Name of book:

Heidi

Author:
Johanna Spyris

Illustrated by:
Pelagie Doane.

Number of pages:
255 Pages

ISBN:
unfortunately my copy from 1969 doesn’t have an ISBN

What is the book about?
This is an enchanting story about a little girl who sees beauty in everything she see, she is an orthan girl who has been in charge of her aunt dete since bearly a year old. The aunt unexpectantly leaves the child on her grandfather who is known throughout the village of dalfori as Ulm Uncle and has spent many years up in his hut on the moutain with only his goats for company. Now heidi loves it with her grandfather when one day her aunt Dete shows up out of the blue again to take Heidi away again and this is the story of how one little girl manages to change the lives of so many around her.

Why I picked it?
This is one of my all time favourite books when I was a child and after the children having a period of a few months without their bedtime read because they decided they were too old for bedtime stories I thought I would read this to Emily to find the other two crawl in to bed and join in on this lovely tale of one little girls amazingly innocent and engergising view of the world around her.

What Thomas Thought:

I thought it was very good my favourite part was when peter fell down the Alm because it was very funny. I have learnt that people can be good but sometimes do bad things. I think I am a little bit like Peter and he is my favourite character in the book.

What Jessica thought:

I thought it was Excellent, My favourite part was the end when Clara had learnt to walk. I have learn a lot from this book as I now see that Heidi has nothing but never complains and I have lots of toys and books but I get fed up so I now feel lucky to have my toys and books and my little sister to play with we have lots of different food whereas heidi only had goats milk, cheese, bread and meat she didn’t even have chocolate or crisps and poor peter and peters family didn’t even have as much as heidi so I am very lucky.

What I thought it taught my Children:

I think it has taught them allot they all seem to be more contented to sit and play with the toys they have now rather than constantly wanting more and they are deadly keen to try to live on bread butter goats milk and toasted goats cheese so come shopping day they will be doing their own shopping. I also think Thomas has got allot out of it all through the book Thomas felt the need to defend Peter (who is quiet a self fish little boy who is actually not really a bad boy he just doesn’t truly understand the things going on around him which causes him to act inappropriately) I think he saw himself in Peter allot and kept saying why hasn’t someone told him that he shouldn’t do that or why hasn’t someone told him he can learn to read mummy. we had many conversations about peter and Thomas even asked why if he is like me hasn’t his mummy taken to teaching him and when explained that she can’t read either he didn’t understand at first how an adult couldn’t read. this book has effected both Thomas and Jessica in different ways Jessica has started really looking around her to what the trees are doing and how they move in the sun and wind and the colours around her really awakening her senses to the beauty around her where as Thomas (apart from keep wanting to send his old and unwanted toys to little boy’s who have nothing) for a long time couldn’t get over how no one would truly help Peter and then when Heidi did was quiet relieved, I think it has helped him understand why he sometimes gets into trouble for something he didn’t know was wrong and after many times in the book (prime example being when Heidi teaches Peter to read and expects him to read to his grandmother peter says he doesn’t want to and this makes Heidi Cross) Thomas is very self absorbed too and will only think about himself  and Peters actions and they way the other Characters in the book explain to peter what he’s done wrong really talked to Thomas who has now started to think about the people around him and how his actions effect those around him.

 

Overall Family mark out of 10:
(10 being fantastic 0 being so bad didnt even finish)

10 out of 10 definitely will be reading this story again