Dete returns, having secured a position in Frankfurt for Heidi to become a companion to Clara Sesemann, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, who has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair. The schoolmaster sends the church pastor to speak with Grandfather, and he encourages him to move to Dörfli in the winter so it is easier for Heidi to attend school. Peter attends the village school in the winter, but after a year of living on the mountain with Grandfather, Heidi does not attend school. Grandfather and Heidi often invite Peter to stay with them for dinner, and he is thankful since his family often does not have enough to eat. Heidi begins visiting Grannie and convinces Grandfather to make some much-needed repairs to Peter’s home. Later, Heidi meets Peter’s mother and grandmother, Grannie, who is blind. Heidi begins visiting the high mountain pasture with goatherd Peter and falls in love with the landscape. He welcomes Heidi into his modest home, and they become fast friends. Shunned by the townsfolk, Grandfather lives alone in a remote mountain hut. Dete forces Heidi to hike from Dörfli up the mountain, where she will live with her grandfather, called “Uncle Alp” by the villagers. Dete’s mother dies as well, leaving Dete as Heidi’s sole caregiver, but she wants to take a new job in the city and can no longer care for her niece. The source material for this guide comes from the 1956 translation from Penguin Random House UK, reissued in 2015 as a Puffin Classic edition, therefore names and wordings may vary.ĭete’s sister Adelheid dies, leaving her and her mother to care for her daughter, Heidi. In addition to Heidi, Spyri published 32 other children’s books before she died in 1901. However, before Spyri’s death, she burned all her private letters and journals, leaving much of her life a mystery. Spyri’s depiction of the idyllic, simple past of Alpine life is believed to be partially autobiographical, as she spent her summers in a village called Maienfeld. Spyri was born in Hirzel, a Zurich village that shares a border with the German Rhineland.

Heidi by johanna spyri first edition