Heidi (Unabridged Classics) (ISBN 1402726015)

Baby Boomers, enjoy this classic anew!:
Five decades after my school teacher read this classic to the class, all I recalled was Heidi loving the Alps. Picturing her on a mountain was my only remaining impression. What a joy to find and buy a pristine early edition of this book in a resale shop, to read again for nostalgia's sake! I love this book for the good old-fashioned lessons about life that it contains--straightforward, without apology or embarrassment: appreciating nature, being attuned to the less fortunate, respect for the aged, being true to self, helping others. It's all there, in the form of a simple, beautiful story. Plus I like the vaguely nostalgic charm of the prose, now out of date. I kept wondering whether today's children have enough basic education to understand this book at the same level for which it was written. (I suspect writing has had to be dumbed down.) I short the book one star only because it contains so many references to God and prayer--qualifying it as a religious book for children. As a humanist, I'd prefer the lessons be taught outside a context of the supernatural. Actually, I can't be overly bothered by the use of God as a learning vehicle for children. It's just that child readers typically grow into adulthood never maturing spiritually to the point of moving on from God as literal to God as metaphor. That wouldn't be a problem if we taught kids to be good simply for goodness' sake in the first place--which is what I would have preferred this book to have done. But that's a minor criticism, and I certainly recommend this book to adults as a pleasant trip down memory lane.

Heidi:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this at age 65 as much or more than I did as a child. It is well written and superbly crafted for a reasonable price.

a beautiful story.:
heidi is the best story y have read. and y think that this is the best edition.