Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Heidi
    Heidi
    Heidi
    Audiobook9 hours

    Heidi

    Written by Johanna Spyri

    Narrated by Bobbie Frohman and Full Cast

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Heidi who has been orphaned, is taken from her alpine home with her beloved grandfather by her less than loving aunt to be a companion for a crippled child of a wealthy family in Frankfurt. They become bosom friends but Heidi becomes ill and has to return home, but when her crippled friend comes to the Alps for a visit, well, we don't want to spoil the story for you.

    Table of Contents:
    Chapter 01. Up the Mountain to Alm-Uncle
    Chapter 02. At Home with Grandfather
    Chapter 03. Out with the Goats
    Chapter 04. The Visit to Grandmother
    Chapter 05. Two Visits and What Came of Them
    Chapter 06. A New Chapter about New Things
    Chapter 07. Fraulein Rottenmeier Spends an Uncomfortable Day
    Chapter 08. There is Great Commotion in the Large House
    Chapter 09. Herr Sesemann Hears of Things that are New to Him
    Chapter 10. Another Grandmother
    Chapter 11. Heidi Gains in One Way and Loses in Another
    Chapter 12. A Ghost in the House
    Chapter 13. A Summer Evening on the Mountain
    Chapter 14. Sunday Bells
    Chapter 15. Preparations for a Journey
    Chapter 16. A Visitor
    Chapter 17. A Compensation
    Chapter 18. Winter in Dorfli
    Chapter 19. The Winter Continues
    Chapter 20. News from Distant Friends
    Chapter 21. How Life Went on at Grandfather's
    Chapter 22. Something Unexpected Happens
    Chapter 23. "Good-bye Till We Meet Again"
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlcazar Audio Works
    Release dateJan 1, 2007
    ISBN9780979377792
    Author

    Johanna Spyri

    Johanna Spyri (1827-1901) was a Swiss writer of children’s books. She began writing during the Franco-Prussian War to raise money for the Red Cross. Her best-known work, Heidi, was adapted for film several times.

    More audiobooks from Johanna Spyri

    Related to Heidi

    Related audiobooks

    Children's Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Little House On The Controversy: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Name Removed From Book Award

      Jun 25, 2018

      The Association for Library Service to Children voted unanimously to strike Wilder's name from a major children's lit award over concerns about how the author referred to Native Americans and blacks.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The best-ever ROMANCES

      Jan 7, 2021

      The best-ever ROMANCES
      2 min read

    • Article

      The William Trevor Reader: “The Third Party”

      Jun 27, 2023

      This is what great stories do—they pursue great endings. The post The William Trevor Reader: “The Third Party” appeared first on The Millions.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Healing

      Apr 15, 2020

      Healing
      9 min read

    • Article

      Life’s CHANCES

      Jun 29, 2022

      Life’s CHANCES
      2 min read

    • Article

      Hearts AND HURTS

      May 20, 2020

      Hearts AND HURTS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Telltale SIGNS

      Oct 18, 2023

      Telltale SIGNS
      8 min read

    • Article

      Never Too Late FOR LOVE

      May 6, 2020

      Never Too Late FOR LOVE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Healing

      Apr 1, 2020

      Healing
      9 min read

    • Article

      Mum Joins The CIRCUS!

      Feb 26, 2023

      A great chat with the queen of talk back I am mindful of the fact that the last time I wrote about Mum moving to Auckland, I jinxed it. The sale fell through, even as the Champagne was chilling in the fridge, and it set back Mum’s relocation to Auckl

      2 min read

    • Article

      Mum Joins The CIRCUS!

      Feb 26, 2023

      A great chat with the queen of talk back I am mindful of the fact that the last time I wrote about Mum moving to Auckland, I jinxed it. The sale fell through, even as the Champagne was chilling in the fridge, and it set back Mum’s relocation to Auckl

      2 min read

    • Article

      Your Space

      Oct 14, 2019

      Shireen Coetzee of Mitchells Plain writes I live in an old council house with bedroom and lounge windows that face west and don’t get direct sun. I’m an ardent lover of glass and yearn for more sunlight in these rooms. I marvel at how easily some peo

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Secret Of HAPPINESS

      Aug 13, 2020

      The Secret Of HAPPINESS
      6 min read

    • Article

      Lady with A LUTE

      Aug 3, 2022

      Lady with A LUTE
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Place To CALL HOME

      Aug 14, 2022

      A great chat with the queen of talk back Right, then, my lovely Weekly readers! I need you all to put the white light around Mum’s home in Hamilton, which went on the market a week ago. She’s found a beautiful apartment in a perfect retirement commun

      2 min read

    • Article

      Love And The LAND GIRL

      May 26, 2021

      Love And The LAND GIRL
      9 min read

    • Article

      Damson JAM

      Jan 17, 2024

      Damson JAM
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dark DEEDS

      Jan 20, 2021

      Dark DEEDS
      9 min read

    • Article

      By the RIVER’S EDGE

      Mar 29, 2023

      By the RIVER’S EDGE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Happily (n)ever after…

      Mar 4, 2019

      Happily (n)ever after…
      4 min read

    • Article

      The nostalgic CAFÉ FRU FLORA

      Nov 15, 2022

      The nostalgic CAFÉ FRU FLORA
      1 min read

    • Article

      Your Space

      Apr 22, 2022

      Write to us at Home Readers’ Letters, PO Box 1802, Cape Town 8000; email editor@homemag.co.za, or follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/homemag) or Instagram @TuisHomeMag. When submitting a letter, please include your full name and the town in which yo

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Heidi

    4/5

    75 ratings60 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Wholesome, rather religious, fresh-air and exercise stuff, complete with naughty goats, moaning grannies and a tortoise.
    • 4/5
      I liked this when I was a child. Now I'd find it a little to simple and wholesome.
    • 4/5
      Schmaltzy, yes, but also endearing. Who doesn't want to run from yucky Frankfurt into the Alps and live on goat milk?
    • 3/5
      Normally I have a very high tolerance for old-fashioned stories featuring unrealistically saccharine children; I'm very fond of A Little Princess, The Five Little Peppers, and the like. I have to say, though, Heidi exceeded my limits. Part of it is that I have a distinct dislike for preachy characters; Heidi gets religion partway through the book (for no reason other than that someone tells her to do so), and for the rest of the story is prone to breaking out in lectures about how good God is and how one must never forget to pray. It isn't so frequent that I couldn't have overlooked it, but I didn't find the rest of the story charming enough to make up for it. There's far too much telling rather than showing in the narration; aside from one cute interlude in the schoolroom, we are generally only informed that Heidi shakes up the Sesemann household and makes it more interesting and cheerful. Mostly what we are shown is Heidi moping around and bursting into tears because she's homesick for the Alps, and it's not terribly clear why most of the household seems to find her such a treasure. When she's in the Alps, she tends to be a bit of a broken record about how beautiful everything is or how she wants to do X to help Y/is going to do X to help Y/is so happy she got to do X to help Y; it gets extremely repetitive, even for a children's book. The other characters weren't any more interesting; Heidi's friend Peter is a sullen little thing who rarely does anything aside from get violently jealous whenever Heidi pays attention to someone else (to the point that it's vaguely disturbing), and the grandmother apparently exists only to be an object of pity. Heidi's grandfather is supposed to be a grouchy old man melted by the sheer force of Heidi's charisma, but seeing as this transformation takes place more or less five minutes after they're introduced, it's not terribly convincing; even the infamous Little Lord Fauntleroy pulled it off more gracefully. The Sesemanns don't get enough dialogue to be very interesting as individuals, aside from Fraulein Rottenmeier, who is intended to be unlikeable. I did like Sebastian the butler, but then I also kept accidentally replacing him with Sebastian from Black Butler in my mind's eye - which was a terribly entertaining thought, of course, but had little to do with the story as written. The plot is fairly meandering, and not enough really happens to compensate for the weak characters. (It did make me laugh once, though, when Heidi's Aunt Dete comes to the grandfather's hut in her floor-length, sweeping skirts and the narration points out that there are things on the floor of a goatherd's hut that do not belong in a dress.) The descriptions of the Alps were lovely, of course, and if all you're interested in is the scenery, go ahead. Otherwise, there are plenty of books about adorable, cheerful little girls spreading sweetness and light in their wake, and I'd choose a different one.
    • 5/5
      A wonderfully written children's book that this "boomer" still loves to read.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book in a way I could never love Little Women or Anne of Green Gables, and I have no idea why. I think something about it just appealed to me. However, the sequel is actually BETTER.
    • 3/5
      I'm surprised find myself enjoying this book with its evocative descriptions of the mountainside and its layered characters. Who would have thought that a book written in 1881 could "talk" to me, 130 years later? I also wonder why no translater has been given credit in this edition (which is Aladdin, but published in 2000).
    • 5/5
      Heidi is a book for those who want to become lost in another world. The story is full of happy endings and finding joy in frustrations and sorrows, but it is meant to be a very feel good kind of thing. This is a world where good mountain air cures everything, including the inability to walk. This is also exactly the way the story should be. Heidi is a classic for a very good reason and all children should experience it at least once in their lifetime.For me, the most memorable thing about the story, aside from all of the good that is done for others, are the pictures my mind was able to paint when reading the words. Heidi has always been a very visual experience for me, even when reading a copy that doesn't have illustrations, as my copy does. This is the kind of thing you can easily and honestly put before your mind and come up with a crisp, clear image that makes you want to stay in that place forever. I don't reread it often enough.
    • 3/5
      I read this book so often as a child that the covers fell off, the binding broke, and I lost about half the pages. Heidi is almost insufferable in her Merciful Christian Perfection--but only *almost*. There's a spark of fun to her, and I was absolutely enthralled by her simple, earthy lifestyle. As an urban kid in the 20th century, the idea that soft bread could be a luxury blew my mind (to the extent that twenty years later, Heidi's meals with Clara are still the main thing I remember about this book). Didn't much like the grandfather or the goats.
    • 4/5
      The descriptions in this book allow the reader to feel the mountains around her. Heidi is an honest, caring, open child--almost a cross between a present day Junie B. Jones and Amelia Bedilia. She finds herself in trouble due to her absolute purity and innocense, but she is loved deeply by those she encounters. The story begins as she trudges up the mountain to meet her grumpy old grandfather, but it doesn't take him long to experience joy in Heidi's presence. Peter, the goatheard, finds great friendship with Heidi, and his grandmother loves her voice, especially when she learns to read. She spends time in Frankfurt as a companion to Clara, a disabled girl, but she returns to her grandfather on the mountain as she becomes horribly homesick. Clara comes to visit Heidi on the mountain, and Peter becomes very jealous leading to a transformation in Clara.
    • 4/5
      I haven't read this one since childhood, but I distnctly remember staying up late, hoping my parents didn't notice the light on, and trying desperately to finish this before falling asleep. A truly enjoyable story.
    • 5/5
      Digital audiobook performed by Johanna Ward. 4.5**** This classic of children’s literature tells the story of Heidi, a young orphan girl who lives with her gruff grandfather up on a Swiss mountain. She befriends Peter, the goatherd, and becomes beloved by all the villagers. I’d seen the Shirley Temple movie about a million times when I was a child and absolutely loved it, but I had never read the book. It’s a wonderful story about a child who has lost much but relishes all that she has. She’s intelligent, open-minded, hind-hearted and has a great generosity of spirit. She comes across several mean-spirited (and downright nasty) people, but her cheerfulness wins over many people and she eventually prevails. I listened to the audio performed by Johanna Ward. She does a marvelous job, with clear diction and a pace that isn’t too fast for younger listeners to absorb.
    • 3/5
      I have mixed views about this book. On one hand, it is sickeningly twee, with a heavy dose of religion thrown in. On the other hand, it was written over 130 years ago in God-fearing times, when people respected the upper classes. Still, Heidi's endless selflessness and do-gooding is rather nauseating.
    • 3/5
      The best part of the books was that the grandfather opened his heart.
    • 5/5
      very good book
    • 4/5
      Reread this as background reading for a trip to Switzerland. Yes, it's rather sickly sweet, and a bit heavy with God making all right, but I still enjoyed this tale of the irrepressibly good Heidi
    • 4/5
      I owned this book as a child and I read it over and over again. I don't think I've read it since I was about 11. My main memory is how evocatively it described the Alps. It truly made me want to go there (which I have yet to do, but some day...!). Oddly enough, I have never felt the need to go to Frankfurt.Heidi remains a fast, pleasant read, full of gorgeous scenery. I didn't recall the heavy Christian message, though that's certainly in keeping with the time period--right along with the 'heal yourself through nature' theme. I think looking at the book in the historical context is pretty important, as otherwise the book comes across as trite and predictable with lots of stereotyped characters, though this is the book that established many major tropes.I actually saw the Shirley Temple movie based on the book recently. As a kid, I vastly preferred the book because it is more centered in nature and had a better ending, I thought (even 1930s Hollywood felt the need to end everything with a dramatic chase scene). The book gives Peter a lot more nuance with his learning disability, selfish inclinations, and guilt complex.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I liked how not only Heidi grew but her grandfather grew as well. I was very pleased that in the end they were able to stay together.
    • 4/5
      I was actually surprised at how much the kids really enjoyed this book. This story has a very simple charm although for me I will have to say the charm was tainted a little when I read that it was supposedly autobiographical. It just seems wrong to paint yourself as a saint. But as a fictional character Heidi is the epitome of sweetness, light and charity. Even the antagonists in the story are very mild. Everything about this story was a little saccharine but apparently the kids enjoy that because they begged for more. Oh and the goats, we loved the German names of the goats!
    • 5/5
      A very special book. I am so glad I finally read the unabridged version.
    • 3/5
      A great classic.
    • 4/5
      Heidi lives with her grandpa in his little wooden house, high up in the mountaines of Switzerland.One day her aunt comes and takes her to Frankfult. And then, Haidi met Clara,who has lost the use of her legs.This story is very famous in Japan. so, I watched many times on the TV when i was little.no matter i know this story well, i would enjoy this warm story.
    • 4/5
      "Heidi". Can you believe I'm reading freakin' "Heidi"? Is that desperation, or what? Actually, I have to confess that lack of reading material doesn't figure into this. "Heidi" is on the list of books that my younger daughter has to read/have read to her for school. To be a good teacher, I figure I should read the literature the curriculum is foisting upon my kids. But whatever the motivation, I have perused "Heidi" and have to admit that I enjoyed it. I didn't think I was going to. I mean, I think that repeated exposure to "The Brady Bunch" in my formative years has permanently prejudiced me to "nice" stories and characters. So I was expecting "Heidi" to be a drag. It didn't start out so great. This book was originally written in German and the characters speak and act a bit off from what I'm used to. And the lead character was, as expected, a sweet, innocent little girl who spreads sunshine wherever she goes. But for some reason, that didn't annoy me so much. Maybe it was her way of innocently challenging the status quo, be it by tossing her fancy clothes aside when she got hot or by tweaking the ever restrictive Fraulein Rottenmeier. (love that name...) Or maybe it's that Heidi didn't manage to totally redeem the world--some sadness remained and some people resisted the child's charm. Whatever it was, by the end I was willingly reading the novel, wondering how it would all end. I even have to recommend that you check it out. You can always go watch "The Simpsons" later.--J.
    • 5/5
      I checked this book out from the library numerous times in my elementary school years. Something about the warm-hearted and spirited mountain girl Heidi always kept me running back to this book, though it was perhaps the beautiful descriptions of the mountains and the goats that most fascinated me - I had no trouble reading and then re-reading some of the best passages for hours on end. Finally bought my own copy a couple of years ago when walking through a used books store contemplating purchasing possibilities: I passed the children's section and Heidi jumped to mind, and, luckily, it was in stock. I read it again and found it every bit as enjoyable as I did when younger, though I find myself even more drawn to the outdoors imagery as opposed to the people than I did before. If the book has any fault, it is that its innocent-girl-changes-all-the-bitter-people-around-her story is a little too sweet, sometimes bordering on the preachy, and is, at times, almost laughable. But it's difficult to really hold this against the work, as it is rather a moral story for children. In that light it succeeds brilliantly. Any child that doesn't get to experience the simple joy that is Heidi is missing out on a treasure among books.
    • 4/5
      This story is that a little Swiss girl Heidi goes to live with her grandfather (ancle Alp) His home is a little house on a mountain . He loves Heidi and he sometimes angry and feels sad .I think that almost of the people know this story and I have been looked anime on TV when I was a junior high scholl student . I like a cirtai scene that Clara was able to walk herself !! This is a wonderful surprise . If my best friend asks me help , I will work hard for my friend .
    • 5/5
      My mother read Heidi to me when I was 5, and I reread it every year until I went to college.
    • 4/5
      I knew this book had made an impact on my five-year-old when he asked to drink his milk from a bowl this morning, like Heidi. It wasn't goat's milk, but I'm not sure he's adventurous enough for that. Maybe if we were on the Alm.

      This book has a similar theme as Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess, but the characters are even more perfect. I mean, everyone is a sweetheart, except for Fraulein Rottenmeier and Peter at times, and even their misbehaviors can be explained by personal weakness (fear and jealousy) so that we can forgive them. Of course, Heidi is never tried to the degree that Sara Crewe is, so maybe she'd be less sweet if really given a test, and who knows how she acted as a teenager (there would be an interesting book).

      But what's funny is that while I normally can't stand stories with people who are ridiculously kind, I really, really enjoyed this one. It's just a heart-warming story, and I don't even care if it's totally unrealistic.
    • 5/5
      Heidi moved to her grandfather to live with him on the mountains. She met Peter and became good friends. Her grandfather does not want Heidi to send her to school. After a couple of weeks being there, her aunt takes her to Frankfurt to live with Clara a girl in a wheelchair that needed a companion. Heidi really liked Clara they also became good friends. Heidi learned how to read while with Clara. But Heidi always wanted to go back to the mountains, and became sick for missing it so much. At the end she goes back to the mountains with her grandfather. Later, Clara comes to visit her and end up staying with Heidi. Clara was so happy there, that she end ups walking.
    • 4/5
      I loved "Heidi" as a little girl and having just revisited it, it was still a sweet read. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the beautiful Swiss Alps, which I was lucky enough to visit last year.
    • 4/5
      Sweet story. Rather religious without crossing the line into preachy. Love her idyllic existence with her grandfather; that's probably my favorite part of the book.