Heidi

- By Johanna Spyri
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Swiss novelist (1827–1901) Johanna SpyriJohanna Spyri, 1879BornJohanna Louise Heusser(1827-06-12)12 June 1827Hirzel, SwitzerlandDied7 July 1901(1901-07-07) (aged 74)Zürich, SwitzerlandOccupationShort story writer, novelistGenreChildren's literature, adult literatureNotable worksHeidi Johanna Louise Spyri (German: [joˈhana ˈʃpiːri]; née Heusser [ˈhɔʏsər]; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories. She wrote the popular book Heidi. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zürich, as a child she spent several summers near Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels. Biography[edit] In 1852, Johanna Heusser married a lawyer named Bernhard Spyri. Whilst living in the city of Zürich she began to write about life in the country. Her first story, "A Leaf on Vrony's Grave", [1] which deals with a woman's life of domestic violence, was published in 1873; the following years further stories for both adults and children appeared, among them the novel Heidi, which she wrote in four weeks only. Heidi tells the story of an orphan girl who lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps, and is famous for its vivid portrayal of the landscape. Spyri's husband and her only child, both named Bernhard, both died in 1884. Alone, she devoted herself to charitable causes and wrote over fifty more stories before her death in 1901. She was interred in the family plot at the Sihlfeld-A Cemetery in Zürich. An icon in Switzerland, Spyri's portrait was placed on a postage stamp in 1951 and on a 20 CHF commemorative coin in 2009. Gravesite at Sihlfeld cemetery in Zurich Plagiarism claim[edit] In April 2010 a professor searching for children's illustrations found a book written in 1830 by a German history teacher, Hermann Adam von Kamp, that Spyri may have used as a basis for Heidi. The 1830 story is titled Adelheide - das Mädchen vom Alpengebirge—translated, "Adelaide, the girl from the Alps". The two stories were alleged to share many similarities in plot line and imagery. Spyri biographer Regine Schindler said it was entirely possible that Johanna may have been familiar with the story as she grew up in a literate household with many books.[2] However, the professor's claims have been examined and afterwards described as "unscientific", due to 'superficial coincidences' he brings up in descriptions and the many actual differences in the story, that he doesn't, as well as the "Swiss disease" of homesickness already being a common trope in fiction in the eighteenth (nineteenth in the article) century (as well as, while not mentioned in the article, it being discovered before von Kamp was even born) and characters that are either drastically different or not in "Adelaide", at all.[3] Bibliography[edit] The following is a list of her main books: Heimatlos: Two stories for children, and for those who love children (1877) Heidi (1880-81) The Story of Rico (1882) Uncle Titus and His Visit to the Country (1883) Gritli's Children (1883-84) Rico and Wiseli (1885) Veronica And Other Friends (1886) What Sami Sings with the Birds (1887) Toni, the Little Woodcarver (1890) Erick and Sally (1891) Mäzli (1891) Cornelli (1892) Vinzi: A Story of the Swiss Alps (1892) Moni the Goat-Boy (1897) Little Miss Grasshopper (1898) Her books were originally written in German. The translations into English at the end of the 19th century, or the early 1900s, mention H. A. Melcon (1839–1910), Maria Louise Kirk (1860–1938), Emma Stelter Hopkins, Louise Brooks, Helen B. Dole and the couple Charles Wharton Stork and Elisabeth P. Stork. She wrote a song that became a Volkslied, "Rote Rosen am Hügel". References[edit] [1] Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek ^ "Ihrer Keines vergessen : Von der Verfasserin von: "Ein Blatt auf Vrony's Grab" - Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek". ^ "Ur-Heidi aus dem Ruhrpott. Ist Johanna Spyris Alpengeschichte geklaut?" [Ur-Heidi from the Ruhrpott. Is Johanna Spyri stealing Alpine history?]. 3sat (in German). Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2020-02-05. ^ Geisel, Sieglinde (14 April 2010). "Gibt es für Johanna Spyris "Heidi" eine Vorlage? Ein deutscher Germanist meint, sie gefunden zu haben: Die Mär vom Ur-Heidi" [Is there an original for Johanna Spyri's "Heidi"? A German Germanist thinks they have found: The story of Ur-Heidi]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). External links[edit] Works by or about Johanna Spyri at Wikisource Media related to Johanna Spyri at Wikimedia Commons Works by Johanna Spyri in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by Johanna Spyri at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Johanna Spyri at Internet Archive Works by Johanna Spyri at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Works by Johanna Spyri at Classicreader.com vteJohanna Spyri's HeidiAdaptationsLive action Heidi (1937) Heidi (1952) Heidi and Peter (1955) Do Phool (1958) Heidi (1965) Heidi (1968) The New Adventures of Heidi (1978, TV movie) Heidi (1993, TV miniseries) Heidi (2005) Heidi 4 Paws (2008) Heidi (2015) Heidi, bienvenida a casa (2017, TV series) Animated Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974 TV series) Heidi's Song (1982) Heidi (2005) Heidi (2015 TV series) Sequel books Heidi Grows Up Heidi's Children Related Heidi Game Courage Mountain (1990) Authority control databases International FAST ISNI VIAF National Norway Chile Spain France BnF data Argentina Catalonia Germany Israel Belgium United States Sweden Latvia Japan Czech Republic Australia Greece Korea Croatia Netherlands Poland Portugal Academics CiNii Artists MusicBrainz People Deutsche Biographie Trove Other Historical Dictionary of Switzerland SNAC IdRef

1 When Peter had called the goats together, he and Heidi started down the mountain.
 
2 “Will it be like that every day?” asked Heidi, eagerly.
 
3 “It usually is,” was the reply.
 
4 “What about tomorrow?” she inquired.
 
5 “Tomorrow it will be like that, I am sure,” Peter affirmed.
 
6 That made Heidi happy. She walked by Peter’s side, thinking over all the new things she had seen. Reaching the hut, they found the grandfather waiting for them on a bench under the fir trees. Heidi ran up to him, and the two goats followed, for they knew their master. Peter called to her: “Come again tomorrow!”
 
7 Heidi gave him her hand, assuring him that she would come, and finding herself surrounded by the goats, she hugged Snowhopper a last time.
 
8 When Peter had disappeared, Heidi returned to her grandfather. “Oh grandfather! It was so beautiful! I saw the fire and the roses on the rocks! And see the many flowers I am bringing you!” With that, Heidi shook them out of her apron. But oh, how miserable they looked! Heidi did not even know them anymore.
 
9 “What is the matter with them, grandfather? They looked so different!” Heidi exclaimed in her fright.
 
10 “They are made to bloom in the sun and not to be shut up in an apron,” said the grandfather.
 
11 “Then I shall never pick them anymore! Please, grandfather, tell me why the eagle screeches so loudly,” asked Heidi.
 
12 “First, go and take a bath. Afterward, we’ll go inside together, and I’ll tell you all about it during supper-time.”
 
13 They did as was proposed, and when Heidi sat on her high chair before her milk, she asked the same question as before.
 
14 “Because he is sneering at the people down below, who sit in the villages and make each other angry. He calls down to them:—’If you would go apart to live up, on the heights like me, you would feel much better!’” The grandfather said these last words with such a wild voice that it reminded Heidi of the eagle’s screech.
 
15 “Why do the mountains have no names, grandfather?” asked Heidi.
 
16 “They all have names, and if you tell me their shape, I can name them for you.”
 
17 Heidi described several, and the old man could name them all. The child told him now about all the happenings of the day, and especially about the wonderful fire. She asked how it came about.
 
18 “The sun does it,” he exclaimed. “Saying goodnight to the mountains, he throws his most beautiful rays to them, that they may not forget him till the morning.”
 
19 Heidi was so much pleased with this explanation that she could hardly wait to see the sun’s goodnight greetings repeated. It was time now to go to bed, and Heidi slept all night soundly . She dreamt that the little Snowhopper was bounding happily about on the glowing mountains with many glistening roses blooming around her.

Current Page: 1

GRADE:5

Word Lists:

Screech : (of a person or animal) give a loud, harsh, piercing cry

Soundly : in a way that is secure and reliable

Bloom : a flower, especially one cultivated for its beauty

Glisten : (of something wet or greasy) shine; glitter

Sneer : a contemptuous or mocking smile, remark, or tone

Hut : a small, simple, single-story house or shelter

Miserable : (of a person) wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable

Glow : give out steady light without flame

Explanation : a statement or account that makes something clear

Remind : cause (someone) to remember someone or something

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Additional Information:

Rating: A Words in the Passage: 545 Unique Words: 236 Sentences: 63
Noun: 182 Conjunction: 41 Adverb: 45 Interjection: 6
Adjective: 18 Pronoun: 65 Verb: 99 Preposition: 38
Letter Count: 2,371 Sentiment: Positive Tone: Conversational Difficult Words: 80
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