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The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
A comfortable hobbit is bustled out of his door by a wizard and thirteen dwarves, and walks the length of a continent towards a dragon on a hoard of gold.
A story about magical creatures and a grown-up hero, adventurous and epic in tone. We would put it with children of 9–13, and at a reading age of about 11 for reading alone.
The Hobbit is the book that has sent more children into a lifetime of reading than almost any other, and it earns that place. Bilbo Baggins is the least likely hero imaginable — comfortable, cautious, fond of his dinner — which is exactly why children take to him: he is frightened by the same things they would be, and brave anyway. Tolkien wrote it to be read aloud, and it shows, so it works beautifully as a bedtime book for a younger child of seven or eight who is not yet reading it alone. As a solo read it suits confident readers of nine and up, who can carry the longer sentences and the songs. There is real danger in it — a dragon, a battle, a death — but it is handled with warmth rather than dread. For a child who has finished the shorter fantasy series and is ready for something with more weight, this is the one to hand them.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Battles and fighting
- A character dies
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Our take on this book
Bilbo Baggins is talked out of his front door against his better judgement, and that reluctance is the heart of it — he spends the whole journey missing his armchair while slowly discovering he is braver and cleverer than anyone expected. The story moves from comic and cosy, with an unwanted tea party of thirteen dwarves, to genuinely dark, as the road leads through goblin tunnels, a riddle contest in the black with Gollum, and finally to Smaug, a dragon curled on a mountain of stolen gold. It is an adventure that takes its time and rewards it: the language is warm and a little old-fashioned, closer to a story told by a fireside than a modern quest novel. There are battles towards the end and a death that lands hard, so it is a book for a child ready to feel the cost of an adventure, not only the thrill of one — but it is also funny, generous and quietly wise.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
The Neverending StoryMichael Ende
Northern LightsPhilip Pullman
Peter PanJ. M. Barrie
Prince CaspianC. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeC. S. Lewis
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.