An orphan girl brings joy to her gruff grandfather in the Swiss Alps, then must leave for the city
A girl and her mountains
Five-year-old Heidi is an orphan, and her aunt Dete takes her high into the Swiss Alps to live with her grandfather, a gruff old man who lives alone and avoids the village. Heidi quickly wins his heart. She spends her days with Peter, the young goatherd, among the flowers and meadows, and visits Peter's blind grandmother, bringing light into everyone's life.
Who will enjoy it
Children aged about seven to twelve and adults who love warm, gentle classics about nature, friendship and family.
What you will get
A warm, uplifting classic about a joyful girl who loves the mountains and changes the lives of everyone around her, full of nature, kindness and friendship.
Heidi Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Alps · Friendship · Family
Length
336 pages · ≈ 10 h
More about this book
Heidi's first years on the mountain are some of the most beloved scenes in children's literature: sleeping in the hayloft under a round window, drinking fresh goat's milk, toasting cheese over the fire and running through the high pastures with Peter and the goats. Her grandfather, whom the villagers fear, becomes gentle and protective, and Heidi grows strong and happy.
Then Dete returns and takes Heidi to Frankfurt to be a companion to Clara Sesemann, a wealthy girl who cannot walk. Heidi and Clara become close friends, and Clara's kind grandmother helps Heidi learn to read, but the strict housekeeper, Fräulein Rottenmeier, disapproves of Heidi's country ways. Heidi grows so homesick that she begins sleepwalking, and a wise doctor sends her home. Later, Clara visits the Alps, where fresh air, good food and friendship work wonders, despite a jealous moment from Peter. Spyri's descriptions of the mountains are vivid, loving and unforgettable.
Gentle, warm and timeless, a wonderful book to read aloud with children or to rediscover as an adult. About 336 pages in the Puffin in Bloom edition.
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