Orphaned Heidi lives with her gruff but caring grandfather on the side of Swiss mountain, where she befriends young Peter the goat-herd. She leads an idyllic life, until she is forced to leave the mountain she has always known to go and live with a sickly girl in the city. Will Heidi ever see her grandfather again? A classic tale of a young girl's coming-of-age, of friendship, and familial love.

The story is about an orphan girl, Heidi, who has been sent to live with a lonely, angry man at the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. This man is her grandfather. Heidi had been previously living with her Aunt Dete, but now Dete has been appointed to a job in Frankfurt. There is no way she is going to turn down this job to look after Heidi; she has to go. Surprisingly, Heidi's grandfather turns out to be welcoming and loving and lets Heidi stay in his mountain home, which she adores.