The Story of Heidi is a most tender and touching one. When Heidi is orphaned, she is sent to live with her uncle in his simple home high up in the mountains. Heidi loves the life and her grandfather; she loves the outdoors and the fresh air and he is determined that she should be free to enjoy it all without the burden of convention or study. But Heidi’s life is turned upside down again when she is sent off to live in the city by her strict aunt. Here Heidi finds a different kind of happiness. How can she bring together the two parts of her life.
Orphaned at an early age, Heidi has been brought up by her mother's sister Dete in Switzerland. Having been offered a job in Frankfurt, however, her aunt is forced to entrust her young charge into the care of her grandfather, the reclusive Alp-Uncle who lives in the mountains without any interaction with the villagers beneath. The curmudgeonly old man is initially reluctant to accept the new arrangement, but his grand-daughter's warmth, cleverness and exuberance soon win him over, while Heidi learns to love her new surroundings and makes a new friend, Peter the goatherd. But as Heidi gets settled in her new life, little does she suspect that a major upheaval is just around the corner. A timeless classic of Swiss literature that has inspired many adaptations and has captured the imaginations of children the world over, Heidi's Early Lessons and Travels is here presented in a brand-new, unabridged translation by James Bowman, with charming illustrations by Susan Hellard.