Product Description

A young girl discovers a new world high in the Alps in this adaptation of Johanna Spyri's timeless tale.

Heidi loves her carefree life on a Swiss mountain farm with her grandfather. But then she has to go to live in the big city. This Dorling Kindersley Classic Reader combines evocative illustrations and stunning photographs with one of the greatest stories of children's literature, adapted and retold for today's young people. This delightful book will capture and hold children's interest while developing their reading skills and deepening their appreciation of this timeless tale. Heidi loves her carefree life on a Swiss mountain farm with her grandfather. But then she has to go live in the big city. The 48-page Level 3 books, designed for children who can read on their own, contain more complex sentence structure and more detail. Young readers will devour these kid-friendly titles, which cover high-interest topics such as sharks, and the Bermuda Triangle, as well as classics like Aladdin. Information boxes highlight historical references, trivia, pronunciation, and other facts about words and names mentioned. Averaging 2,400 to 2,800 words, these books offer a 50/50 picture-to-text ratio. The Dorling Kindersley Readers combine an enticing visual layout with high-interest, easy-to-read stories to captivate and delight young bookworms who are just getting started. Written by leading children's authors and compiled in consultation with literacy experts, these engaging books build reader confidence along with a lifelong appreciation for nonfiction, classic stories, and biographies. There is a DK Reader to interest every child at every level, from preschool to grade 4.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2083900 in Books
• Published on: 1994-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Amazon.com
Johanna Spyri's classic story of a young orphan sent to live with her grumpy grandfather in the Swiss Alps is retold in it's entirety in this beautifully bound hardcover edition. Heidi has charmed and intrigued readers since it's original publication in 1880. Much more than a children's story, the narrative is also a lesson on the precarious nature of freedom, a luxury too often taken for granted. Heidi almost loses her liberty as she is ripped away from the tranquility of the mountains to tend to a sick cousin in the city. Happily, all's well that ends well, and the reader is left with only warm, fuzzy thoughts. Spryi's story will never grow wearisome--and this is a very appealing edition. --Naomi Gesinger

From Publishers Weekly
This truncated retelling of orphan Heidi's simple life in the Swiss Alps and her sojourn in the big city seems almost as indebted to the Shirley Temple film as to Johanna Spyri's 1880 novel. Krupinski's (A New England Scrapbook) heroine mimics Temple, curls, button nose and all, though she lacks the actress's expressive smile and gestures. Similarly blank-faced characters contrast with Krupinski's serene, lushly idealized landscape paintings: the people seem like wax dolls, but the glowing blankets of flowers make the Alps heaven on earth. The text emphasizes the sensual joys of fresh goat's milk, fir trees "with their piney scent," Heidi's sweet-smelling bed in her grandfather's hay loft, etc., but that is its only demonstrable strength. Both Heidi's relationship with her grandfather and the idealized subplot about wheelchair-bound Klara's learning to walk are woodenly described; little space is given to dialogue and even less to Heidi's emotions. The plot, too, is severely condensed: "Many more good things happened after that day." The book succeeds as a portrayal of the joys of mountain life, but otherwise fails to do justice to Spyri's story of a girl's courage and persistence. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3. In telescoping Spyri's 300-page novel into a picture book, Krupinski puts Heidi in charge of telling her story. The efficient first-person narrative is well served by crisply detailed watercolor illustrations depicting Grandfather's house, the Swiss mountainside, and the people and goats who live there. The austere depictions of Heidi's detainment in the city in Klara's house contrast well with the lush mountain scenes. Pages are awash in accurately rendered alpine flowers. The children are winsome; Heidi resembles Shirley Temple. Youngsters who crave the full emotional story will no doubt need to be led to original versions, such as that illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith (Morrow, 1996), but Krupinski has created a fine introduction.?Susan Hepler, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.