Heidi

AUTHOR FILE

NAME: Johanna Louise Spyri

BORN: 12 June 1827

DIED: 7 July 1901

NATIONALITY: Swiss (Heidi was originally written in German)

LIVED: mainly in the city of Zurich, Switzerland

MARRIED: to Johann Bernhard Spyri, in 1852

CHILDREN: one son, Bernhard Diethelm

What was she like?

Johanna is one of the most famous children’s writers in the world but little is known of her life. Once, when she was asked to write her autobiography, she replied with the words: ‘The external path of my life is very simple, and there is nothing special to be mentioned. My inner life was full of storms, but who can describe it?’

Where did she grow up?

Hirzel, a small village with beautiful views in the mountains of Switzerland. Johanna’s parents were quite well‐off, so she and her five brothers and sisters had comfortable lives. There were lots of books and music in their house, and friends and relatives often came to visit. Johanna didn’t leave home properly until she got married when she was twenty‐five, although she went away to school for a while when she was a teenager. One thing Johanna didn’t do when she was young was write much, although she read a lot. Her first book wasn’t published until she was over forty years old.

What did she do apart from writing books?

She gave a lot of her time and money to charities, and loved travelling, music and discussing books, art, music and politics with other people. Johanna often struggled to be happy. Although she lived in Zurich for most of her adult life, like Heidi she sometimes found city life difficult. This is probably one of the ‘storms’ she spoke of, as was her experience of losing and then finding her faith again.

Where did she get the idea for Heidi?

Dörfli isn’t based on Johanna’s home village, but on a different part of Switzerland where she spent many family holidays. Mayenfeld, Ragaz, Prättigau and Domleschg are all real places. Heidi’s homesickness in Frankfurt, however, is probably based on Johanna’s own experiences of leaving her country home.

What did people think of Heidi when it was first published?

Heidi was first published in two parts, the first in 1880 and the second in 1881. Johanna was over fifty, and although her previous books (mainly for adults) had been quite successful, nothing had prepared her for people’s reaction to Heidi. Within five years the book had been translated into English, and it soon became famous all over the world.

What other books did she write?

Johanna wrote over twenty‐five books, but today only Heidi is well known. Two books she didn’t write are the two sequels to Heidi — Heidi Grows Up and Heidi’s Children. These were written by her original English translator, Charles Tritten.

WHO’S WHO IN HEIDI

Heidi (christened Adelheid) — at the beginning of the story, Heidi is about five years old, and by the end ten or eleven. Heidi is free‐spirited, bright, brave and sympathizes with anyone suffering or in trouble.

Tobias and Adelheid — Heidi’s dead parents.

Detie — Heidi’s twenty‐six‐year‐old aunt. When her parents died, Heidi was left in Detie and Detie’s mother’s care. Detie isn’t bad, exactly, but she is selfish, careless of other people’s feelings and ready to lie to get her own way.

Uncle Alp (Grandfather) — Heidi’s gruff but, at heart, kindly grandfather. In his youth Uncle Alp gambled and drank away his fortune, and in later life when his son, Tobias, died, many local people claimed it was a punishment for the sins of Uncle Alp’s youth. His anger at them is why, as the story starts, he lives alone on the mountain.

Peter — eleven‐year‐old local goatherd. Peter has a good heart, but he isn’t very bright. He can be a little selfish, as well as jealous of Heidi’s friendships with other people.

Bridget — Peter’s mother.

Grannie — Peter’s blind grandmother. Very religious, at the start of the book she is suffering so badly from cold, loneliness and fear that she is finding it hard to be sustained by her faith.

Clara Sesemann — wealthy twelve‐year‐old friend of Heidi’s, who lives in Frankfurt. Detie virtually kidnaps Heidi to be the invalid Clara’s companion — nevertheless, the two girls become firm friends.

Mr Sesemann — Clara’s father, who loves Clara dearly but is often away on business.

Mrs Sesemann (Grandmamma) — a firm and kindly old lady, Mrs Sesemann is Mr Sesemann’s mother and Clara’s grandmother. Following Clara, Heidi calls her ‘Grandmamma’.

Miss Rottenmeier — Mr Sesemann’s housekeeper — a cold, silly and occasionally cruel woman. Heidi is often in trouble with Miss Rottenmeier due to her inexperience of the ways of a wealthy family in a big city.

Mr Usher — Clara’s tutor.

Sebastian and John — manservants in the Sesemanns’ house. Sebastian is an enemy of Miss Rottenmeier and an occasional accomplice of Heidi and Clara’s.

Tinette — snooty maid in the Sesemanns’ house, who looks down on Heidi as a country bumpkin.

Dr Classen — a friend of Mr Sesemann’s and later of Heidi and her grandfather. The great grief in the doctor’s life is the death of his daughter.

Barbie — a friend of Detie’s.

Ursula — an old lady in Dörfli, who used to look after Heidi while Detie was working.

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT…

What do you think of the character of Heidi? What qualities does she have that make her such a powerful force for good in the novel — and is she too good to be true?

In Heidi, what are the positive and negative things about living in or near Dörfli, and living in Frankfurt? What does Heidi learn from her trip to Frankfurt?

What did you think of Heidi’s grandfather at the start of Heidi? How and why does he change during the book?

Who do you think are the baddies? What makes you think these characters are bad?

Heidi is famous for Johanna Spyri’s descriptions of the mountain landscape. Find a descriptive passage you like (for example, when Heidi goes out with Peter and the goats for the first time), and look at the words Johanna Spyri uses. What kinds of positive words does she use, and how? Are there any negative words, and if so, how do these affect the description?

SOME THINGS TO DO…

There are many film and TV adaptations of Heidi. Watch one of them and compare it to the original book. Which do you prefer, and why?

Beat Johanna Spyri at her own game! Write a beautiful description of a natural place you’ve been to, a sunset, or a plant or animal you’ve seen.

Choose a scene from the novel and adapt it into a playscript — then act it out!

Heidi’s visits and presents light up blind Grannie’s life. Think of a grown‐up (a parent, relative, friend or neighbour) you could surprise with a gift or do something nice for — and make it happen.

Imagine you are working on the soundtrack for a new film of Heidi. How would you want the music for the mountain scenes to be different to the scenes set in Frankfurt? Find some songs or instrumental music you think would work well on the soundtrack for each place.

Imagine that you and your family are moving house — to a hut like Uncle Alp’s! You’re going to live there for a year. There’s clean water and plenty of wood, but no electricity, and the nearest shop (which only sells basic supplies) is two hours’ walk away. Make a list of everything you’d need to take to keep you alive, comfortable and entertained — but remember, whatever you take you’ve got to carry it up the mountain with you, so pack light!

MOUNTAINS UNDER THREAT

Lots of things in Switzerland are better now than they were in Johanna Spyri’s day. People have better medical care, cleaner water and more effective sanitation. They’re richer, and they live longer.

One thing, however, that isn’t better is the mountain environment Heidi is set in. The fresh air in the mountains is less fresh today, and the vast expanses of grass, flowers, rocks and snow are less vast, less clean and less empty. And it’s not just Switzerland (which actually looks after its mountains better than most countries). Mountain areas are in danger all over the world. Read on to find out what’s threatening them — and what you can do to help.

Air pollution — our cars, factories and power stations release soot and poisonous gases into the atmosphere. Air pollution causes health problems, and because mountain valleys often trap pollution, people living there are particularly at risk.

Acid rain — air pollution also causes acid rain. Gases such as sulphur dioxide combine with water in the clouds to make deadly acids, which may be carried hundreds of miles before falling in the mountains as acid rain and harming trees, plants and wildlife.

Litter — people have always dropped litter, but today the problem is more serious. There are more of us polluting the world, and many modern materials (such as plastic bottles) don’t decompose naturally.

Mining and quarrying — many mining and quarrying companies who extract useful rocks and minerals from mountains are careful to protect the environment — unfortunately, some are not.

Tourism — people visiting mountains provide local people with jobs and create reasons to protect natural areas. However, tourists can badly damage mountain environments unless they respect the places they visit, and unless good laws are in place to prevent unscrupulous people from building hotels, restaurants and car parks wherever they like.

Climate change — the world is getting warmer. Temperatures rose on average by 0.6°C (1°F) between 1900 and 2000, and today most scientists agree this warming is due to the greenhouse effect. In the mountains, glaciers are melting, snow is falling less often and less heavily, and animals and plants adapted to cold mountain conditions are struggling to survive.

1. Save energy. Turn off anything (such as lights, TV or computer) if you’re not actually using it.

2. Don’t be lazy! If it’s safe to do so, walk, cycle or take a bus, rather than asking your parents to take you in the car.

3. If you visit a mountain area (or any natural place), stay on the path so you don’t damage plants and erode the soil, and don’t disturb or feed wild animals.

4. Don’t drop litter — in a mountain area or anywhere else.

5. When you’re shopping, use your own bag instead of a plastic one from the shop.

6. Companies care what people say about them. If you hear about a company damaging a mountain environment, write to its president and tell them what you think.

Q & A: SWITZERLAND

Where is Switzerland exactly?

Switzerland is a small country situated in the middle of Europe, with many mountains but no coastline. Switzerland has remained a mostly independent, neutral republic for hundreds of years.

Because French, German and Italian are all spoken in Switzerland, its official name is actually in Latin — Confoederatio Helvetica — to avoid offending anyone. That’s why Swiss internet addresses end ‘.ch’.

What does it mean to be a ‘neutral’ country?

It means that Switzerland won’t attack other countries, but also that it won’t intervene to help another country or people, even if, for example, that country is a small, innocent one being attacked unfairly. Switzerland was neutral in the Second World War, and many people think it was wrong of Swiss banks to allow Nazis to open bank accounts and deposit millions of dollars — some of it stolen from Jewish Holocaust victims.

Is Switzerland as beautiful as it sounds in Heidi?

Yes! The Swiss Alps are famous all over the world (not least for their association with Heidi!). The Swiss people are very proud of their country, and look after it carefully — they have many laws designed to protect the environment.

CHEESY SCIENCE!

Uncle Alp makes his own cheese from goats’ milk. But how exactly does liquid milk become solid cheese? Here are the basics of the science of cheese:

If you looked at fresh milk under a powerful microscope, you’d see large drops of fat and smaller pieces of protein, floating in a sea of sugary water.

Although the protein pieces are naturally attracted to each other, a substance coating the outside of each piece prevents them from joining up. The secret of making cheese is to destroy this substance, allowing the pieces of protein to join up.

Cheese‐makers kick‐start the necessary chemical reaction by adding an enzyme. Traditionally, this enzyme comes from a dried piece of calf’s stomach (called rennet), which is added to the milk. Today, there’s also vegetarian rennet.

Cheese‐makers also add a weak acid, usually produced by special bacteria added to the milk, as this helps the enzyme to work.

It takes several hours for the proteins to join up and set the milk into a gel.

This gel has lots of sugary water in it, but if the gel is squeezed, pressed or just allowed to drain, the water comes out, leaving a solid (the curds, containing most of the protein and fat), which looks a lot like cheese.

The type of cheese you get is determined by what happens next. There are many options, all producing different flavours and textures. Curds can be stretched, washed, heated, pressed and deliberately allowed to go mouldy. ‘Fresh’ cheeses (such as cottage cheese or mozzarella) are eaten soon after they’re made, while ‘aged’ cheeses (such as brie, cheddar or Monterey Jack) have to mature for days, weeks or even years.