Heidi

Written by Johanna Spyri

Narrated by Marnie MacAdam

In this treasured story, the orphan child, Heidi, is sent to live with her embittered grandfather high in the Swiss Alps. Heidi's innocent joy of life and genuine concern and love for all living things become the old man's salvation.

From the goatherder Peter and his family to the sickly girl Clara and her desperate father, Heidi's special charm enriches everyone she meets. Unselfish to the core, Heidi's goodness overcomes all obstacles - even those seemingly insurmountable.

Remembered and loved as a child's story, Heidi remains a testimony of redemption and salvation for all ages. Uplifting and enjoyable, Heidi makes superior family listening.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 25, 2006
• ISBN: 9781423311102

Johanna Spyri

Johanna Spyri (1827-1901) was a Swiss writer of children’s books. She began writing during the Franco-Prussian War to raise money for the Red Cross. Her best-known work, Heidi, was adapted for film several times.

Reviews for Heidi

[satyridae · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

How is it that I read this as a kid and never noticed the heavy-handed Christian proselytizing? It's treacly and pious and unrealistic in so many ways, and yet the parts where Heidi is trapped in the city, longing for her home on the mountain, are some of the truest, saddest chapters ever written. And the moments on the mountain with the goats are pure poetry. Ultimately the preaching weighs down the lyricism of the mountain parts for me.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My copy of Heidi is actually a hardback with beautiful illustrations. I loved this book. Probably very unrealistic, with an overly idyllic picture of the setting -- but lovely all the same.

[shojo_a · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a kid, I used to pretend to be eidi when I was going to sleep, and pretend that I was sleeping in my little bed of hay in Grandfather's house...

[stubbyfingers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was a little worried when I started reading this that because it is a childrens book it would be too far below me and I wouldn't enjoy it. But I never read it as a kid and I wanted to know what it was about so I gave it a try. It turned out to be totally enjoyable. Yes, it was a little young, but not to the point of making it boring. It was a little too preachy for my tastes, increasingly so as the story progressed, but overall it was fun.

[clurb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wholesome, rather religious, fresh-air and exercise stuff, complete with naughty goats, moaning grannies and a tortoise.

[bigorangecat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully written children's book that this "boomer" still loves to read.

[lauren7299 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Heidi is a great book. Its full of adventures for this little girl. Its about her going to her grandfathers who is a very grumpy old man but in the end he turns out to be caring, loving and full of joy! She starts out as a 6 year old trying to find fun in her life and then she meets a boy called Peter and he helps with all the goats. Peter has got a sweet blind old granny that loves the sound of Heidis voice when she reads the old lady wondorous storys. Its my FAVOURITE book.

[nacchin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Heidi" Maby everyone know her name and this story is very famouse in Japan. Heidi is pure and charming girl. Sometimes there are some troubles, but She overcome and live happy in great nature. This book warmed me especialy for the sake of the character of Heidi. As you know, she is very cute girl. If you read this book, you like her more and more.

[bkohl_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Schmaltzy, yes, but also endearing. Who doesn't want to run from yucky Frankfurt into the Alps and live on goat milk?

[ysar_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read this one since childhood, but I distnctly remember staying up late, hoping my parents didn't notice the light on, and trying desperately to finish this before falling asleep. A truly enjoyable story.

[monado_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this when I was a child. Now I'd find it a little to simple and wholesome.

[clatters · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The best part of the books was that the grandfather opened his heart.

[redon_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Normally I have a very high tolerance for old-fashioned stories featuring unrealistically saccharine children; I'm very fond of A Little Princess, The Five Little Peppers, and the like. I have to say, though, Heidi exceeded my limits. Part of it is that I have a distinct dislike for preachy characters; Heidi gets religion partway through the book (for no reason other than that someone tells her to do so), and for the rest of the story is prone to breaking out in lectures about how good God is and how one must never forget to pray. It isn't so frequent that I couldn't have overlooked it, but I didn't find the rest of the story charming enough to make up for it. There's far too much telling rather than showing in the narration; aside from one cute interlude in the schoolroom, we are generally only informed that Heidi shakes up the Sesemann household and makes it more interesting and cheerful. Mostly what we are shown is Heidi moping around and bursting into tears because she's homesick for the Alps, and it's not terribly clear why most of the household seems to find her such a treasure. When she's in the Alps, she tends to be a bit of a broken record about how beautiful everything is or how she wants to do X to help Y/is going to do X to help Y/is so happy she got to do X to help Y; it gets extremely repetitive, even for a children's book. The other characters weren't any more interesting; Heidi's friend Peter is a sullen little thing who rarely does anything aside from get violently jealous whenever Heidi pays attention to someone else (to the point that it's vaguely disturbing), and the grandmother apparently exists only to be an object of pity. Heidi's grandfather is supposed to be a grouchy old man melted by the sheer force of Heidi's charisma, but seeing as this transformation takes place more or less five minutes after they're introduced, it's not terribly convincing; even the infamous Little Lord Fauntleroy pulled it off more gracefully. The Sesemanns don't get enough dialogue to be very interesting as individuals, aside from Fraulein Rottenmeier, who is intended to be unlikeable. I did like Sebastian the butler, but then I also kept accidentally replacing him with Sebastian from Black Butler in my mind's eye - which was a terribly entertaining thought, of course, but had little to do with the story as written. The plot is fairly meandering, and not enough really happens to compensate for the weak characters. (It did make me laugh once, though, when Heidi's Aunt Dete comes to the grandfather's hut in her floor-length, sweeping skirts and the narration points out that there are things on the floor of a goatherd's hut that do not belong in a dress.) The descriptions of the Alps were lovely, of course, and if all you're interested in is the scenery, go ahead. Otherwise, there are plenty of books about adorable, cheerful little girls spreading sweetness and light in their wake, and I'd choose a different one.

[momma2_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was actually surprised at how much the kids really enjoyed this book. This story has a very simple charm although for me I will have to say the charm was tainted a little when I read that it was supposedly autobiographical. It just seems wrong to paint yourself as a saint. But as a fictional character Heidi is the epitome of sweetness, light and charity. Even the antagonists in the story are very mild. Everything about this story was a little saccharine but apparently the kids enjoy that because they begged for more. Oh and the goats, we loved the German names of the goats!

[fladdle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm surprised find myself enjoying this book with its evocative descriptions of the mountainside and its layered characters. Who would have thought that a book written in 1881 could "talk" to me, 130 years later? I also wonder why no translater has been given credit in this edition (which is Aladdin, but published in 2000).

[hamburgerclan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Heidi". Can you believe I'm reading freakin' "Heidi"? Is that desperation, or what? Actually, I have to confess that lack of reading material doesn't figure into this. "Heidi" is on the list of books that my younger daughter has to read/have read to her for school. To be a good teacher, I figure I should read the literature the curriculum is foisting upon my kids. But whatever the motivation, I have perused "Heidi" and have to admit that I enjoyed it. I didn't think I was going to. I mean, I think that repeated exposure to "The Brady Bunch" in my formative years has permanently prejudiced me to "nice" stories and characters. So I was expecting "Heidi" to be a drag. It didn't start out so great. This book was originally written in German and the characters speak and act a bit off from what I'm used to. And the lead character was, as expected, a sweet, innocent little girl who spreads sunshine wherever she goes. But for some reason, that didn't annoy me so much. Maybe it was her way of innocently challenging the status quo, be it by tossing her fancy clothes aside when she got hot or by tweaking the ever restrictive Fraulein Rottenmeier. (love that name...) Or maybe it's that Heidi didn't manage to totally redeem the world--some sadness remained and some people resisted the child's charm. Whatever it was, by the end I was willingly reading the novel, wondering how it would all end. I even have to recommend that you check it out. You can always go watch "The Simpsons" later.--J.

[sharty_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The descriptions in this book allow the reader to feel the mountains around her. Heidi is an honest, caring, open child--almost a cross between a present day Junie B. Jones and Amelia Bedilia. She finds herself in trouble due to her absolute purity and innocense, but she is loved deeply by those she encounters. The story begins as she trudges up the mountain to meet her grumpy old grandfather, but it doesn't take him long to experience joy in Heidi's presence. Peter, the goatheard, finds great friendship with Heidi, and his grandmother loves her voice, especially when she learns to read. She spends time in Frankfurt as a companion to Clara, a disabled girl, but she returns to her grandfather on the mountain as she becomes horribly homesick. Clara comes to visit Heidi on the mountain, and Peter becomes very jealous leading to a transformation in Clara.

[osunale · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I checked this book out from the library numerous times in my elementary school years. Something about the warm-hearted and spirited mountain girl Heidi always kept me running back to this book, though it was perhaps the beautiful descriptions of the mountains and the goats that most fascinated me - I had no trouble reading and then re-reading some of the best passages for hours on end. Finally bought my own copy a couple of years ago when walking through a used books store contemplating purchasing possibilities: I passed the children's section and Heidi jumped to mind, and, luckily, it was in stock. I read it again and found it every bit as enjoyable as I did when younger, though I find myself even more drawn to the outdoors imagery as opposed to the people than I did before. If the book has any fault, it is that its innocent-girl-changes-all-the-bitter-people-around-her story is a little too sweet, sometimes bordering on the preachy, and is, at times, almost laughable. But it's difficult to really hold this against the work, as it is rather a moral story for children. In that light it succeeds brilliantly. Any child that doesn't get to experience the simple joy that is Heidi is missing out on a treasure among books.

[martensgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have mixed views about this book. On one hand, it is sickeningly twee, with a heavy dose of religion thrown in. On the other hand, it was written over 130 years ago in God-fearing times, when people respected the upper classes. Still, Heidi's endless selflessness and do-gooding is rather nauseating.

[pennykaplan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reread this as background reading for a trip to Switzerland. Yes, it's rather sickly sweet, and a bit heavy with God making all right, but I still enjoyed this tale of the irrepressibly good Heidi

[lisa2013_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

recommended for: girls of all agesI reread this story frequently as a girl. One of the most evocative and effectively descriptive books I’ve ever read. A wonderful story about a young girl who goes to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Loved the side story that takes place in town away from her grandfather as well. I always craved cheese and bread as I read the story, and there was nothing more satisfying than curling up with Heidi and some cheese & bread. When young, I didn’t understand that the goat cheese described in the book was different from the cow’s milk cheese I ate. (Now that I’m a long term vegan, I would no longer crave any animal procured cheese, but I think I’d still enjoy the story.) A worthy children’s classic. The sequels: Heidi Grows Up and Heidi’s Children were written by a different author – the original author’s translator. I enjoyed them, but they were not as pleasurable to read as Heidi.

[teason_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked how not only Heidi grew but her grandfather grew as well. I was very pleased that in the end they were able to stay together.

[nickki_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Heidi lives with her grandpa in his little wooden house, high up in the mountaines of Switzerland.One day her aunt comes and takes her to Frankfult. And then, Haidi met Clara,who has lost the use of her legs.This story is very famous in Japan. so, I watched many times on the TV when i was little.no matter i know this story well, i would enjoy this warm story.

[the1butterfly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So, okay, Heidi's one of those characters that're excessively perfect, but the story is captivating nonetheless. Heidi's creative, and her fun in the Alps was fun to read about. What I remember perhaps the most about this book was that she learned to read after she discovered the value of reading- that the letters held words and stories.

[ayumig_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is that a little Swiss girl Heidi goes to live with her grandfather (ancle Alp) His home is a little house on a mountain . He loves Heidi and he sometimes angry and feels sad .I think that almost of the people know this story and I have been looked anime on TV when I was a junior high scholl student . I like a cirtai scene that Clara was able to walk herself !! This is a wonderful surprise . If my best friend asks me help , I will work hard for my friend .

[noonwitch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have an antique edition, that was my mom's when she was a kid. The story is about love, loyalty and helping other people.

[mialro_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sweet story. Rather religious without crossing the line into preachy. Love her idyllic existence with her grandfather; that's probably my favorite part of the book.

[carolyn7727 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful- a classic, a simple story of a little girl growing up in the mountains.

[sesameg_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book as a child, but now... Heidi is a little bit over the top in her 'high on life in the mountains' approach. Also, there is the strange scene where Peter must learn to read and is 'encouraged' by rhymes that tell him he'll be beaten or shipped off to the Hottentots if he doesn't succeed! Still worth reading, but... just the tiniest bit psycho, IMHO.

[nicolehc_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Little girl's classics. Read around same time as Little Women.