Heidi quotes, explained for kids
Heidi is full of lines that children remember because they are so excited and so simple: a girl naming her goats goodnight, a mountain that seems to catch fire at sunset, a cry of joy when a friend takes her first steps. These ten lines follow the story from the first footpath up the Alps to the happy summer at the end. Read one aloud, talk about the picture it makes, and ask your child what Heidi is feeling. Each one is a small doorway into the whole book.
Every line is quoted word for word from the original 1881 novel by Johanna Spyri.
Quote 1: “From the old and pleasantly situated village of Mayenfeld, a footpath winds through green and shady meadows to the foot of the mountains”
Narrator, these are the very first words of the book, before Heidi and her aunt start climbing What it means: The story begins with a little path leading from a village up toward the big mountains. It is like an invitation to come along on the walk.
Ask your child: If you could follow a path anywhere, where would you want it to lead?
Quote 2: “Because I want to go about like the goats with their thin light legs.”
Heidi, heidi has pulled off her heavy layers of clothes on the hot climb, and Grandfather asks why she will not need them What it means: Heidi wants to feel free and light, so she can run and jump like the goats. She cares more about freedom than about fancy clothes.
Ask your child: What animal would you like to move like, and why?
Quote 3: “It’s lovely, up here. Come up and see how lovely it is!”
Heidi, on her first evening, Heidi climbs into Grandfather’s hayloft and decides it is where she will sleep What it means: Heidi finds a pile of sweet hay and a little round window, and she thinks it is the best bedroom in the world. She wants to share her happy discovery.
Ask your child: What would make your perfect bed or hideaway?
Quote 4: “Good-night, Little Swan, good-night, Little Bear!”
Heidi, grandfather tells Heidi the names of his two goats as he puts them in their shed for the night What it means: Heidi says goodnight to the goats as if they were her friends. She already loves her new animal family.
Ask your child: If you had two goats, what would you name them?
Quote 5: “Peter! Peter! everything is on fire! All the rocks are burning, and the great snow mountain and the sky!”
Heidi, on her first day in the high pasture, Heidi sees the sunset glow on the mountains What it means: The setting sun makes the snow and rocks shine red and gold, and Heidi thinks they are burning. Peter tells her it is not really fire, just the evening light.
Ask your child: What is the most beautiful sky you have ever seen?
Quote 6: “What a loving little heart it is”
Peter’s grandmother, peter’s blind grandmother talks about how Heidi’s visits have cheered her up What it means: The grandmother cannot see Heidi, but she can feel how kind she is. Heidi has made her lonely days much happier.
Ask your child: How can you tell someone is kind, even without seeing them?
Quote 7: “Then where can I go to see right away over the whole valley?”
Heidi, in the big city of Frankfurt, Heidi looks out of the window and sees only walls and streets What it means: Heidi misses her mountain so much that she wants to climb high enough to see far away, the way she could at home.
Ask your child: Have you ever missed a place? What did you miss most about it?
Quote 8: “every day added two more white rolls to the number she was collecting for grandmother”
Narrator, while she lives in Frankfurt, Heidi secretly saves the soft rolls from her meals What it means: Peter’s grandmother can only eat hard black bread, so Heidi saves her own rolls as a present. She gives up a treat because she is thinking of someone else.
Ask your child: What could you save up or make for someone you love?
Quote 9: “she had seen the high mountains and rocks alight in the evening glow, she had heard the wind in the fir trees, she was at home again on the mountain.”
Narrator, heidi finally sees her beloved mountain again after a long time away What it means: Everything Heidi longed for is right in front of her: the glowing peaks and the rushing trees. It is the happiest feeling of coming home.
Ask your child: What sounds or sights make you feel at home?
Quote 10: “You can walk now, Clara, you can walk!”
Heidi, during a summer visit to the mountain, Heidi’s friend Clara tries to stand up from her wheelchair What it means: Heidi is so proud and happy for her friend that she can hardly keep still. Good friends cheer for each other’s wins.
Ask your child: What is something hard you learned to do with a friend’s help?
Questions about Heidi quotes
- What is the most famous quote from Heidi?
- Many readers remember Heidi’s cry at sunset, “Peter! Peter! everything is on fire!” when the evening light turns the snowy peaks red. It captures how amazed she is by her mountain home.
- Who says “Good-night, Little Swan, good-night, Little Bear!” in Heidi?
- Heidi says it on her first night with Grandfather, after he tells her the names of his two goats, the white one and the brown one.
- What does Heidi mean when she says the mountains are on fire?
- She means the sunset is making the rocks and snow glow so brightly that they look like flames. Peter explains that it happens every clear evening and is not really fire.
- Who wrote Heidi, and when?
- Swiss author Johanna Spyri wrote Heidi, published in two parts in 1880 and 1881. The English quotes here come from a widely read public-domain translation.