Tracy Wood
asked:
Why was Clara unable to walk? Does the book say if she had polio or something else?
To answer questions about
Heidi,
please sign up.
Tricia
There are several books with children who can't walk - "Heidi", "The Secret Garden" and "Michael O'Halloran". There are probably more. In the three listed above the children had two things in common: they were kept inside in darkened rooms, the nutrition was poor, whether because of poverty or because at the time fresh food was hard to come by. The best explanation is therefore probably rickets. Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D. The cure for rickets - and a relatively quick cure at that - is sunshine. In all three books sunshine began the cure.
Aga
My guess is juvenile arthritis. I had this as a child. I loved both " Heidi" and „The Secret Garden" because there were characters just like me and there was a happy ending. Vitamin D is important supplement for kids with arthritis, as well as calcium and other nutrients. The most scary part is that the immune system doesn’t work well, so I had severe pneumonia twice. So I really understood how everyone was frightened that Klara or even more Colin will catch something and die if they go outside.
It really was reassuring that Klara and Colin were walking without pain and playing with other kids outside in the end. It was very difficult to make me to practice walking at first. What helped was my family moving to a village outside the city, spending time outside with friends, drinking fresh milk every day and having a great doctor.
It really was reassuring that Klara and Colin were walking without pain and playing with other kids outside in the end. It was very difficult to make me to practice walking at first. What helped was my family moving to a village outside the city, spending time outside with friends, drinking fresh milk every day and having a great doctor.
Mary Evens
I don't think Klara had rickets. Her family was rich, and she would have access to enough nutritious foods and most importantly milk for the vitamin D.
Spock's Cat
The only explanation I can find is that she "is paralysed on one side and very delicate" (in chapter 5, "Two Unexpected Visitors", of my edition, trans. Eileen Hall). Detie tells Uncle Alp this when she comes to take Heidi back to Frankfurt to be Clara's companion. There is no explanation of what caused the paralysis.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more