A retelling of an old story made simply for young children

Heidi is a young girl who is sent to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. She spent her days with her grandfather and the goatherder, Peter, playing outside with the goats in the summer and inside watching her grandfather in the winter. When Heidi comes of age to go to school, her aunt comes for her and takes her to live in Frankfurt, Germany. While Heidi is there, she becomes a companion for her crippled cousin, Clara. Even though she has everything she needs, Heidi becomes homesick for her grandfather and the mountains and becomes very ill. Heidi's aunt decided to pack her stuff and send her back to her grandfather to live, and Clara goes for a visit. Before long, Clara begins to regain her health while visiting Heidi.

As a young girl, I spent a few years with a foster family and was very homesick to be living with my father again. I can relate to Heidi in that aspect, as it is always difficult when you are away from your family and what you best know.

As a classroom extension, I would have the children write a paragraph about a time that they have traveled or been away from their family, and draw a picture of what they wrote about. ( )

This book is a very liberal adaptation to a lengthy novel, therefore it would be difficult to really consider it a very highly rated book. I really do not think that this adaptation is a very good example of realistic fiction(at the time it was written) and it frustrates me knowing all the pieces that are missing from such an important novel. ( )