Johanna Spyri - Classic Starts®: Heidi

Retold from the Johanna Spyri original
by Lisa Church

Illustrated by Jamel Akib

New York / London
www.sterlingpublishing.com/kids

STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Church, Lisa R., 1960

Heidi / retold from the Johanna Spyri original by Lisa Church ; illustrated by Jamel Akib ; afterword by Arthur Pober.

p. cm.(Classic starts)

Summary: An abridged version of Johanna Spyri's classic story of a Swiss orphan who is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city.

ISBN 978-1-4027-3691-9

[1. OrphansFiction. 2. GrandfathersFiction. 3. Mountain lifeSwitzerlandFiction. 4. SwitzerlandHistory19th centuryFiction.] I. Akib, Jamel, ill. II. Spyri, Johanna, 18271901. Heidi. III. Title. IV. Series.

PZ7.C4703Hei 2007

[Fic]dc22

2006014670

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
Copyright 2007 by Lisa Church
Illustrations copyright 2007 by Jamel Akib
Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing
c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6
Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services,
Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England BN7 1XU
Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756, Australia

Classic Starts is a trademark of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Printed in China
All rights reserved

Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-3691-9

For information about custom editions, special sales, premium and
corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales
Department at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

CHAPTER 1:
Up the Mountain

CHAPTER 2:
Meeting Grandfather

CHAPTER 3:
At Home with Grandfather

CHAPTER 4:
Out with the Goats

CHAPTER 5:
The Visit to Grandmother

CHAPTER 6:
Two Visitors

CHAPTER 7:
A New Family

CHAPTER 8:
A Look About Town

CHAPTER 9:
Money and Kittens

CHAPTER 10:
Another Grandmother

CHAPTER 11:
A Ghost in the House

CHAPTER 12:
Heading Home

CHAPTER 13:
Home at Last

CHAPTER 14:
Sunday Bells

CHAPTER 15:
A Visit at Last

CHAPTER 16:
Another New Home

CHAPTER 17:
News from Faraway Friends

CHAPTER 18:
Life at Grandfathers

CHAPTER 19:
Good-bye Until We Meet Again

H eidi, keep up!

The words stung the ears of the overdressed five-year-old. She nodded to her aunt and hurried her step. The three dresses she had onone on top of the otherand the thick wool shawl wound about her made her step slow on such a hot June day.

Are you tired? Aunt Dete asked.

No, answered the child. I am hot.

We shall soon get to the top. You must walk bravely on a little longer and take good long steps. We will be there in another hour, the woman said in a cheerful voice.

It seemed like hours since they had left Dorfli and begun their way up the footpath. But in truth, it had only been one hour. Just enough time had passed to take them to a small village built into the side of the mountain. People usually stopped here to rest and visit with friends on their way to the top. But today the young woman and the child did not stop to rest. The trip they were on was too important to interrupt with friendly visits.

If youre going farther up the mountain, I will walk with you, Dete! a woman called out.

Dete waved and nodded to the woman. She slowed her steps a little so the older lady could join her.

I suppose this is the child your sister left? the woman asked when she saw Heidi.

Yes, answered Dete. I am taking her to live with her grandfather.

Youre going to leave that child with him? You must be crazy! How can you do such a thing? The old man wont take her in, anyway. He will throw both of you out the minute you arrive!

He cant very well do that, Dete answered. He is her grandfather. I have taken care of her since her mother died when the poor babe was only one. But now I have some great chances coming my way. I am finally going to have a nice place to live and work. Its about time that her grandfather does his duty.

So you are just going to leave the child with the old man and move away? the old woman asked in surprise. Its hard for me to believe that you could do such a thing.

What do you mean? asked Dete. I have done my duty with Heidi! What do you think I should do with her? I cant take her with me!

The old woman never gave her an answer. The house she was stopping to visit appeared before them. Dete remembered this hut. A younger woman lived there with her mother and her son, Peter. Almost everyone knew the eleven-year-old boy. Each morning he would go down to the valley to fetch the goats. Then he would drive them up the mountain and take care of them until it was time to go home for the night.

Good luck to you! the old woman called as she went inside to see Grandmother.

Dete waved her hand and watched as the lady walked toward the small brown hut. She didnt want to admit that her friend could be right. She took a minute to straighten her hat and then turned around to look for Heidi. She needed to get on with her trip.

H eidi was enjoying watching the goats and the boy who led them. She struggled to keep up with him as he sprang from one rock to another. The layers of clothing she had on prevented her from getting close enough to speak to him.

All at once Heidi sat herself down on the ground. She began pulling off her shoes and stockings as fast as her little fingers could move. When this was done, she unwound the hot red shawl and threw it off. Then she took off her coat, too. There was still another one underneath to unfasten. Her aunt had put her Sunday coat on atop her everyday one to save her from carrying it. Quick as lightning, this one went, too. Heidi stood up. She was now wearing only the little slip that she had started out with this morning. She put all her clothes together in a tidy little heap and then went jumping and climbing after Peter and the goats.

Peter had barely noticed the girl. When he suddenly saw her appear in her undergarments, his face broke into a grin. Heidi questioned him on everything from the goats homes to how many there were. She had lost herself in her talking when she arrived at the spot where Dete stood.

Heidi, what have you been doing? What a sight you have made of yourself! And where are your two coats and the red shawl? And the new shoes I bought and the new stockings I knitted for youeverything is gone! Not a thing left! What were you thinking, Heidi? Where are all your clothes?