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cover image Heidi

Heidi

Johanna Spyri, Loretta Krupinski. Hyperion Books for Children, $14.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-06-023438-6

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. (Sept.)
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Reviewed on: 09/02/1996

Genre: Children's

Analog Audio Cassette - 978-962-634-785-0

Compact Disc - 978-1-4708-4772-2

Compact Disc - 979-8-212-91309-6

Compact Disc - 979-8-212-63085-6

Compact Disc - 978-1-4708-4772-2

Compact Disc - 979-8-212-91309-6

Hardcover - 336 pages - 978-0-14-751402-8

Hardcover - 220 pages - 978-1-169-29224-6

Hardcover - 178 pages - 978-1-7317-0345-3

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Hardcover - 260 pages - 978-1-02-004091-7

Hardcover - 220 pages - 978-1-161-43417-0

Hardcover - 336 pages - 978-1-62087-686-2

Hardcover - 260 pages - 978-3-8491-6304-4

Hardcover - 176 pages - 978-84-17430-10-8

Hardcover - 178 pages - 978-1-7317-0690-4

Hardcover - 178 pages - 978-1-7317-0345-3

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Hardcover - 328 pages - 978-1-4549-4825-4

Hardcover - 260 pages - 978-1-02-004091-7

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Hardcover - 288 pages - 978-1-4344-9201-2

Library Binding - 112 pages - 978-1-61641-613-3

Library Binding - 349 pages - 978-0-307-67114-1

MP3 CD - 979-8-212-63086-3

MP3 CD - 979-8-212-91310-2

MP3 CD - 978-1-4233-1108-9

Paperback - 304 pages - 978-0-689-83962-7

Paperback - 198 pages - 978-1-61382-126-8

Paperback - 238 pages - 978-1-4782-2531-7

Paperback - 164 pages - 978-1-61382-027-8

Paperback - 178 pages - 978-1-7317-0346-0

Paperback - 178 pages - 978-1-61382-387-3

Paperback - 260 pages - 978-3-8491-5419-6

Paperback - 216 pages - 978-93-5656-831-0

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Paperback - 347 pages - 978-84-18930-10-2

Paperback - 160 pages - 978-93-5584-185-8

Paperback - 260 pages - 978-1-02-205690-9

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Paperback - 260 pages - 978-3-8491-5419-6

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Paperback - 216 pages - 978-93-5656-831-0

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