DK Readers: Heidi (Level 3: Reading Alone) (DK READERS LEVEL 3)

A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story.A Swiss orphan must leave her grandfather and their home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city, as notes throughout the text explain the background of the story.

Grade 2-3-The beloved story has been reduced to about 40 pages (fewer if you take the full-page color illustrations into account). Although this severely truncated version is accessible to much younger children than the original, reading it will not inspire anyone to seek out the full story. The brief text gives no room to develop the characters or to help youngsters appreciate Heidi's love of the mountains or the depths of her despair during her exile to the city. Beginning readers enjoy listening to the original read aloud. By fourth or fifth grade, it can be read independently. There is no need for this anemic shadow of the classic novel.
Lisa Smith, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY
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