High in the Swiss Alps, Heidi, a five-year-old orphan comes to live with her
grandfather. His neighbors say he is a fierce old hermit, of whom they are all afraid. Heidi,
however, proves to be a remarkable, unaffected child, who quickly charms her grandfather.
In fact, for Heidi, nothing could be better than living with him. She enjoys a genuine
enthusiasm for life: for the goats that she helps Peter to tend, for the spring flowers on the
Alps, for the thick slices of bread and cheese that her grandfather prepares for her, and for
the simple hay bed that she occupies in the loft of his hut.

However, her Aunt Dete doesn't understand, and it is a sad day when she takes Heidi to live
in a strange city with a strange family who want a companion for their young invalid daughter
named Klara. Heidi does her best to be a friend to Klara, but her longing for home becomes
too much to bear.

Johanna Ward (also known as Kate Reading) is an award-winning narrator and actor. She is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre and has appeared on many other stages. She and her husband, actor-narrator Michael Kramer (Nick Bernard), live with their two children in the Washington, D.C. area.