Bambi by Felix Salten

 

Summary:

 

The Prince of the Forest Bambi's life in the woods begins happily. There are forest animals to play with -- Friend Hare, the chattery squirrel, the noisy screech owl, and Bambi's twin cousins, frail Gobo and beautiful Faline.

But winter comes, and Bambi learns that the woods hold danger -- and things he doesn't understand. The first snowfall makes food hard to find. Bambi's father, a handsome stag, roams the forest, but leaves Bambi and his mother alone.

Then there is Man. He comes to the forest with weapons that can wound an animal. He does terrible things to Gobo, to Bambi's mother, and even to Bambi. But He can't keep Bambi from growing into a handsome stag himself, and becoming...the Prince of the Forest.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 192 pages (Paperback)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: 1923

 

Once again I had to find a book to read for a BOTM selection in one of  the online book groups I participate in on Goodreads  You'll love this one...!! A book club & more. The November BOTM was if we could not or did not want to read the two selected books we could read any other book that met the criteria for "Books to Movies". I originally had another book planned but seeing as though I just read Bambi yesterday there wasn't enough time for me to read my original choice of Tsotsi by Athol Fugard. However I do plan on working that on into my December reading plans.

 

Anyways, I decided to pick a book that I'm pretty sure I had rad to me by my Dad as a kid but it was one that I couldn't remember. That's not to say I was unfamiliar with the beloved little fawn but lately I've been getting rather nostalgic about my childhood and the books I read or should have read. I think it's because of the holidays but in any case I decided to pick the one book that was the bases of one of my favourite Disney movies as a kid. Bambi.

 

Since I've always had a soft spot for Bambi and his forest friends I was hoping I'd be in for a comical, light hearted read. Boy was I wrong. Then again I probably should have looked closer at the original publication date, and read that the book wasn't originally published in English. Usually I do my homework on my books but, obviously I was lazy so it was really surprising to find that the book wasn't at all as light, fluffy and carefree as I'd hoped. In fact Bambi was prone to being quite a spoiled little fawn with a bit of a streak where he placed himself above his animal friends.

 

While I did still find the book enjoyable, a lot of what I thought would be in the book just wasn't. Often, Bambi would just walk off in the middle of the other characters talking to him and I couldn't help but wish that he was more like the Bambi in the animated film classic. Unfortunately he wasn't and this was a major let down for me.

 

However, I do understand why he wasn't as loveable and carefree as we see him in the movies and that is because it was written almost 100 years ago and the books people enjoyed regardless of their age were much different back then. The writing is superb though and I fell in love with the authors story it was just the characterizations I had trouble with.

 

Still, I liked the book. I thought it was great for me to be able to read the original story and I did get swept up in that nostalgic feeling while I read it so I believe this will be one of the books added to the "Read to Spawn" list I've created if I ever have kids and I can't wait to read the sequel to this beloved children's classic so look out for my review!

 

 

Overall it was a good story, I think kids now may have a little difficulty with the harshness of Bambi's life but then again the book like the movie can be used as a good example as life and death for kids as a lesson. I also think that this is a good book for anyone to read regardless of their age because Bambi has been a movie icon for decades. Plus, this would be a great read aloud book for families with kids and/or teachers. While my rating may seem a little low I do believe that this book is an essential must have a on any young readers bookshelf.

 

Liked It!
★ ★ ★

 

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