Cornelli lives in Iller-Stream with her widowed father, who calls on two Ladies of Culture to come spend time with Cornelli during one of his business trips, hoping that their influence will refine and improve his daughter. Instead, the ladies prove to have no real love for Cornelli, and she, being a sensitive soul, turns inward and becomes sullen and uncooperative. A boy who comes on a visit to Iller-Stream for his health befriends her, and this begins a chain of events that turn Cornelli's life right-side up again.


"Heidi" takes us on a journey to the eventful childhood of a good-hearted girl from the Swiss Alps. A warm and loving story, full of touching moments, it reaches children and adults alike. It was written in 1880 and published in two parts:
1. Heidi's years of learning and travel.
2. Heidi makes use of what she has learned.
This English translation from 1915 has "an especial flavor, that very quality of delight in mountain scenes, in mountain people and in child life generally, which is one of the chief merits of the German original. The phrasing has also been carefully adapted to the purpose of reading aloud" (from the book's introduction). And thus, in this dramatic reading, LibriVox volunteers bring this classic story to life with their voices.

Cast:
Narrator (part 1): Grace
Narrator (part 2): Elizabeth Klett
Heidi: Sweet Pea
Deta: Amanda Friday
Barbara: April Gonzales
Peter, Street Boy: Willy
Heidi's Grandfather, Old Man in Church Tower: Adam
Peter's Grandmother: Kristin G J
Brigida: Tiffany Halla Colonna
Pastor: Ken Garrett
Clara: Eden Rea-Hedrick
John, the Coachman: Csjesi1
Sebastian, the Butler: Kevin Green
Tinette, the Maid: BookAngel7
Miss Rottenmeier: Arielle Lipshaw
Mr. Candidate: Charlotte Duckett
Mr. Sesemann (Clara's Father): Ernst Pattynama
Mrs. Sesemann (Clara's Grandmama): TriciaG
Dr. Classen: Chuck Williamson
Town's Baker: Anna Simon
Town's Teacher: Sarah Di Fede
Audio edited by: Rapunzelina

Hear Heidi if you’ve ever longed to see the Swiss mountain slopes. This story transports the listener from the fine air and freedom of the mountaintop to the confines of Frankfurt, back to the peaks again, bounding in flowered fields with goats at your heels and sky utterly surrounding you.

We meet Heidi when she is 5, led up the mountain by her aunt who has raised the orphan but must leave now for a position in Frankfurt. In a mountain cottage overlooking the valley is Heidi’s grandfather, and there with him the girl’s sweet, free nature expands with the vista. The author’s voice is straightforward, and so is our reader’s, with the child’s wonder, devotion, and sometimes humorous good intentions. When Heidi is taken from the mountains and nearly doesn’t make it back again, the most humorous as well as most heart-wringing scenes occur. All she learns during her absence from the mountain she brings back as seeds that will grow to benefit everyone around her.

The Feland family go on a holiday in Switzerland. While there, their impulsive younger daughter gets into a scrape that teaches the whole family a lesson in love and faith.

"Mäzli" may be pronounced the most natural and one of the most entertaining of Madame Spyri's creations. The atmosphere is created by an old Swiss castle and by the romantic associations of the noble family who lived there. Plot interest is supplied in abundance by the children of the Bergmann family with varying characters and interests. A more charming group of young people and a more wise and affectionate mother would be hard to find. Every figure is individual and true to life, with his or her special virtues and foibles, so that any grown person who picks up the volume will find it a world in miniature and will watch eagerly for the special characteristics of each child to reappear. Naturalness, generosity, and forbearance are shown throughout not by precept but by example. The story is at once entertaining, healthy, and, in the best sense of a word often misused, sweet. Insipid books do no one any good, but few readers of whatever age they may be will fail to enjoy and be the better for Mäzli.

Moni is the goat boy who takes care of all the goats belonging to the people of Fideris, Switzerland. He loves to sing, yodel, and whistle while he romps with the goats all day long on the mountains. His favorite is a young kid named Mäggerli. One day Moni comes across a serious situation where he must keep a deceitful secret in order to protect Mäggerli from being killed. Will Moni risk the life of Mäggerli and tell the truth? This delightful short story teaches children that to trust God and do right is always better than being deceitful.

The story of a little girl in the village of Wildbach, who loved the roses, and how spreading both her roses and her love touched the hearts of the villagers.

Toni is a little boy who discovers a love for woodcarving. When tragedy strikes and his father dies, Toni does all he can to help his mother Elsbeth. He sets his dream aside to become a woodcarver when the cost to pursue it is out of their means. The only job available for the boy is as a herdsman in the mountains. Cut off from the home he loves, he suffers tremendously and no one can help. Only his mother’s love can turn him around.

Published in 1886, this novel encompasses a small community wherein Veronica, having lost her own mother, is “adopted” by a neighbour, Gertrude, who has a son of her own. The son, Dietrich, is learning how to become a saddler as his father before him. Their life is filled with hard work, but also some contentment. From the mother they now share, and two other matronly neighbours, Dietrich and Veronica learn valuable lessons about life. As the years pass, Dietrich and Veronica encounter trouble due to the mischief of two peers, and Dietrich more so as he is often tempted to frequent, along with others, the new tavern nearby.

At 12 years old, Vinzi's only desire is to study his beloved music. But his father wants to make a farmer of him, and is displeased whenever he finds Vinzi yielding to his musical inclination. Mother and sister look on wistfully as circumstances go beyond their control, but throughout, they trust to the protection of their Father in Heaven.

This is another book by Johanna Spyri, author of Heidi. Here too, against the backdrop of the beautiful Swiss alps, she intertwines love, sincerity, and the freshness of youth to present a captivating story for young and old alike.

Old Mary Ann has done her best to bring up her son on her own. Like other relatives, her son has a longing to travel off over the mountains. Mary Ann goes with him. Later on her son marries, but loses his wife after she gives birth to their son. Mary Ann assumes responsibility of her grandson, while her son moves away in the agony of his grief. This is the story of what happens to her grandson and where his Grandmother, the songs of the birds, and his faith leads him.