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The hobbit and LOTR – what ages?
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My 8yo is asking tons of questions about these books. I think the new Lego line is sparking these discussions. He wants to read them. Just curious about what ages you guys recommend for reading these?
Thanks, Amy
My daughters read The Hobbit at about 8-9 and LOTR every year since 9th grade….they also read The Silmarillion in their teens. We love Tolkein and CS Lewis in this house and read books by them often, and repeat them often too. It was interesting to see that each year they read LOTR they got more and more enjoyment out of it, as it became clearer and they became more and more familiar with them. I would read the book before the movie comes out, because the movies excellent though they are, do not stick completely to the book. Linda
The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings are great books! If your son is a really good reader, The Hobbit would probably be fine for him. It is a simpler book overall, and a nice adventure tale about going to regain lost treasure from a dragon.
The Lord of the Rings is a book series for an older child – there isn’t anything I would consider BAD in the book – but the Evil is more evil, it is longer, the style of the book is just for an older child. I’d say that a boy that reads the Hobbit at age 8 would be fine for the LOTR maybe at about age 12?
My 9yo is reading the Hobbit right now. His older brother (22yo) has been reading through LOTR and with the new Lego sets, he was also chomping at the bit. The reading is a challenge for him but he’s perservering.
Tolkein said something like they weren’t written for children, but for anyone who enjoys a long, exciting tale. I don’t have the exact quote. But then he went on to acknowledge that children from 10 and up generally like them. My only caveat for children reading the LOTR books is that the darkness in them is very dark. Sometimes you feel like those dark riders are right there in the room with you. I wouldn’t give them to any child who would have issues with that. However, the fact that the darkness is very dark is also what makes the books so great. The first time I read them, I was struck by the power of sin, as illustrated by the power of those rings. So they are great books, but for mature readers. My daughter started reading them when she was 11, after much begging and pleading. I wasn’t really comfortable with it at the time, but my husband gave the okay. They are still her favorite books to this day.
The Hobbit is written with a whole different feeling and is fine for younger kids. My 10 year old son read it last year and has since read it again and he loves it. We have told him he’ll have to wait on the LOTR books for a while.
If you have an opportunity to hear them, the audiobooks by Rob Inglis are really top notch. They are the best audiobooks I have ever heard. The guy is amazing. I do not like fantasy books like these, but his readings made me love these books and see what masterpieces they are. I would never have read them otherwise. When my daughter wanted to read them and I was so unsure of letting her, we listened to the Fellowship on audio together first and that sold me on the books.
I second the Rob Inglis audios – we have them and they are superb….we still prefer reading the books, but every so often someone has the audio version going. Martin Shaw does a very nice job on the audio of The Silmarillion as well, so if the reading is a bit daunting, then audio may do the job nicely.
The Hobbit was written with children in mind, and LOTR for an older audience, and they are all beautifully written, we are huge fans here.
My son read The Hobbit around 8; my dd at 9. He’s read it six more times since.
He has the larger, Illustrated version w/Micheal Hague’s illustrations. Other beautiful ones are: one with Tolkein’s own drawings and the one with Alan Lee’s illustrations (the most famous visualization of Middle Earth from which the movie’s visuals/clothing, etc., were based)
For LotR, he was 10; my dd 11. Again, if you can get the ones with Alan Lee’s drawings, they’re awesome.
The Silmarillion he started at age 11 and he said that it was definitely a harder read than LotR, but knowing the background mythology of Middle Earth enhances your understading of the other stories and how it stands apart from other books (Tolkein’s wizards are COMPLETELY different, from their origination and purpose than say-Harry Potter wizards, BLECH!). My son, on his own, was able to make the connections with the Biblical account of Creation, too.
You really have to be an LotR fan to make it through The Silmarillion, though; it’s not for everyone. It is a little more descriptive in it’s battles, since Morgoth (master of Sauron who was a fallen Valar-a Creator of Middle Earth) was more powerful and evil than Sauron as well as other mythological animals that served the Enemy and evil was trying to establish itself over the Good.
Because of his age I got him a larger print, beautifully illustrated version of Silmarillion here:
He also owns The Atlas of Middle Earth; which is very helpful in following the activities on maps of what happened in the 1st-3rd ages of Middle Earth.
Here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Atlas-Middle-Earth-Revised-Edition/dp/0618126996/ref=pd_sim_b_6
We also enjoy the audios-both dramatized and the unabridged.
LotR dramatized by the BBC in 1987, starring Ian Holm as Frodo (he was Bilbo in the movies). I’d recommend listening to after he reads The Hobbit and when he’s older- the Black Riders and Golem sound creepy.
Unabridged version of The Hobbit by Rob Inglis
I think the dramatized version is the BBC production.
Lastly, for fun, we follow along with the movie production of The Hobbit: http://www.thehobbitblog.com/
Yes, we’re big fans too! They are great for wonderful conversation and impromptu analyzation.
Bumping this up with a new question. My husband read the Hobbit to us last year and dd12 wants to read LOTR now. She’s just getting started and finding it quite challenging. I’m wondering if there are any study guides or vocabulary helps that might help her along. We aren’t making this a school book, but I don’t want her to get too bogged down and give up. I’ve recently discovered she’s having some reading difficulty that we’re working through.
I’ve thought of getting the audiobooks (which we all enjoy), but she says she wants to read them.
Thanks,
Christie
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