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Eirikur_da_Czech t1_itrqlv7 wrote

The Hobbit is definitely a kid’s book. Tolkien wrote it to read to his kids at bedtime. Yeah they were a smidge older than 6 at the time, but not by much. Priscilla would have been 7 when it was published. He actually sent pre-published copies of the book out to children focus groups to get their feedback before he decided to publish it.

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Shaosil OP t1_itrrxgf wrote

Good point! Sometimes I forget these type of books, with their expanded vocabulary and world building, can be targeted towards children. We have FAR too many "toddler" books in the house and this is so much different than those, haha

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youwantitwhen t1_ituxmxz wrote

Harry Potter books start simply and a 6 year old can read the first one.

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timetrigger t1_itt0eq6 wrote

The Hobbit was the first non-picture book my dad got me. I was 7 and read the entire book at that age. I still have that old paper back copy. It has its wear and tear but its in decent enough shape for a paperback book that has been many times over the past 25 years.

I think its awesome the OP read the book to their daughter. Ive always read ahead of my peers for my age as a kid, so I know I probably read it on my own earlier than normal, but regardless of how it's read it is such a delightful book for children IMO.

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Eirikur_da_Czech t1_itt1at5 wrote

I was 9 when I saw it on my dad’s bookshelf. The title and picture on the front made me curious so I asked my dad what it was about. He told me to read it and find out lol. I did, and it shaped my life.

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bamako45 t1_iu1zxv0 wrote

One thing I remember my father reading to me, as a bedtime story was Poe’s The Raven. I loved the story that makes up this poem. Another Poe poem he read to me now and then was his beautiful, haunting elegy for his Annabel Lee (sp? -1 word?), one of my favorite poems of Poe’s, apart from the great stories he wrote.

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[deleted] t1_its1nf0 wrote

[removed]

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Eirikur_da_Czech t1_its1ttm wrote

Good teaching moment

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dancin-weasel t1_ittongl wrote

“See son? See what happens when you don’t listen? Ya. You don’t want to get shot with arrows do you? Ok then. Best listen. Love you son. “

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sweetspringchild t1_itty5el wrote

> >!One thing, though. A major character for the good guys (Thorin) dies, as do Fili and Kili. That’s something kids might or might not handle well.!<

You should mark this with spoilers.

As for the death, A LOT of children's books, especially those written more than a few decades ago, have characters dying:

>!Charlotte’s Web, Bambi, a Life in the Woods, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Giving Tree, Old Yeller, Bridge to Terabithia, Little Women, Esperanza Rising,...!<

And yeah, I bawled at some of them. Still remember.

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books-ModTeam t1_ittzz0y wrote

Please use spoiler tags. Spoiler tags in markdown are done as follows:

\&gt;!Spoiler content here!&lt; which results in:

>!Spoiler content here!<.

Or apply the built-in spoiler tags when using the redesign.

Send a modmail when you have updated and we'll reapprove it.

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pierzstyx t1_itur7yp wrote

> Tolkien wrote it to read to his kids at bedtime.

The core story of the book developed from stories Tolkien told his children at bedtime. As he was writing it down he bean to include more and more references to his Middle-Earth works until finally the book was full-fledged Middle-Earth story.

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bamako45 t1_iu1zf9m wrote

Well, for a “children’s book”, The Hobbit is certainly, at least one of the best examples of a book written to, for or towards children; not unlike the beautiful language that Lewis Carroll (ne Charles L. Dodge, a mathematics “lecturer” at Christ Church, Oxford, London). His two “Alice” stories were written, also, in a way that never talked down to children.

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