At what age should I read LOTR to my dc?

[ELaurie]

I'd like to read it together as a family read aloud.

[happypamama]

My DH read The Hobbit to my older children when they were about 4 and 7. He had to stop to explain things to the 4yo a few times, but they both understood and enjoyed it. My older child read Fellowship of the Ring to herself shortly thereafter and did understand and like it, so I think you could probably read them as a family now, given your children's ages. (In all fairness, my children had seen the full trilogy of movies before reading any of the books, so they were at least familiar with the basic plot and characters, which probably made it easier to understand the book.)

[plain jane]

I think your kids are at great ages to read it aloud now. My 8yo read the trilogy last summer and loved it. Of course, she didn't understand it and we're looking forward to going over it again in a couple of years using the Literary Lessons... program. :)

[laughing lioness]

My 20 yo read it out loud to the 11 and 8 yo this year. She edited some parts. The 8 yo was somewhat torn about the whole series. She had great compassion for Gollum but thought he was creepy. She is also afraid to go downstairs alone now (where the "dorm" is) since reading it. Boo on that!

I think it really depends on the temperament of your kids.

My oldest (now 24) got ahold of them at 9 and read them 2 to 3 times.

[regentrude]

My kids have listened to it as a dramatized audiobook when they were 5 and 7 or thereabouts. DD listened to the Hobbit when she was 4. We all loved it. Some of the more philosophical questions are, of course, not understood by a young child - that's why it's great for the whole family and can be read over again.

[Desert Rat]

We read The Hobbit earlier this year. My oldest just picked up the first LOTR this week. I'm the one who doesn't want to read it aloud. :) Some books just don't interest me as read alouds.

[Peela]

I think there is a big difference between The Hobbit (which apparently was written for Tolkein's kids when they were quite young- 5 or 6 I think) and LOTR, which is more of an adult book.

We read LOTR as a family when ds was 11 and dd12/13. We did the Literary Lessons with LOTR English program and read the book over the year. It was a great year. But while I know many families have read it to younger kids, I am glad mine weren't any younger than they were. And there are some long, heavy going chapters in LOTR. I don't think I would have got through it myself if it weren't for reading it to the kids.

[LostSurprise]

We started The Hobbit when the boys were 9, 7, and 4-5. We started LOTR the next year.

 

It was too much for the youngest. He never got into the story.

 

The Hobbit was too far along for the 7 year old, but by the time he hit 8/9 he was the perfect age/temperment for LOTR. We finished The Return of the King last year (he's 10) and he's been reading it obsessively since then...and talking about it...and acting it out.

 

Everyone is different though. My 7 year olds best friend (not quite 7) is now obsessively reading through the series...by himself. My 7 year old would beg to not have to listen.

[Jilly]

My twins are reading it this year, and they love it. We got the books on audio, and my youngest listened in. He enjoyed it, but I don't think he got as much out of it because of his age.

[ELaurie]

Sounds like it might be a good summer read-aloud :001_smile: