Has at least one of your children read these books?

[Luanne]

As I said in the other poll.  I am kind of doing a survey to see how many people have read any or all of these books... comparing the Chronicles of Narnia to the Lord of the Rings.

[elegantlion]

Yes, Ds and I have read all ten of them together over the years.

[HRAAB]

I voted that my girls had read all the books in both series, but my youngest two are in the middle of a study based on LOTR so they haven't finished all three yet. But they will. We finished Narnia last year.

[elegantlion]

Oh and the hobbit too. I'd recommend that before reading lotr.

[Luanne]

I have tried to read the Hobbit twice.  For some reason I just can't seem to get into it. 

 

I liked the Lord of the Rings movies, but don't care for the Hobbit movies at all.

 

I don't know what that is about.  Maybe I'm just weird or something.

[gardenmom5]

several of them read LotR by the time there were 11.  dudeling wants to read them.  we've told him he has to read them himself - we're not reading them to him.

 

1dd says she majored in classics because of Tolkein. . . . . she also complained about the quality of the elvish in the movies - and for awhile was working on her own elvish dictionary.

 

I've never been able to get into tolkein.

[LucyStoner]

My older son has read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He hasn't seen the movies.

 

He's never expressed any interest, and I never intentionally engendered any interest, in any of the works of C.S. Lewis. I read them all as a child and wasn't impressed.

 

I have never been able to talk myself into finishing The Lord of the Rings, it's just not my thing. I did read, and enjoy, the Hobbit.

[idnib]

We've read Chronicles of Narnia and did The Hobbit next. So I said no in your poll to LoTR, but that's because I think the (related) Hobbit is a better place to start the series. We're doing LoTR in the new year.

[Guest]

Just chiming in to say that I read Narnia aloud to my son, and the Hobbit, but at LotR, I got the CDs, which were WONDERFUL.  

 

Even though I resorted to CD for LotR, I am not a wimp.  I read aloud to him The Brothers Karamazov, which more than makes up for LotR on CD.  :0)

[Wabi Sabi]

Other to both: they're familar with them, have seen all of the LOTR/Hobbit movies, have watched the movie and stage versions of The Lion, The Witch, and the Warbobe. My oldest has started reading The Hobbit but hasn't finished, and although we have the Chronicles of Narnia on our bookshelf, we haven't gotten to them yet. My kids are still quite young though...

[catz]

I've read them all.  My son has read them all, but he's finishing Lord of the Rings right now.  We've seen all the movies

 

Also not a huge CS Lewis fan.  I've read Lord of the Ring and it's interesting, but I don't think it's a must read for everyone.  :auto:

[Ausmumof3]

No, but my oldest is eight. I am not sure whether I will worry about CS Lewis, but will probably introduce the hobbit as an option later.

[Sarah CB]

We've read the entire Chronicles of Narnia as a family two times.  Three of my kids have read the entire series and one has not.  We've read The Hobbit as a family, plus all of the kids have listened to the audiobook - oh, and all of the kids have listened to the Focus on the Family audio of Chronicles of Narnia over and over again.  Three of my kids have read The Hobbit, two of them have read the first book in The Lord of the Rings.  

 

As a kid I didn't read Chronicles of Narnia, but I read all of The Lord of the Rings.

[Wheres Toto]

My son has read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but none of the others.  He just read that one in the past month.  He is not ready for LOTR.

 

Younger dd is not ready for either set of books yet.

 

Oldest dd did read at least The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and possibly the rest of them but I'm not positive.  I think she read them all.  She has/had no interest in reading LOTR.

 

[Dory]

My kids just never got into the Narnia books so we set them aside for a few years. My oldest is supposed to start on The Hobbit next month and then he'll head in the LOTR. As of yet though, none of them have read any of them.

[purpleowl]

I voted that they haven't read any, but that's only because they're too young.  I have The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe planned for DD#1 to read by the end of this school year.

[Lady Florida.]

Narnia - Other, because only 1 wasn't a choice. I read the first one to him years ago. He didn't care for it and didn't want to read any more (or have them read to him).

 

LoTR - none

 

Ds has seen the first Narnia movie and wasn't impressed. He's seen all of the LoTR and Hobbit movies and likes them. He's looking forward to the final Hobbit movie.

 

I OTOH, am not interested in either and I actively dislike the LoTR movies. When dh and ds sit down to re-watch any of them, I find something else to do. ;-)

[Catherine]

I have one child who read the Chronicles, and I had read it to him also, earlier in his life. He is the one who also read LOTR all the way through, at least 2 or 3 times. I've never gotten through it. Of my other 2, one has had the Chronicles read to him once, and has read the Hobbit a few times, but couldn't get through even the CD of LOTR. The other read LOTR as an assignment, but had no contact as far as I know with the Chronicles.

 

I'm not a fantasy person myself so I get why some kids are less interested in these books. OTOH, the child who didn't care for LOTR, OR read the Chronicles himeself, absolutely loves the Lang fairy tale books and has read a lot himself. I think it's partly a matter of taste.

[Matryoshka]

I had to vote "other" on Narnia, as we listened to them all as audiobooks.  That was great!

 

LOTR - one dd has read them all, one dd read the first two and pooped out (but plans to finish someday), and the third has not even read the Hobbit yet... but it's on our list for this year.

[HS Mom in NC]

We've read all of both sets aloud to them several times and they've read all of both sets independently several times. All of them are excellent candidates to reread at different stages of childhood and adulthood.  You get very different things from them as you get older.

[Kathryn]

Oldest had both listened to and read on his own all ten before his eighth birthday. Younger has listened to the Hobbit but that's all.

[MistyMountain]

I read the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe to my kids last year but only that one because only one of my kids really loved it. None of them read it on their own yet. I haven't read them LOTR.

[Grover]

The 8 year old has read all of Narnia, The Hobbit and the first two books of LOTR.  I think he got a bit bogged down about then and has put it aside for later.

 

5 year old is sitting beside me reading The Hobbit right now, lol!  She's not even close to ready for LOTR.  I don't think she's read any Narnia but I got shushed at when I tried to ask.  I'll try again later. 

[Elfinlady]

DD has listened to all 7 Narnia books on audio. She's also listened to The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring. She's currently in the middle of Two Towers, but taking a break from it for a bit.

 

DS read the three Lord of the Rings books, and I think The Hobbit. Not sure if he read any Narnia or not.

[MicheleinMN]

I have tried to read the Hobbit twice.  For some reason I just can't seem to get into it. 

 

I liked the Lord of the Rings movies, but don't care for the Hobbit movies at all.

 

I don't know what that is about.  Maybe I'm just weird or something.

 

I am not a Hobbit  fan either, but I really enjoyed all three of the LOTR books.  And don't get me started on Peter Jackson taking ONE (relatively short) book (The Hobbit) and turning it into THREE extraordinarily LONG movies.

[ScoutTN]

My dd is 9 and not yet quite ready for LOTR, I think, though she has read The Hobbit.

She has read all of The Narnia books several times.

[kewb]

My kids did not personally read the Narnia series but I read it to them when they were little. They have both read book one of lotr. In pains me that my children do not understand the awesome that is this series.

However they both enjoyed the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy so maybe not all is lost.

[SKL]

My kids are only 7/8 and they have listened to some of the Narnia audiobooks.  They haven't "read" any from either list.  My sister read The Hobbit to them a couple years ago, but I assume that doesn't count.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Not read any of them although I own them all.  They had no interest in Narnia (I  LOVED Narnia when I was a kid).  DD reads mystical girly stuff or manga, DS doesn't read much (dyslexia is a real PITA) but we are reading the hobbit right now and I hope to do LotR next year. 

[freeindeed]

My ds11 has read all of the Narnia books and my ds22 has read all of the Narnia books as well as all of the Lord of the Rings books, including The Hobbit as well. My dd13 is currently reading The Hobbit.

[Night Elf]

I had to choose other for the Narnia books because I have absolutely no idea. We do own the books though.

 

We read LOTR as a family. I don't think any of them would have picked up the books on their own.

[lynn]

Oldest ds read chronicles of narnia.    Middle ds did not like them but he did read through LOTR which oldest ds did not care for  Oldest ds did read most Jules Verne though.

[maize]

The Narnia books appeal to a younger set than LOTR, I see Narnia as accessible to ages 5+ and Rings closer to 10+.

[Desert Strawberry]

None of them.

[Ellie]

Too bad I can't reply twice, once for each of my children. :-)

 

I read aloud all seven Chronicles of Narnia books to my children. Only older dd has read LOTR (I would not have read them aloud).

[Tanaqui]

One kid has read all of LotR and The Hobbit, neither has read any of Narnia. I haven't encouraged either, to be honest - they both are extremely Eurocentric books, with some really outdated sexist ideas and (probably unconscious) racist undertones. So if they ask for a book to read, I suggest something else.

[MeAndTheBoys]

I have read Magician's Nephew and Lion, Witch to my boys.  They thought they were okay.  They really don't like fantasy.

 

I really enjoyed Narnia and the Hobbit and hope to keep trying to get them interested :)  I have started LOTR multiple times but always get hung up in the names and complications.  I want to try again---

 

The boys are reading "City of Ember" and the second book now and are fascinated--so MAYBE there is hope for Narnia.  This the first fantasy-type book that has drawn them in.  BUT it's probably the futuristic realism that they like, and that still is opposite to Narnia fantasy.

 

B

[Luanne]

I am not a Hobbit  fan either, but I really enjoyed all three of the LOTR books.  And don't get me started on Peter Jackson taking ONE (relatively short) book (The Hobbit) and turning it into THREE extraordinarily LONG movies.

 

I thought I was the only one who felt that way about the Hobbit movies.  My daughter (age 26) loves them, but I just don't care for them at all.

 

[Luanne]

One kid has read all of LotR and The Hobbit, neither has read any of Narnia. I haven't encouraged either, to be honest - they both are extremely Eurocentric books, with some really outdated sexist ideas and (probably unconscious) racist undertones. So if they ask for a book to read, I suggest something else.

 

I'm sorry, but my first thought when I read your post was "oh my stars!"  You had to do a lot of digging to try to come up with what you think about the books.  There is nothing of what you claim is there.  You need to know more about the authors to realize what you said isn't true.

 

[Tanaqui]

I'm sorry, but my first thought when I read your post was "oh my stars!"  You had to do a lot of digging to try to come up with what you think about the books.  There is nothing of what you claim is there.  You need to know more about the authors to realize what you said isn't true.

 

I don't need to know about the authors, I can get what I need to from the text. When the baddies in the Narnia books are clear Arab archetypes and they are barbaric and only stop being awful if they convert to the Christian-and-European analog that is Narnia, those details speak for themselves.

 

When Aslan says outright that girls can't get involved in fighting - even if their little brothers can - because it's "ugly", that speaks for itself.

 

When Susan is banished from Heaven, aka Narnia for the crime of growing up and being interested in make-up and boys (and no sympathy for the fact that, as far as she knows, her entire family DIED that day), that speaks for itself.

 

As for Lord of the Rings, when only 19% of the characters are female, and most of THOSE do absolutely nothing after being introduced, that speaks for itself.

 

When the evil orcs (and a race of people that's Always Chaotic Evil is problematic in and of itself, even if has NO clear real-world analog) are described as "Mongol-types" and using scimitars, that speaks for itself. When the baddies tend to be from darker populations and the good guys tend to be from lighter skinned ones, that, too, speaks for itself.

 

When I say these things, I am not saying that either author was a bigot. I'm sure they were perfectly nice people. But they were a product of their culture, as we all are, and their culture was overwhelmingly sexist and racist, and it shows in their works.

 

If I were raising white children in the 1950s, that might not be a problem. I'm not. I'm raising biracial girls in the 2010s. There's a lot of diverse fiction out there. I'm not encouraging them to pick up problematic works simply because they've been around a long time and I read them as a child (and was concerned as a child about the same things I say here). If they read Earthsea instead of Narnia, The Conch Bearer instead of LotR, it does them no harm. Might do them some positive good - to be perfectly frank, in the choice between C. S. Lewis or Ursula LeGuin, LeGuin is by far the superior author.

 

[rocassie]

My oldest is 7.5, and we have read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  My DH can't wait to start The Lord of the Rings, but the kiddos aren't quite ready for it.  The Hobbit the 7yo enjoyed but the younger two stopped listening after a few pages.

[Impish]

Diva and I read a couple. Personally, I don't like Tolkien, so it's not something I push. If they ask, sure, but he's not an author that I'm, "ZOMG, they HAVE to read this!" about.

 

Yes, I'm a weirdo.

[Little Nyssa]

I've read them both aloud to my DC, but they have not read them on their own (yet).

[nukeswife]

I have read Magician's Nephew and Lion, Witch to my boys.  They thought they were okay.  They really don't like fantasy.

 

I really enjoyed Narnia and the Hobbit and hope to keep trying to get them interested :)  I have started LOTR multiple times but always get hung up in the names and complications.  I want to try again---

 

The boys are reading "City of Ember" and the second book now and are fascinated--so MAYBE there is hope for Narnia.  This the first fantasy-type book that has drawn them in.  BUT it's probably the futuristic realism that they like, and that still is opposite to Narnia fantasy.

 

B

If they like the Ember series, I would skip book 3.  It's supposed to be a Prequel and it's just BAD, BAD, BAD.  I read half of it and thought, why am I still reading this.  It's so boring compared to the other books. 

[LostSurprise]

Oddly, Narnia did not go over well here. We read the first 2-3 aloud and no one cared to finish #4 so we moved on to other things. LotR/Hobbit had a mixed reception. One totally adored the whole thing. One hated the whole thing. One swung back and forth. 

[mamaraby]

Dh has offered his Tolkein books to ds (4th grade), but he's not interested just yet.

 

I'm actively avoiding Narnia/CS Lewis. I really have no interest in the books and while I wouldn't censor them if one or the kids were to elect to read it on their own, I wouldn't encourage/assign it, either. It's not one of those "necessary for cultural literacy" things so, imo the negatives outweigh any benefits for our family. YMMV and all that.

[JessReplanted]

I have tried to read the Hobbit twice.  For some reason I just can't seem to get into it. 

 

I tried reading The Hobbit when I was younger, and I just didn't get it at all. But, then I read it with my son when he was 9, and having him next to me made the whole book SO exciting. It is one of my favorites now. It's amazing how sharing something with your child can change your whole perspective.

[Luanne]

I don't need to know about the authors, I can get what I need to from the text. When the baddies in the Narnia books are clear Arab archetypes and they are barbaric and only stop being awful if they convert to the Christian-and-European analog that is Narnia, those details speak for themselves.

 

 

 

You are correct.  You don't need to know about the authors, you can just read whatever you want into the texts and make it so.  You can tell by the responses that 99% of the people on here like these books so I guess you are the minority.  There are things in these books that are somewhat hidden, but they are all Christian meanings... nothing more.

[umsami]

DS1 has read two of the Narnia books and one of the Lord of the Rings.

 

DS2 and DD will probably start on Narnia now...but I'm holding off on Lord of the Rings until they're older.

 

I never really appreciated the Narnia series until I was an adult....after I had studied theology and read a bunch of CS Lewis's other works.  I'm betting there are a lot of books I read as a child that I truly didn't "get" or would have a different interpretation of today.  That's one of the benefits of homeschooling, I get to revisit them as well as learn about new books to love.

[TrixieB]

Lord of the Rings - yes, repeatedly.

 

Narnia - I really don't know!  The kids listened to an audio version when they were little, but I have no idea if they ever read the books.  At any rate I never saw them reading any of the books.