Johanna Spyri 
Erick and Sally 

Erick and Sally Johanna Spyri – The sun was shining so brightly through the foremost windows of the old schoolhouse in Upper Wood, that the children of the first and second classes appeared as if covered with gold. They looked at one another, all with beaming faces, partly because the sun made them appear so, and partly for joy; for when the sunshine came through the last window, then the moment approached that the closing word would be spoken, and the children could rush out into the evening sunshine. The teacher was still busy with the illuminated heads of the second class, and indeed with some zeal, for several sentences had still to be completed, before the school could be closed. The teacher was standing before a boy who looked well-fed and quite comfortable, and who was looking up into the teachers face with eyes as round as two little balls…

About the author

Johanna Spyri was a Swiss author of children’s stories, best known for Heidi. Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers in the area around Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.

Johanna Spyri geb. Heusser. Die Tochter eines Arztes und einer pietistischen Lyrikerin wuchs als viertes von sechs Kindern in einem Landarzthaushalt auf. Nach der Dorfschule und Privatunterricht beim Pfarrer erhielt sie in Zürich drei Jahre Fremdsprachen- und Musikunterricht, kam dann für ein Jahr nach Yverdon (Neuenburger See) in ein Pensionat. Ab 1845 unterrichtete sie zu Hause ihre jüngeren Schwestern und trieb autodidaktische Literaturstudien. Nach der Heirat mit dem Juristen (später Stadtschreiber) Bernhard Spyri zog sie 1852 nach Zürich.