Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Synopsis:

This is a children’s fiction novel about a five-year girl named Heidi who goes to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. She is eight at the end of the book. Heidi is very lively and free-spirited, is orphaned as a toddler, and grows to love her grandfather and the mountains and the goats and the beauty and peace of the countryside.

Her grandfather is Heidi’s paternal grandfather and lives by himself in a hut high in the mountains. Heidi is brought to her grandfather by her Aunt Dete whom Heidi lived with after her parents died. Peter is a goat herder who lives with his mother and grandmother in a hut up the mountain. He is eleven, and he quickly grows attached to Heidi and becomes jealous when other people than him spend time with him.

Klara Sesemann is very frail and cannot walk at the beginning of the book. Her mother died when she was young, and her father is often away on business trips. She lives in a nice home in Frankfurt with servants.

Heidi comes to stay with her and be her companion. She also learns how to read there. However, Heidi gets homesick and misses her grandfather and the mountains and Peter and the goats as well as Peter’s blind grandmother whom Heidi loves.

Heidi eventually returns home and Klara comes to visit Heidi and stays for a while and due to the fresh air becomes healthy again and learns to walk. Klara surprises her grandmother and father by walking. Klara’s father promises to permanently take care of Heidi when her grandfather is no longer able to.

Review:

I very much enjoyed this book and loved the character of Heidi and her positive and joyful spirit.

“I’ll always say my prayers and if God doesn’t answer them at once I shall know its because he’s planning something better for me.”

“God certainly knows of some happiness for us which he is going to bring out of the trouble, only we must have patience and not run away. And then all at once something happens and we see clearly ourselves that something happens and we see clearly ourselves that God has had some good thought in his mind all along; but because we cannot see things beforehand, and only know how dreadful miserable we are, we think it is always going to be so.”

“God is good to all of us. He knows what we need better than we do. And just because he thinks it is better not to give you what you want right now doesn’t mean he isn’t answering you. You shall have what you ask for but not until the right time comes.”

“It was so lovely, Heidi stood with tears pouring down her cheeks, and thanked God for letting her come home to it again. She could find no words to express her feelings, but lingered until the light began to fade and then ran on.”