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What age is Lord of the Rings good for?


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Has he read The Hobbit? I would start with that first, as it rather sets up the story for LOTR. It also has a somewhat lower reading level. If he breezes through it then give LOTR a try.

 

Some nine or ten year olds will be up for LOTR, but I've also known older kids and adults to find it too difficult. There isn't anything inappropriate in it, just very dense prose.

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I first read "The Fellowship of the Ring" IIRC at age 6, and had no problem with the material. There's of course death aplenty, but not very much gore. There's a lot to recommend the series to a young reader, in my opinion.

 

ETA: Second vote for starting with "The Hobbit". When I was a child I loved a version with Rankin Bass cartoon illustrations, which can still be found secondhand for around $20-30 if you lurk.

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My younger sister read the whole LOTR at 7.

(She also fell in love with Aragorn, and has remained in love with him ever since. Her dh is a, wait for it, a long-distance hiker! When she was dating him my mother would tease her about her Strider!:lol:)

 

Love it!

Edited by Mrs. A
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My dd, who is an avid reader, started them at around age 11. I read them aloud to her and it was sooooo much fun.

 

My ds reads fluently but does not have the joy in it that dd does, and is not as advanced as she was at the same age (he's 10yo). (He's more into math and science.) I would like to wait on LOTR with him for another year or two so that he can really appreciate it.

 

If you start, definitely go with The Hobbit as it's much lighter reading, with more action.

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We did The Hobbit as a family read-aloud when my son was 7. After we finished, he wanted to pick up LoTR. I let him & he read the series on his own.

 

After he finished reading the books, we tried to show him the movies, but he got too cranky with how they messed up the characters and the storyline that we couldn't even finish Fellowship.

 

We're not going to even attempt to show him the Harry Potter movies. :lol:

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Thanks! I picked up The Hobbit and all three LOTR books at the used book store today ( payed with book credit!). I'll give them to her and see what she thinks. Trying to get her into better books than Junie B. Jones.

 

There is quite a leap from Junie B. Jones to The Hobbit. Have you done the Chronicles of Narnia or E. Nesbit. George McDonald? If she has a hard time with The Hobbit these others might be a stepping stone. My boys have initiated a book club with their friends and The Hobbit was their first pick. We read it aloud years ago and funny enough, I did not like it. I loved LOTR. Couldn't put it down. Weird. They are enjoying it I guess. My oldest is on his 3rd reading.

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There is quite a leap from Junie B. Jones to The Hobbit. Have you done the Chronicles of Narnia or E. Nesbit. George McDonald? If she has a hard time with The Hobbit these others might be a stepping stone. My boys have initiated a book club with their friends and The Hobbit was their first pick. We read it aloud years ago and funny enough, I did not like it. I loved LOTR. Couldn't put it down. Weird. They are enjoying it I guess. My oldest is on his 3rd reading.

 

Her reading comprehension levels are high enough to understand the harder books, but she prefers to float through things that don't make her think. Kind of like facebook is for me. :P I can chill while reading.

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Her reading comprehension levels are high enough to understand the harder books, but she prefers to float through things that don't make her think. Kind of like facebook is for me. :P I can chill while reading.

 

I totally understand that. Sounds like my oldest ds. And I'm personally a big fan of chilling on facebook. :001_smile:

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