A Celebration of Life
by Felix Salten
Fifteen Rabbits was written by the same author of the original Bambi. It tells about the day to day life of a group of rabbits in the forest. Naturally, the rabbits face many dangers (Hop, a rabbit featured in Bambi, is the sole survivor of his litter) yet still keep up their hope and zest for life. This book isn't a cute children's story, it has many serious moments and sober scenes. Even though they talk, their speech is presented so tastefully the rabbits don't feel too personified. One of the scenes I remember very clearly was of a rabbit who was caught by a child, taken home and kept in captivity. Salten described very vividly what stress and terrors the rabbit felt in its new surroundings. It is interesting to compare this book to Watership Down; both are a realistic fictional account of what life is like for such a humble creature as a rabbit.
Rating: 3/5 224 pages, 1988
I didn't realize that Bambi would have been a story other than the Disney version. (Shame on me!) I will have to see if I can find both of these books. Isn't it amazing how many books we think of today as being "children's" books really aren't?
ReplyDeleteI've had lots of fun reading the original books that inspired 101 Dalmations, Peter Pan, the Rats of NIMH, Pinocchio, and other Disney movie classics. So far, they're all much better than the films. I haven't yet read the book of Lady and the Tramp, but mean to soon.
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