Synopsis
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Johanna Spyri's endearing Swiss classic. When Heidi, a lively orphan girl, goes to live with her grandfather in a little hut high in the Alps she soon learns to live in perfect harmony with her surroundings, leading a carefree life with her constant companion, Peter, a young goatherd. But her happiness is short-lived when she is sent to stay with a rich city family as a companion for the sick Clara. Although she becomes fond of the older girl, Heidi is terribly homesick. Will she ever be able to return to the Alps and the happiness she once knew with her friends? Johanna Spyri's touching story of the adventures of a young Swiss girl is one of the most popular children's stories ever written. Heidi's pleasure in the beauty of the Swiss mountains and her rich relationships with her friends and family are perfectly evoked in this warm and lively full-cast radio dramatisation.
Children's Literature
Dozens of editions are available of this classic tale about a Swiss mountain girl who is sent to live with a strange family in town, leaving behind her irascible but lovable grandfather. New editions or, as in this case, reissues of previous editions, must earn their space on the crowded bookshelf. This version does so from beginning to end. The book opens with an introduction by the British novelist Eva Ibbotson, who was born in Austria. Although she admits that she has never milked a goat, she movingly recalls her family's escape from Hitler, feeling displaced in England, and learning English, in part, through reading Heidi, her favorite book, in translation. The book concludes with a Q&A about Johanna Spyri, a summary of the characters, activities related to the novel and its setting, and information about Switzerland and cheese-making. Although the paper is not the highest quality and might not withstand handling by multiple readers, the illustrations are charmingly old-fashioned. Reviewer: Cynthia Levinson