*****= An all-time favorite
**** = Outstanding
*** =
Above average
**
= Enjoyable
*
= Good, with reservations
****Heidi
by Johanna Spyri
Reviewed October 15, 2002.
Many different editions available. First published in
1881. 304 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF SPY).
I first read and loved Heidi when I was in early elementary
school and read it several more times as a girl. This time, I
reread it because the book Storybook Travels made
me want to go visit Heidi’s Alp in Switzerland.
I have to admit that Heidi is a little on the preachy side
and talks down to the reader a little bit, though it’s mostly just the
fault of the old-fashioned style. I had to take a few breaks when
reading it, but as long as I did that, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t read the book to a teen, but I think that little girls
would still love this tale. Heidi first comes to the Alp
when she is five years old to live with her Grandfather, the Alm-Uncle,
a bitter old man. Heidi’s sweet innocence transforms the old man
and puts love in his heart. Then Heidi is taken away again, to be
an invalid child’s companion in Frankfurt.
Heidi pines away without her mountains and her grandfather.
She doesn’t understand the strict rules of the household where she stays.
Of course, it all comes out beautifully happy in the end, and she gets
to go back to her mountain.
If you’ve seen the Shirley Temple or Disney versions, you might not
realize that this is a very Christian story. Heidi comforts an
old grandmother by reading hymns to her. When her prayer of going
home to the mountains is not answered immediately, she is told that
God was waiting to give her something even better. When the time
comes, she wholeheartedly agrees with this perspective. She shares
this message with her grandfather and changes his heart. Not a
bad message for me to be reading when I found out that we might not get
to stay in Germany as long as we’d like to.
As a postscript, yesterday my family and I did get to visit Heidi’s
Alp in Switzerland. It was incredibly beautiful with the Autumn
trees glowing bright colors in the sunshine. I was amazed at the
many different nationalities among the tourists there and in the guest
book. Heidi is truly a book loved all over the world.
Read this book to a young girl before she outgrows it!
Book Reviews by Sondra
Eklund
