Books are, in some ways, the simplest form of entertainment. A book doesn't really stimulate you, but asks you to stimulate yourself. You must stretch your mind to understand what the writer meant when they wrote their words, or, failing to understand, you must invent your own understanding.
I don't mean to suggest that books are the superior form of entertainment, though that was certainly the attitude in my childhood home. But even though I no longer ascribe any moral virtue to books, I still find something magical about them. The book was the first physical object to try to capture the contents of the mind.
This book has been so overshadowed by its Disney adaptation, that the English translation I own is titled "The Original Bambi" instead of "Bambi". However, I feel that not only is the book quite different from the movie, its overarching themes are opposite. Bambi the movie is about life and new beginnings. But Bambi the book is about death and endings. Personally, I do not find Bambi to be a depressing or sad book. I actually think it is very heartwarming in its own way. But it is a book that invites its reader to contemplate death and the place death has in the cycles of nature.
This is an adorable story for animal lovers. The three main characters, two dogs and a cat, are not overly anthropomorphized. They are written to feel like real animals, with animal motivations. At the same time, they are not generic. Each animal has a distinct personality that goes beyond just their species. This I think, is the secret to the book's charm: the animals feel like animals, and yet, also like people.
To me, this book feels like the quintessential fairy tale. It tells a story that doesn't quite make sense, but still feels like it does. The characters don't feel like people, but more like ideas given the shape of people, and it's never quite clear what those ideas are. The book is incredibly thought-provoking, but you don't have to think too hard to follow the story. I don't know if the story had any intended meaning, but I feel like it can mean almost anything the reader wants, and the joy of reading it is in finding your own personal meaning.