The novel that inspired the famous Disney movie is a much deeper work of art-a fable of loss and survival set against a beautifully evoked natural world.

Bambi, a Life in the Woods is a 1923 Austrian coming-of-age novel written by Felix Salten - now published as a beautiful hardback edition in the Everyman's Library Children's Classics series.

The novel traces the life of Bambi, a male roe deer, from his birth through childhood, the loss of his mother, the finding of a mate, the lessons he learns from his father, and the experience he gains about the dangers posed by human hunters in the forest. It is also, in its most complete translation, seen as a parable of the dangers and persecution faced by Jews in Europe.