- a story of contrasts between the beauty of nature and its harsher realities
- from the eyes of a young male deer, named Bambi
- convo: vivid descriptions of deaths, losing loved ones
- language*: stupid x21, some fighting/name calling (fool, brat, vile, I’ll punch your face in)
Type: chapter book
Ages: 8-12
Author: Felix Sarten
*This will vary depending on translation.
The first bullet point above can’t be stressed enough–the descriptions of nature are gentle, delicate, and slow…then, suddenly, there is screaming, blood, torn fur, “thunder” (gun shots), and death. Then back to quiet again.
This makes it a bit difficult to give an age suggestion for, so just remember it’s only that–a suggestion. 🙂 Each family is different.
During multiple season changes, readers will experience life in a forest through Bambi. He loses “people” close to him (strangely, the author sometimes uses that word for the animals), sees sad things, and even comes upon a slain human. Even more strangely, Sarten doesn’t seem to be just hating on the humans who hunt these animals–he even has a negative theme about nature itself. Leaves are personified and depressingly fall to their deaths, for example.
Honestly, there is so much analysis on this book–from both fans and haters–that I’d encourage you to seek it out if needed. (It may be one you want to read when studying Jewish persecution, as that is sometimes considered to be what Bambi is allegorizing.) My children and I mostly finished it out of duty, to see if it ever became less boring than we found it. (So sorry, Bambi lovers!) I absolutely love classic literature and can find joy in many writing styles, but I could not enjoy Sarten’s. This very well could be entirely the fault of whichever translator we used, but moving on. So little time, so many books!
Happy reading, friends.