Heidi lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps in the summer, and she and Peter play and tend the goats. In the winter, she stays with Peter's mother, and they attend school. One day a letter arrives from Heidi's friend, Klara Sesemann, an ill youngster who spends most of her time in a wheelchair, stating she is coming for a visit. The teacher, who has been having trouble with making Peter study, and Heidi's grandfather decides to pose as Santa Claus and scare him into studying. It is successful and with Heidi's help, Peter learns how to read. With the arrival of summer, Klara appears along with her grandmother, and her prim governess Rottenmeyer. Heidi's grandfather suggests she stay with Heidi, while the governess stays in the village to visit and keep an eye on Klara. Peter is resentful and destroys Klara's wheelchair. Heidi's grandfather is secretly pleased, as he feels that Klara doesn't really need the wheelchair.