Heidi Summary
Johanna Spyri

Everything you need to understand or teach Heidi by Johanna Spyri.

  • Heidi Summary & Study Guide

Heidi Summary

Heidi is an old-fashioned book in which the good characters live "happily ever after." In today's uncertain world, where both the news and fiction tend to be painfully realistic, it is reassuring to find a story where good people are rewarded and where love and honesty triumph. Modern readers may find certain aspects of the book a bit overdone.

Heidi is almost too full of joy, Peter too simple-minded, and the grandfather too all-knowing and kind beneath his gruff exterior to be totally believable. Yet readers care about these characters deeply and become much involved in their story.

The book was originally written in German and first published in English in 1884. It is a simple narrative of love between a girl and her grandfather, of the joy of helping others, of the beauty of nature, and of reverence for God.

Neither of the villains, the selfish Aunt Dete...

(read more from the Short Guide)