Bambi: A Life In the Woods

by Felix Salten, Mint Editions (Contribution by)

Overview

"...Bambi was as though bewitched. He was completely beside himself with pleasure. He was simply wild. He leaped into the air, three, four, five times. He had to do it. He felt a terrible desire to leap and jump. He stretched his young limbs joyfully. His breath came deeply and easily. He drank in the air. The sweet smell of the meadow made him so wildly happy that he had to leap. . ."

For the woodland creatures, life in the forest is as charming and harmonious as it is treacherous and uncertain. The newest roe deer, born on a beautiful day in spring, is no exception to this rule and must learn to survive on his own after the death of his mother. Bambi, as he is known, is guided with reluctant kindness by the oldest and largest stag in the forest, “Old Prince,” who teaches the fawn how to navigate his home and the tricks of "He."

Considered to be one of the first environmental novels, Felix Salten’s Bambi (1923) is a coming-of-age tale for the ages.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798888975336
Publisher:	Mint Editions
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Series:	Mint Editions (The Children's Library)
Pages:	202
Sales rank:	167,039
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.47(d)
Age Range:	8 - 13 Years

About the Author

Felix Salten (1869–1945) was an Austro-Hungarian author and literary critic most known for the environmental children’s novel Bambi. Born in Pest, Salten (at the time four weeks old) would relocate with his family to Vienna after the Jewish emancipation of the late eighteenth century. While there is little information about his early years, it is known that Salten was forced to quit school at the age of sixteen due to his father’s bankruptcy. This entry into the workforce would happen almost simultaneously with his initiation into the world of literary arts. Salten would join the "Young Vienna" movement and begin submitting his poetry and book reviews to journals before eventually finding full-time work as an art and theatre critic. At the turn of the twentieth century, Salten would publish his first collection of short-stories and soon after increased his literary output dramatically releasing at least one book a year as well as various plays, short stories and essay collections. It was not until fifty-four years of age that he published his most-well known novel, Bambi (1923). The book was received positively worldwide among critics, authors (such as John Galsworthy) and most importantly–children; later being made into Walt Disney’s fifth animated feature film of the same name. That same year he would also publish an adventure novel for children titled, The Hound of Florence, inspiring another Walt Disney feature film, The Shaggy Dog (1959). Unfortunately Salten’s life would be greatly impacted as the Nazi party rose to power in the 1930s, with his work–specifically Bambi–being banned in 1936 for being a, "political allegory on the treatment of Jews in Europe." For the safety of his wife and children, Salten relocated to Switzerland in 1938 and where he would spend his final years. While Salten’s work would remain inaccessible for several decades to an international audience due to the Nazi party’s censorship, his contributions to children’s literature cannot be understated.

Read an Excerpt

 

That evening when Bambi and his mother were playing tag in the meadow, his mother saw her friend the hare and introduced him to Bambi.

"Good evening, young man," said Hare politely.

Bambi thought the hare's long spoonlike ears, which at times stood bolt upright and at others fell back limply as though they had suddenly grown weak, were funny. Bambi had to laugh.

The hare laughed quickly too, but then his eyes grew more thoughtful. To Bambi's surprise he suddenly sat straight up on his hind legs and said to Bambi's mother, "What a charming young prince. I sincerely congratulate you. Yes, indeed, he'll make a splendid prince in time." And with that, the hare excused himself -- "I have all kinds of things to do tonight" -- and hopped off, ears back, so they touched his shoulders.

Copyright 1928 Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Copyright renewed 1956 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Storybook adaptation copyright © 1999 by Janet Schulman

Editorial Reviews

[Salten] has the gift of a tender, lucid style. His observation is next door to marvelous, and he invests the fruits of this observation with pure poetry. His comprehension makes his deer, his screech-owls, his butterflies, grasshoppers and hares, far more exciting to read about than hundreds of human beings who crowd the pages of our novels. -- Books of the Century; New York Times review, July 1928

John Chamberlain

In 1999, Schulman adapted Salten's 1923 novel, bringing the original tale of a young deer's coming of age to a generation more familiar with the Disney animated version. Here, the woodland story, considered by many critics to be the first "ecological" novel, springs to life via Dolan's fine reading. Young listeners will be eager to follow along on Bambi's first frolics in the meadow, where he encounters a magpie, grasshoppers, butterflies and dandelions. By then, listeners will be hooked enough to stay with this recording as Bambi takes in stride the important, if somber, life lessons imparted by his mother, all the while trying to understand why "life is so difficult and dangerous." And when hunters encroach, taking his mother from him, Bambi knows he has to follow the advice of the stag known as the Great Prince: "Listen, smell and see for yourself; live by yourself; find out for yourself." Dolan's comfortable storytelling style conveys all the wonder, awe and self-discovery of the material and does not over-sentimentalize the deeper emotional current that comes with encountering death. A wide range of listeners will find much to appreciate in this more serious (compared to Disney's interpretation) look at a beloved children's character. Ages 6-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

With its mystical, exultant evocation of nature, and its unwavering depiction of savage human nature, "Bambi" truly is a story for all ages. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher's Luminous paintings capture, by turns, the radiance of Bambi's forest world, its beauty, terror and stillness, as the seasons pass and Bambi grows into princely maturity.
—Elizabeth Spires

New York Times Book Review

A little different from the Disney version, this CD tells a fuller story of Bambi’s life. While Disney emphasizes Bambi’s relationship with Feline, his mate, this version extends further into his family tree to include cousins and other deer friends. Read smoothly by Frank Dolan in a proper British accent, Bambi’s difficult winter and grief over his mother’s and cousin’s deaths are well done. Frolicking with Feline as a young deer, he grows to fear man. Haunting flute music ends the side. Containing an anti-gun and pro-God message, this refined production provides listeners another side of Bambi’s classic story. A.G.H. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

JUN/JUL 02 - AudioFile