Customer Reviews

Heidi

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The story of Heidi is as wonderful and heartwarming as always, but I would advise readers to order from a different publisher. This particular book has small type with almost no margins, odd-looking chapter headings, and a very cheap, amateur look, like something I would type and print from my home computer. Also, the summary on the back is not accurate. Finally, there is a strange "warning" by Wilder Publications about how values were different when this book was written and advising parents to discuss how views have changed on "race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations" with their children before allowing them to read the book. This seems to be sending the message that traditional values are inferior to today's standards. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Johanna Spyri's 1880 children's classic proves a European version of POLLYANNA--albeit with more emphasis on a child's spiritual growth. Set in the Swiss Alps this simple tale about a cheerful orphan girl tugs at the heart; Heidi's optimism and sunny compassion for others less fortunate shine through the gloom of adult depression and loneliness. It also demonstrates that you can take the girl out of the mountains, but you can't take the mountains out of the girl.

We first meet five-year-old Heidi as she is being dragged up the steep Alm mountain by her determined but indignant Aunt Dete, to be dumped on the child's grandfather--a feared hermit who shuns human society and lives with his two goats. In no time Heidi charms the crusty old fellow while learning to love the freedom on the Alm--to savor the pure air and beautiful wild flowers. Her world includes the casual goatherd, Peter, his poor mother and his ailing, blind grandmother. This becomes Heidi's world for three years.

Just as Heidi becomes an integral part of both the mountain and her gruff grandfather's heart Aunt Dete arrives unexpectedly (with her own personal agenda: to whisk Heidi away down to distant to Frankfort, Germany, where she will live a more civilized life as the companion of an invalid girl, Clara Sesseman. Torn from the home she loves Heidi feels like a caged bird--trapped where she can not breathe the pure mountain air or smell the myriad, glorious wild blossoms she loves. Treated harshly by the frigid housekeeper, she suffers in silence until her undernourished soul begins to wither, ultimately leading her to walk in her sleep. How can one young protagonist combine two opposing lifestyles while providing stable, emotional sunlight for the disparate lives now dependent on her?

Spyri's style is admittedly quaint and unabashedly preachy, which might make this 19th century classic difficult for modern young readers to enjoy. A certain, childlike mindset is required to fully appreciate this novel. Authors of books from previous centuries had dual goals of providing both entertainment and instruction--in the form of gentle lessons in morality and religion. Thus Heidi, raised in a godless but otherwise loving mountain environment, gradually learns to trust and pray to God--thanks to Clara's wise and understanding grandmother. All the loose ends are tidied up neatly as Heidi continues to bring joy to her extended family all year long. (This edition features long
pages and unnumbered chapters.) Still a sweet read for girls 10-15.