Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning (German: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre), usually abbreviated Heidi, is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps. It was written as a book "for children and those who love children" as quoted from its subtitle in 1880 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. Two sequels, Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children, were not written by Spyri, but by her English translator, Charles Tritten.
Adelheid (final letter pronounced as a "t" sound), alias Heidi, is a girl first raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. This has earned him the nickname Alp-Öhi ("Alp-uncle" in the Graubünden dialect). He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
Table of Contents
- Up the Mountain to Alm-Uncle
- At Home with Grandfather
- Out with the Goats
- The Visit to Grandmother
- Two Visits and What Came of Them
- A New Chapter about New Things
- Fraulein Rottenmeier Spends an Uncomfortable Day
- There is Great Commotion in the Large House
- Herr Sesemann Hears of Things that are New to Him
- Another Grandmother
- Heidi Gains in One Way and Loses in Another
- A Ghost in the House
- A Summer Evening on the Mountain
- Sunday Bells
- Preparations for a journey
- A Visitor
- A Compensation
- Winter in Dorfli
- The Winter Continues
- News from Distant Friends
- How Life went on at Grandfather's
- Something Unexpected Happens
- "Good-bye Till We Meet Again"