Introduction

The author of the book

Johanna Spyri (1827~1901)

Johanna Spyri was an author of children's stories. Just like Heidi in the book, she spent her childhood coming and going between the Alps and the city of Zurich, so she thoroughly experienced life in the country and the city.

Spyri wrote her first work in 1871 when she was 44 years old, she wrote stories mostly for adults. In 1878, she wrote two stories for children for the collection called Heimatlos. With this opportunity, published <A Story for Children and for Those Who Love Children> between 1879 and 1895, which consisted of 16 books. Heidi was one of them, and it was the work which made Spyri famous as an outstanding writer of children’s literature.

Having a hard time since her only son died in 1884 at the age of 29 and her husband died soon afterwards, she came to devote herself to charitable causes with the money she had earned from writing work. She died in July 1901.

Heidi is a story set in the Alps, which was where Spyri grew up. Heidi lost her parents as a baby, so she went to live with her stubborn but warmhearted grandfather in the Alps. But, several years later, Heidi went to Frankfurt to be a companion of Clara, who was an invalid with polio and couldn’t walk. Though Clara cheered up as she became friends with Heidi, Heidi felt homesick, and she started to sleepwalk. Finally, Heidi went back to the Alps and regained her previous happy life. Afterwards, the story ends happily as Clara goes to visit Heidi as she had promised, and, finally, Clara gets rid of her wheelchair and begins to walk thanks to Peter and Heidi's devotion. <Heidi> is a beautiful story with pure characters, including Heidi, and features the nature of the clean Alps, and it makes the readers of today feel innocent as well as a love of nature.