Moni the Goat Boy and Other Stories

by Johanna Spyri, Helen James Bennett Dole (Translator)

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1915

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.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small collection of three short stories by Johanna Spryi, who also wrote Heidi. These stories are bittersweet, for while they give us a peek at life in the Alps, they also show that for some children that life was not always as wonderful as we might think.

In the title story, we meet Moni (for Solomon) and climb high up into the alps with him and the village goats every day. Moni knows the best places for his charges to find sweet herbs and luscious grass, and he enjoys the serenity of the steep mountains. But one day he meets a friend who also used to be a goat boy but is now an egg-boy, taking eggs around town, even to the hotel and spa. What does this boy do to trigger a storm of conscience in Moni, and how will he solve the dilemma that was forced on him?

Then there is Without A Friend, which tells about Stupid Rudi. He is not really stupid, but he has had a very hard start in life and feels the weight of it pressing him down so much that at ten years old, he looks much younger and hardly ever talks. This story was painful to read, because Rudi is the victim of daily bullying by the other boys, and he is so afraid of them that he cannot manage to do even the simplest tasks for anyone, which is why the entire village calls him Stupid Rudi. Will he ever get a chance to prove that he is not as stupid as everyone thinks he is?

Finally, the longest and most dramatic story is The Little Runaway, about a boy who was found as a baby on the church doorstep and was raised by the town. There was an alms commissioner who found such orphans places at farms or in businesses, where they worked at whatever tasks they were given. Like servants. Or sometimes more like slaves. When we meet Renti, he was just returning to the commissioner's house to report that the butcher had bought a cart and would no longer need a delivery boy. Our Renti is 10 years old and has never lived anyplace more than a year at a time; he has been passed around the town as needed. So when the farmer from Lindenhof arrives just as Renti is handing the commissioner the butcher's note, it seems like the perfect solution for everyone, and Renti soon loves the life on the farm.

But of course, nothing lasts forever. The changes that come into Renti's life are heartbreaking, and the emotional trauma he suffers is enough to make a grown man cry. As I read, I got angry at the adults who handled things so badly to start with, and also at the selfish reasons for the eventual solution to the situation. Everyone seemed so blind when it came to Renti, I just couldn't believe that no one thought of the obvious reason for what became his infamous misbehavior.

I have read a few other short titles by Spryi, so I knew she did not always write with the gentleness that I remember from Heidi. But I was surprised at the roughness here, to tell the truth. I guess I don't want to think of the alps country as anything other than the most perfect place in the world, as it was to Heidi. The writing here is fine, it is the image depicted that rattled me.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another oldie from my childhood. Three sweet moral tales from Switzerland...I loved them all. My copy is well worn, despite my having tried hard to take care of it long ago. I think I was 8 when I got my copy.

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these better than the previous novels. Although they basically have a common theme, these have their own identities and are easily distinguishable.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moni the Goat Boy, written by Johanna Spyri, is a very relatable book that tells of this friendly little goat boy who has to choose between telling the truth or keeping his best friend. When he finally comes to his decision, everything turns out alright. My two favorite things about this book are Moni's positive attitude and how he chooses to come clean so he can stay in favor with the Lord. I think this book is very enjoyable, and I'm glad to have read it.

[Haley Benda · Rating 1 out of 5]

five chapters of him complaining about a goat? how is this book interesting in the slightest? he has to keep a secret, he’s techically not lying. and within two minutes of reading after that point he tells.

[Eman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories by Johanna Spyri, the writer of the novel Heidi. They are beautiful stories to read for children, but I think Heidi is the best of all Johanna Spyri’s novels.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was cute and I enjoyed reading it. I liked that it had animals in it and that the main character was cheerful. I think it had a good moral and was a cute story.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

The later two stories are pretty good. I think, and I even thought at age 5 when Heidi was first read to me, that Spyri seemed like one of the first grownups probably to notice the way children feel about and experience things, at least, in the other books written about or for children back then, it's all about how you're supposed to feel, or else your feelings get ignored and that's just life. Spyri shows why that's so terrible. She must have been someone who noticed children--perhaps she felt like she was ignored as a child? Or maybe she was always taken care of right, so as she grew up she would notice others not seeming to notice or know this area of child psychology, or whatever you'd call it now. Anyway, I hadn't heard of these stories before, but I'll definitely let my kids be exposed to them. I loved Heidi when I was little but don't quite as much now, so these stories I like better than Heidi. One thing I wonder then: were my Swiss ancestors like Spyri in their feeling of noticing and loving children? Or would they have been more like some of the people in these stories who don't know or care, simply because they're so unobservant? I've always thought they'd be the former, because my own family (descended from them) seems to match, and maybe because I had Spyri's example as "a Swiss person" my whole life. I hope so :)