Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I read Heidi together this month, and it was the most perfect book to read to usher in spring. I didn’t read it as a child, and I am so very glad that I took the time to read it now. We chatted back and forth to each other about how engrossing it is, what a quick, good read, one that made the book hard to put down, and just about some of the things Heidi had to go through, especially in the beginning.

For those unfamiliar, Heidi is the story of a young girl, 7 years old at the start I believe, who was being raised by her aunt after her family passed. Her aunt however, took a job somewhere that she didn’t feel it was appropriate to take Heidi, so she packed her tiny niece up and dropped her off at Heidi’s grandfather’s hut on the mountain. Heidi had never met the man, and he was not reported to be the nicest person, but he and Heidi hit it off right away and had the most precious relationship. Unfortunately for Heidi though, her aunt decided that Heidi could ripped away from her home, again, and sent this time to the city to be a companion child to a little girl named Clara.

Clara was wealthy, and in a wheelchair. I think she had epilepsy but at the time of course they didn’t have medication to help control seizures, so everyone kept Clara’s life quiet as to not trigger any seizures. Her father was away a lot, and she was lonely in her house with just the staff, and the rotten Mrs. Rottenmeier, her governess. Heidi and Mrs. Rottenmeier did not mesh right from the beginning, and Rottenmeier viewed Heidi as some sort of less than heathen from the country. Heidi enjoyed being friends with Clara but desperately missed her home. After a friend of Clara’s father, a doctor, noticed how pale and thin Heidi had gotten, he told Mr. Sesemann, Clara’s dad, that Heidi needed to return to her simple life on the mountain with her grandfather and the fir trees, the wind, the goats, Grannie, and her friend Peter, the goatherder and Grannie’s grandson.

Heidi returned and was returned to her normal happy, robust self. Heidi and her grandpa also had some visitors from the city! And I am not going to tell you the end. If you haven’t read it, I hope that you do.

Lisa and I did come up with a few questions to ask each other, and I wanted to share the questions and answers with you.

1. Quick, the first five words that pop into your head about Heidi.

Joyful, wholesome, a blessing, thoughtful, and kind.

2. Would you slam two big mugs of goat milk back to back, and why is the answer no? What about one mug? 

I don’t think I could slam two big mugs of anything, but milk? The thought makes me sort of sick. Lol. I know that Heidi and her grandfather set a lot of store by that milk and its healing properties, and maybe there is. I do know it is more caloric and has more fat, so maybe it would be good to make someone a bit sturdier if that was needed. But I could never just drink down two big mugs quickly, or even one. I could probably drink one at a normal pace.

3. Was Uncle Alp making goat cheese, like chevre?

I know this is a dumb question – it is mine. Lol. The book talked about how Uncle Alp, or Heidi’s grandfather, would make cheese and I am sure it was delicious goat cheese but in my head I kept picturing those wheels of cheese or a wedge. And while I couldn’t gulp down goats milk, goat cheese is a whole other story.

4.  Write a beautiful description of a natural place you’ve been to, a sunset, a plant or animal you’ve seen.

This was a suggested activity from the back of the edition of Heidi I bought. Good thing I am going to write something and have it compared to Johanna Spyri and another published author, Lisa.

Ok. Here is the best I can do this morning, with Peppa Pig laughing in the background.

The lake shone like blue glass under the early morning light. All around, birds sang out to each other from evergreens and birch trees, while near the shoreline mysterious underwater creatures created small ripples in the sleeping lake, waking it up gently. A light breeze helped to cool the piping hot cup of coffee that I held between my hands, and I wrapped myself up in the gentle peace of the morning.

5. Heidi, like Anne of Green Gables, loves her home and has favorite aspects, like the fir trees, the wind, the fire sunset on the mountain. Is there anything in nature you cherish about your home, the way that she does? 

I saw this question somewhere as well. I am a Michigander, and while we don’t have mountains here, we have water. Lots of water. I love heading down to the river and having lunch or just sitting and looking out across the water. We have even gone for sunrises and sunsets, to see the huge moon above it; it is just a part of our life here and I can’t imagine living somewhere that I was not surrounded by so many lakes and rivers.

6. In the same vein, what are some small things you are grateful for?

Cups of tea, books, walking barefoot in the grass, fireflies. Definitely fireflies. Rabbits in the dewy grass, or congregating in our yard during the winter.

7. Which character, besides Heidi, is your favorite and why?

Clara’s grandmother, or Grandmamma. She was not snobby as I was afraid she would be. She took special time for Heidi, to encourage her and to try to make her happy. As Heidi said, she came and she made everything good and ok.

8.  What character did you like the least and why?

Mrs. Rottenmeier, of course. She was a mean curmudgeon. How could she be such a jerk to a small girl, who has been stolen away from her home and family? I also didn’t like Heidi’s aunt, she was so careless and thoughtless about Heidi and treated her like a suitcase.

9. There is a part in the book where Heidi longs for home. Has there ever been a time in your life where you have longed for home?

Yes. When I went away to college I was absolutely miserable. I missed my house, my friends, my family, Billy. I moped around even though I made some really good lifelong friends there. I took every ride share to my area that showed up on the ride board. I was a sad sack for a little while. I got over that level of homesickness but I did transfer to a university closer to my home and commuted instead after my freshman year. I honestly do think some of it was that I felt very landlocked! I was attending Central Michigan, in the middle of the state, and I was just nowhere near a river or a lake and it was weird. I know that in Michigan we are never more than 6 miles from a lake or water, but those were small rivers, maybe creeks, instead of the watery shores I was used to.

10.  Do you think you would like to live in a small hut in the Swiss mountains, miles away from a town?

Hm. Like in this day and age, as me now? I probably would not want to live there full time, but would love to visit for a month or so at a time, like Clara and the doctor did. Or if I lived close enough, on weekends or as a getaway whenever I needed one.

Have you read this one? I know a few of you told me that you had beautifully illustrated versions as kids, which must have made it even more special.

For Lisa’s version of this post, pop on over here!

Lisa of Boondock Ramblings and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Today it is my goal to visit the posts there and also go blog visiting!

And with that, I am going to say goodbye until later! Whatever you do today, I hope you do something that makes you smile!

And yay, this book is one I can count for the Book in Translation Challenge hosted by Introverted Reader.