Rating: 
Summary: Much better than Disney
Review: The book is head and shoulders above the overly cute Disney cartoon. It is not, however, just a children's book. Like the Grimm fairy tales, Bambi is a story with a message in social behavior and consequences of one's actions. From the book trivia side, it's quite interesting to learn that Whittaker Chambers, former member of the Communist Party of the USA and star witness at Alger Hiss' trial and author of "Witness," translated Salten's book from the German in the 1920s, while Chambers was still an active CPUSA member. Makes one wonder what kind of message Chambers thought Salten had written... Read the book, avoid the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely wonderful
Review: The only reason I read Bambi by Felix Salten was because I thought the Disney movie was kind of "cute."THE BOOK IS SOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER. This isn't exactly what you would call a children's book. Salten has written what some would almost call a satire about survival in the woods and the dangers of manpower. This book (along with Salten's other book, Fifteen Rabbits) has been the only book that has moved me to tears. This is a must-read for ANYONE. You won't be able to put it down. But, beware, there are some pretty moving and powerful scenes in this story, so have some kleenexes ready! (In the end, EVERY major character, including Faline, his father, etc., is killed except for Bambi and his two young children.) P.S.--If you liked this book, be sure to go out and read Salten's other book about forest life, except this time from a rabbit's point of view: Fifteen Rabbits. You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Bambi, Life in the Woods is Wonderful
Review: The story is a little sad, but it is very interesting. There are a lot of animals in it, and anyone who likes animals would enjoy reading this book. It takes place in a forest and a meadow. The author uses lots of exotic names of animals such as sedgehens and yellow birds. The main enemy is man and He comes into the story a bit too much. The story is very detailed and does have lots of hard words, but it's worth reading. I liked it much better than the Disney movie.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever
Review: This is an excllent book. It describes every detail. When you read this you will actually think that you are really there where the event is happening. My daughter who is 12 loved this book so much that she has already read it 4 times. It's about a young deer who grows up to be a handsome, strong prince. He faces many hard and sad times, and you may even cry a couple of times but it is a wonderful book! Your children will love this. If you like reading about animals you should love this story!
Rating:
Summary: Here Is the Real Bambi
Review: This is not the nauseatingly cute and precious Disney version. This is the REAL Bambi, the version where a terrible creature called MAN is the enemy, and where the cute and cuddly forest creatures die, and die horribly because of said MAN. Like Black Beauty, Bambi is a plea for the rights of animals. The message was not lost on me as a young girl, nor is it lost on me now. The senselessness of hunting (my personal point of view) is described in terms an older child can understand--and remember. But a word to parents. Bambi's beloved, gentle, wonderful mother is shot and dies. That's enough to traumatize a young child right there (I didn't do so well with it either, and I was around 8 or 9). There is a vicious, graphically described forest fire. There is the death of the noble, revered (both by Bambi, the forest creatures, and the reader) Great Stag. In the end, Bambi comes into great stagdom himself, and we look to him to continue to try to save the forest and everybody in it. This is a book, however innocent it seems, that can literally change a life. It did mine, and I know it did others whom I knew and have met since. My lifelong horror of hunting definitely came from this book, as did my reluctance to "cull" the deer that run wild in suburban Pennsylvania, eating one's roses. I don't want them to do it, and I see the logical reason for a "cull," but I cannot abide the thought. I think every older child should read this version of Bambi as part of one's coming of age. It's a masterpiece of its kind.
Rating:
Summary: What did I just read?
Review: Those of you who pick up Bambi expecting a disney-like story will be very surprised. Instead of a fairy tale land of flowers and butterflies, you find a much harsher setting where survival of the fittest is often a humbling reality. The sad hardships of Bambi and friends really strike home. I enjoyed this book mostly because it made me think, and although it was depressing, a book that evokes no emotion in the reader is not my idea of a great book.
| 
