Orphaned at an early age and taken in by her young aunt Dete, Heidi--short for Adelheid--is soon in the way. Dete has a new and better job where Heidi is not welcome, so the child must live with her curmudgeon of a grandfather high on the Alm Mountain in the Swiss Alps.
Everyone calls him the Alm-Uncle because he never comes down to the village, even in the coldest winter, and he's developed a reputation as an evil, godless old hermit. But Heidi soon finds that things are not always what others say they are, makes friends with the Alm-Uncle, and happily runs wild in the glorious mountains with the goat boy, Peter, and his goats.
Suddenly Dete appears again, and Heidi finds herself confined in a stone house in a stone city where she is expected to be companion to the invalid Klara. Dete sees this as a great opportunity for Heidi, one that will provide her with an education and polish. But, bitterly unhappy away from her grandfather and the outdoor life she has grown to love, Heidi at last makes her way back to the Alm. How Klara finally comes to the mountains as well, and the surprising events that follow, form the heartwarming ending to a story that has been loved for generations by children all over the world.
This book is part of a book series called The Whole Story .
There are 208 pages in this book. This book was published 1997 by Penguin Books Ltd .
Johanna Spyri was a Swiss author of children's stories, and is best known for her book Heidi.
This book contains the following story:
Heidi
After her parents die, Heidi is sent to live in the Swiss mountains with her bad-tempered old Grandfather. Heidi is scared but things are not as bad as they first appear. Every day she plays in the field with the friendly goat boy and at the end of each she eats her grandfather's delicious cheese and bread and drinks his creamy goats milk. Then she climbs into the hayloft and falls asleep under the stars. One day her aunt returns and demands that Heidi return with her to the city as a companion to a crippled girl, Clara. Heidi likes Clara but she pines for her life with her grandfather and Clara's family worry about her. One day they take both Clara and Heidi to the mountain home for a visit. Clara is so delighted with the village that she is allowed to stay with Heidi and her grandfather. Every day Clara and Heid play in the field with the friendly goat boy, Peter, and at the end of each they eat grandfather's delicious cheese and bread and drink his creamy goats milk. But Peter is jealous and pushes Clara's wheelchair down the mountain. Clara is forced to learn to walk. When her parents return to collect her they are overjoyed at her progress.
