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 little old town of Mayenfeld is charmingly situated. From it a footpath leads through green, well-wooded stretches to the foot of the heights which look down imposingly upon the valley. Where the footpath begins to go steeply and abruptly up the Alps, the heath, with its short grass and pungent herbage, at once sends out its soft perfume to meet the wayfarer. One bright sunny morning in June, a tall, vigorous maiden of the mountain region climbed up the narrow path, leading a little girl by the hand. The youngster's cheeks were in such a glow that it showed even through her sun-browned...

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.