Book Review: Bambi's Children

Bambi's Children
Felix Salten, (1939)

And now we get to the sequel of my all time favourite book, Bambi a Life in the Woods. And seeing as it is my favourite book of all time, it of course put a lot of pressure on the sequel. The sequel being better than the original was not to be expected, but I was just hoping for it to, at the very least, be a worthy follow-up to the original. And.... it was. 

The sequel, more or less, picks up where the original left off. Faline is now raising two fawns named Geno & Gurri. Bambi himself decides to go against what his father taught him and becomes involved in his offspring's lives. His children grow up and experience life, face the challenges it presents, and above all, survive. Just like their father before them.

If this book sounds like a rehash of the original, only following Bambi's fawns this time around, it basically is. But there's plenty of new characters, new situations and stakes, and even a tone completely different from the original to be fresh. This book has a much lighter tone than the original, it's more of a feel-good entertaining story than a dark, depressing commentary on various issues like oppression,  man's impact on nature, and so on and so forth. Not to mention there's nothing in Bambi's Children that is nearly as profound as the conversation between the leaves (though, Salten does try to replicate that with several conversations between trees that only Geno can hear during his sleep). 

I'm sure a lot of people would absolutely abhor this change of tone, but honestly, I have no problem with it at all. After the really depressing original, it was good to have a feel-good closure. Besides, it's loaded with likable and interesting characters. Old characters like Friend Hare and the Screech Owl return. There's also new characters like the Great Horned Owl that's a prisoner of man (and probably one of the most compelling characters in the novel), two male Deer called Nello and Membo that are adopted by Faline, a bitter fox named One-Eye, a whole new family of deer that are close friends with Faline, Geno and Gurri (and at times throughout the story, bitter enemies), and a Socialist Squirrel. The two new main characters are also great, likable characters. Geno is very close to his father in character as he's a nervous, no-nonsense guy who's wise. Gurri is like a great mix between Bambi's wisdom, and Faline's curiosity and outgoing attitude. Bambi himself is awesome in this book. He's the leader of the herd now, he saves Geno from a wolf-dog, he saves Gurri from a pen when she was captured by man, and he even charges and fucks up a boy whose about to shoot Geno!

And speaking of Man, he's still very much a threat and the animals don't like him any better than they did in the original (and they still call him "He"). But Salten makes an interesting decision this time around to also show things from man's point of view. But again, here it kind of works. Because it's actually kind of interesting seeing things through their point of view and seeing how they contrast with the animal's point of view. Not to mention the gamekeeper is a fucking badass! I'd be willing to let this slide just for that even if it kinda worked against the book (which it thankfully doesn't).

And despite what I said earlier about the book not having as strong themes as the original, it still has quite a few scenes that are food for thought. There's a funny little argument between the Socialist Squirrel and the deer about nuts belonging to all squirrels. And then there's the Great Horned Owl who calls out crows and magpies as hypocrites when they claim him to be guilty of atrocities that they themselves are guilty of. And he talks about how he'd rather die fighting than live his life as a prisoner. Some actually very thought-provoking stuff. And even the several conversations between the trees are heavy in themes (though still not as profound as the leaves from the first book).

If I had any problems with the book, it's that the animals seemed a little too humanized when compared to the original. Also it introduced a lot of things like Bambi being the leader of the herd and these protocols that weren't around in the first book that messes with continuity a bit. But those don't get in the way at all. Bambi's Children is a great, entertaining follow-up to Bambi a Life in the Woods. If you love the first one, and you don't mind a lighter tone, you'll love this one.

You know, it's a real shame this book wasn't made into a movie. I mean come on! Disney had a movie sequel gift wrapped to them, and it wouldn't have been another pointless sequel as there's a book to justify its existence, but instead they went with.....

Oh, Fuck you Disney!!!