Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I read Heidi by Johanna Spyri this month and today we are answering some discussion questions about the book. This was the first time reading the book for both of us.
For those who have never read this classic book, this is a book about a young, orphaned girl who is sent to live with her grandfather on a Swiss mountain in his tiny hut. He’s been living in the hut, all alone, for years due to various reasons. Everyone in the little town at the bottom of the mountain thinks he is a horrible, cranky person and are horrified when Heidi’s aunt takes her to live with him.
It turns out that Uncle Alp, as her grandfather is called, is not what he seems, and in a good way.
As the story unfolds, Heidi will get to know him and their neighbors, which includes the goat herder Peter and his mother and grandmother, better.
Heidi lived with her aunt and her other grandmother previously and was rarely allowed to go out and play. Now she can go and play and roam the mountains and she loves it.
Just when she gets comfortable, though, her aunt returns and a new, scarier, adventure unfolds.
This is a sweet, touching book written much earlier than I thought it had been written. It was written in 1880 and was translated into English from its original German. In addition to calling it sweet and touching I would also call it heartwarming. Is it a bit unrealistic at times? Absolutely and to me that is totally fine. This is a children’s book after all. They are allowed to be that way and often needed by both children and adults.
Erin and I read The Puffin in Bloom Collection version, with a translation from Eileen Hall, which was first published in 1956 and published for this edition in 2014.
One thing Erin and I were surprised about Heidi was that she is not the blond, blue-eyed child illustrated on many of the covers of the books or in some movie versions. She actually had short, dark hair.
This 2016 movie version probably shows the characters the most accurately from the book. I think I might watch this at the end of the month:
At the end of this post, I’ll share some quotes I enjoyed from the book.
- Quick, first five words that pop into your head about Heidi.
Delightful. Fun. Sweet. Emotional. Inspiring.
2. Would you slam two big mugs of goat milk back-to-back, and why is the answer no? What about one mug?
That would be a no because I tried goat milk before and I did not like it. Maybe it needed to be colder or something because it tasted like a barn smells. I don’t know how else to describe that.
3. Was Uncle Alp making goat cheese, like chevre?
I imagine he was making goat cheese as they ate a lot of it, but I don’t know what kind.
4. Write a beautiful description of a natural place you’ve been to, a sunset, a plant or animal you’ve seen.
A large rock jutted out from the tree and brush-covered hillside to overlook sprawling, green farmland, a twisting river with sunlight sparkling off of it, and trees clustered together in bright oranges, reds, and yellows. A bald eagle flew by at eye-level and clouds looked as if they could be reached out and touched. It was no surprise that locals said this place once served as a prayer rock for the Native American tribes that first settled the land here.
5. Heidi, like Anne of Green Gables, loves her home and has favorite aspects, like the fir trees, the wind, the fire sunset on the mountain. Is there anything in nature you cherish about your home, the way that she does?
I used to love the large tree outside our house but it was cut down last year. Now I admire the other trees in my backyard and in our area I love to look at the hillsides covered with pine trees and maple trees.
6. In the same vein, what are some small things you are grateful for?
I am grateful for cozy evenings where I can watch an old movie while cuddled under a blanket.
7. Which character, besides Heidi, is your favorite and why?
I love Grandmama. She knows how to get things done, while also being kind and caring for others.
8. What character did you like the least and why?
Mrs. Rottenmeir. Her name says it all. She was just rotten! She was mean to Heidi and Clara and just a very bitter woman. I couldn’t understand why the Mr. Seseman kept her in his employment.
9. There is a part in the book where Heidi longs for home? Has there ever been a time in your life where you have longed for home?
Absolutely. When I had my children and wanted to get out of the hospital but especially in 2021 when I was in the hospital with Covid for 5 days and could not wait to get home with my family.
10. Do you think you would like to live in a small hut in the Swiss mountains, miles away from a town?
I might like doing this during warmer weather but not so much during the winter and only if I had WiFi.
Here are a few quotes from the book that I enjoyed:
“Listen to me,” she said. “If we’re in trouble and can’t tell any ordinary person, why, there is always God, whom we can tell, and if we ask Him to help us, He always will.”
“God certainly knows of some happiness for us which He is going to bring out of the trouble, only we must have patience and not run away. And then all at once something happens and we see clearly ourselves that God has had some good thought in His mind all along; but because we cannot see things beforehand, and only know how dreadfully miserable we are, we think it is always going to be so.”
“It was so lovely, Heidi stood with tears pouring down her cheeks, and thanked God for letting her come home to it again. She could find no words to express her feelings, but lingered until the light began to fade and then ran on.”
“No,” he replied. “You see, today I am happy, as I had never thought to be again. Much happier than I deserve. It’s good to feel at peace with God and man. It was a good day when God sent you to me.”
Outside the moon was struggling with the dark, fast-driving clouds, which at one moment left it clear and shining, and the next swept over it, and all again was dark. Just now the moonlight was falling through the round window straight on to Heidi’s bed. She lay under the heavy coverlid, her cheeks rosy with sleep, her head peacefully resting on her little round arm, and with a happy expression on her baby face as if dreaming of something pleasant. The old man stood looking down on the sleeping child until the moon again disappeared behind the clouds and he could see no more, then he went back to bed.
“The happiest of all things is when an old friend comes and greets us as in former times; the heart is comforted with the assurance that some day everything that we have loved will be given back to us.—”
Have you read Heidi? What did you think of it?
You can see Erin’s post about the book here
