart that she finally gave way to sleep walk. In my opinion, the girl, Heidi best describes what Emerson wrote in his essay, nature, that the rays of stars only shot into the eyes of children or those adults with the mind of children. Only children can see through nature and enjoy its blessings. I wish I still had the mind of a child. Anyway, I enjoy reading Heidi quite a lot.

Posted By virginiawang at Wed 3 Jun 2009, 1:33 PM in Heidi || 1 Reply

Sequels to Heidi

Any of you ever read Heidi grows up and Heidi's children? It's written by Charles Tritten. They are the sequels to Heidi, written by Johanna Spyri.