Author: Johanna Spyri （1827–1901）
Translator: Maniko Ueda (1930-2017)
* original first published in 1880 and 1881
The books were so good.
The story begins with Heidi, a capable little girl with curly hair, appearing at the age of five. As she grows up in the Alps, she transforms her grandfather’s heart, brings joy to Peter’s grandmother, and restores Clara to life.
It is also a grand hymn to the Alps.
My first encounter with Heidi was the animated series I watched as a child. The white bread Heidi ate, the cheese melting as it was toasted by the fireplace, Snowflake the goat, the hay bed—all of these had an incredible power to draw children in, and they remain vivid in my memory even now. Reading the book made me realize that the enduring appeal of the animated series ultimately came from the depth and vitality of the original work.
I felt that the social or cultural context was quite different from that of Japan, where in the 19th century there were virtually no stories about such self-reliant children.
(Finished reading: December 24, 2025)
