Dianne-TX Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 DC are 10.5 and 8. The cute, little 15 month old doesn't count yet. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I've been wondering the same thing, I'll be really interested in knowing what others think. DS10 has a friend his age who is reading them on his own and loving them. I read The Hobbit to my lot (I read to them all in my bed in each evening) and although DS12 enjoyed it and is very keen to move on to LOTR, DS10 hated The Hobbit and almost has a meltdown every time it's suggested that read LOTR next. Maybe it's more a matter of taste than maturity, although DS10 seems to lack both :tongue_smilie:. :bigear: Cassy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I think both taste and maturity factor in, especially with LOTR. It's a long haul for a read aloud and if a kid doesn't care for it, it will seem like an eternity. I started The Hobbit and LOTR with my oldest when he was ten and that was the right age for him. Some of the scarier parts I'd deliberately plan to read at times other than bedtime. I have a 15 yo who has absolutely no interest and I'm about to begin Fellowship with my 13 yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My youngest son is reading it now. He'll be 12 in September. I think I read it for the first time around 7th grade age. You could start with The Hobbit as a read-aloud and see what their interest level is for the other three books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Dh read The Hobbit to dd when she was 8. She liked the interaction, but the book was a slog for her. LotR has tons of description--we are waiting til she's maybe late Jr Hi, early Hi for that one. No more reading aloud at our house. (sadly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My son was 10 when he picked it up and read it on his own. I thought, "Oh, isn't that cute," because he wasn't a big pleasure reader and he'd never tackled anything like this. It definitely jump-started his interest in reading, although it still isn't a passion of his. He went on to read the other two books, and I think he read The Hobbit too. LOTR is not my kind of book. I've never read it, and I would die a slow death if I had to read it, aloud or otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieF Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I bought the Hobbit on CD for my children and ds8 is currently listening to it and absolutely loving it. He begs me to put it on. There are 10 discs, each about an hour long. I have also bought the Lord of the Rings for them to listen to-43 discs!!!!!!!!!!! They'll listen to it on our long car journeys over the summer. I was hoping that if they enjoy listening they would be inspired to read it themselves. I think that ds8 will read the hobbit at some point because he has enjoyed it so much, but the size of the book would have out him off before Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 (edited) This is the only thing I know about The Lord of the Rings. DH read The Hobbit to the boys when they were 5, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy when they were 6, and probably 7, given the length of the books. After that, they saw the movies several times each in the theater, bought the movies and watched them several times, bought the Lego sets, action figures, posters, and Monopoly game, and collected the BK or McDonald's (can't recall which) toys. The boys enjoyed it. I just asked DS2 to make sure because the entire hoopla from start to finish, was instigated by DH. Edited July 2, 2011 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 The Hobbit is very very different from LotR. If kids read Hobbit at 8, it's perfectly fine, because it doesn't have the tension of LotR. As an aside, I've known very few people who, starting with Hobbit, go on to love LotR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 As an aside, I've known very few people who, starting with Hobbit, go on to love LotR. I had a different experience. I read The Hobbit and LotR as an adult and much.prefer LotR. The Hobbit is ok, but I consider it a prologue to LotR, which if fantastic, rich, wonderful. YMMV Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My son started the first book in the trilogy when he was 12 - it took him about a year to read it. There were parts where he just got bogged down in the descriptions and had to take a break and read other stuff! But he finally made it through - and is ready to read the next book (which he'll get today - for his birthday!) He read the Hobbit at a much younger age. DH read it to him at 6 and he read ahead on his own at times then, but I believe he read it again himself a few years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I read LOTR for the first time in my 30's. It took me a long time to get through due to the long descriptions and some of the odd names. It is easy to get bogged down. I think for a read aloud I would try to get it on cd. I don't really know what age I would start with it, it would depend on the kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My youngest son is reading it now. He'll be 12 in September. I think I read it for the first time around 7th grade age. I think this is a good age for it. There are a lot of characters and places to keep track of, and the story is complex and violent in places. My rule of thumb for the movies is that they can watch them after they've read the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classical Country Mama Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My father read The Hobbit & LOTR to us kids when I was 6 or 7, and it's still a favorite childhood memory. I credit those long, happy hours lost deep in the world of the One Ring for my falling in love with the magic of all books. I read the entire series about once a year now that I'm grown--but my first time through on my own, I was shocked and appalled to discover just how much he'd left out. Apparently I'd heard the Abridged By Daddy version, which excludes all poetry, lengthy back stories, and names with too many consonants. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I first read LOTR in seventh grade, so I was about 11 at the time. I was an avid reader, and slogged through it, and loved it, but I have to say, I didn't really get it straight until the second full read through because once the fellowship separated into little groups each one had its own story, and it could be over a hundred pages between glimpses of some of them. I read The Hobbit to my DD when she was 6 or 7, and I did shorten some of the long descriptions. She loved it. Much later when she was 9 or 10 DH read her LOTR very slowly over a long time. She has seen all the movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 My eldest began enjoying the books around 8 or 9. All three of my older boys have loved the movies. I know my ds #3 watched them at age 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 dd12 read the trilogy about two weeks ago - she plowed through all through books at record speed and loved them. I was late getting her to read them but she is so busy reading everything we can get our hands on, this was our first opportunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truebird Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 When I was 9 and my brother was 7, my mom read the entire Lord of the Rings (long poems and all) to us. She'd usually, but not always, do it in the evening before bed, and she did it as a "tea party." She'd set up a tray with a tea set, tea and milk, and a little snack like animal crackers. We'd then sit on the floor together somewhere and have our tea picnic-style as she read. The combination of the tea parties, the comfortable time spent with my mom and brother, and the amazing story (which we both quickly became invested in) went together to form my most cherished childhood memory. I wish I'd thought to ask him when it was still possible to do so, but I think my brother would have said the same. I remember as we progressed further in the story, we began pestering her to read to us in the mornings before school because we were desperate to find out what happened to poor Frodo and Sam. My mom had an awesome Gollum voice too. As we got toward the end, she'd let us take turns reading pages. Once we completed it, I reread the LotR on my own. After that, I felt confident in my ability to read any book whatsoever. I just recently started reading The Hobbit to my kiddos, and I'll probably start LotR as soon as I think the youngest can follow along with the help of a few explanations and discussions along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 The Hobbit is a much lighter read than LOTR. Even young children can enjoy it as a read aloud, although some of the vocabulary will be over their heads, and the long descriptions might be hard to sit through. IMO, The Hobbit and LOTR don't really make good read alouds; they are much better as independent reading. I'd say The Hobbit would be good for a 12yo who is a strong reader. LOTR is a lot more intense, and I'd recommend it for a mature 13yo who is a good reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 We enjoyed The Hobbit as a read aloud this past year. However, I wasn't about to tackle LOTR. Ds11 is reading the first in the trilogy as his independent read. He's enjoying it but it's taking him much longer than normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted July 2, 2011 Author Share Posted July 2, 2011 Thanks for the responses. I'm still not sure if we are ready. DC love Narnia, so maybe. I don't want them to be too stirred too much by suspense, tension, conflict, etc., though. So, maybe we need to save it for a later age. DH and I did not know about Lewis or Tolkien growing up. We were not brought up in families that valued true education, literature, etc. We were from good families that loved and cared for us, but there wasn't a lot of "extra" in regards to time spent with us, education, literature, arts, etc. We are SO thankful to be where we are at today for our children and future generations. LOTR will come, I'm just still not sure when. Happy 4th! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLDoll Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I had a different experience. I read The Hobbit and LotR as an adult and much.prefer LotR. The Hobbit is ok, but I consider it a prologue to LotR, which if fantastic, rich, wonderful. YMMV Best wishes. I agree with this. I read LOTR before the Hobbit (both as an adult), and I just didn't enjoy the Hobbit as much. Every year and half to two years, I decide to spend a few weeks in Middle Earth with Aragorn and his friends and am always sad when my time there comes to an end. I've reread the Hobbit once or twice (and its the current read-aloud with my 6 and 7 year olds), and while I appreciate it more now than I did the first time, it still doesn't measure up to LOTR. The kids absolutely love it and know there is more to the adventures in Middle Earth, but I'm not sure when they will be ready for LOTR. I guess we'll assess that when we finish the Hobbit. I'm encouraged to see others say they read it to kids under 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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