Heidi (Wordsworth Children's Classics) (New Cover for this edition)

Heidi (Wordsworth Children's Classics) (New Cover for this edition)

Heidi is the heart-warming tale of a small girl's power for good, and it has remained a firm favourite since it was published over 100 years ago. It tells of the orphan Heidi and her idyllic existence with her gruff grandfather in the mountains. When she is sent to live in a city, comic chaos ensues, and eventually it is arranged that Heidi should return to the mountains. Together she and her friend Peter, the goat-herd, achieve wondrous changes in the community in which they live. Heidi is happy living in the mountains with her grandfather. One day, she is taken to the city to live with the frail and sickly Clara. Heidi longs for green fields and sunshine of the Alps. Perhaps the fresh mountain air can make Clara healthy, too. Johanna Spyri (1827-1901), a lifelong resident of Switzerland, began to write stories to earn money for refugees from the Franco-Prussian War. Heidi , her first novel, was also her most successful, though she wrote many other children's books. Spyri's firm belief in the natural innocence of children and their ability to grow up into decent, caring adults if left to their own devices was remarkably similar to that of her Danish contemporary, Hans Christian Andersen.