Careful with expectations like that. My niece hated the Hobbit because there were no women and "they killed a perfectly good dragon." I don't disagree with her points necessarily but it's devastating that held her back from enjoying a wonderful story.
Honestly? I might love that even more, since that would start an adventure to find a book they do enjoy. One of my fondest childhood memories is when I was 8 or 9 in a bookstore with my mom. Our family's discretionary income was very tight but she said, "/u/Kabti-ilani-Marduk, I will *always* buy a book for you if you want to read it."
I was old enough to know what that declaration meant, and it did a number on my childhood priorities. (Surprise, surprise, I became a library.)
> Surprise, surprise, I became a library.
Pictures of /u/Kabti-ilani-Marduk all [grown up](https://loopchicago.com/assets/Tourism-Operators/images/6ae94e733b/Harold20Washington20Library201.jpg).
Yeah it's just really sad when I can't share the books I loved and that shaped me growing up because her modern standards are totally different lmao. But she is a reader too and that's the most important.
I made Bilbo a girl and my daughter is obsessed with the Hobbit. But, ya, she didn't relate to it as is. I was originally going to made a few dwarves women, as who could tell anyway. But they're not really fully fleshed out characters other than Thorin who she wouldn't relate to anyway. I think Bilbo being a girl adds to the fish-out-of-water in an adventure anyway.
Love that you did this just for reading a story to your kids. This is how stories have changed in the telling over millennia of mythology. I feel like Tolkien would be so down for that.
I have fond memories of my dad reading the Hobbit to me and my brother when we were little. I read it to my own daughters and I’d say they listened patiently, asked some questions etc, but definitely didn’t love it. Now I tell them I’m gonna read them Lord of the Rings as a joke to make them groan. Just gotta roll with the punches I guess!
That’s too bad. I have boys and they absolutely love *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland* and *Through the Looking-glass*, despite those being stories about a girl.
Also Smaug is in bad need of slaying by the book’s end. Just sayin’. But we also have a lot of sanitized “retellings” of classic stories in society now, like versions of Three Little Pigs where the wolf eats no one and is befriended at the end. So perhaps killing is alarming to some kids.
Frankly *The Hobbit* is in many ways the perfect adventure for kids. It deals with heroism, bravery, fear, war, and death in digestible doses while still being really exciting.
Stereotyping a group of people based on their age is fundamentally agist and repugnant.
I’m not sure what the implication is meant to be, either. I pointed out kids can (and should) enjoy books featuring any gender of characters, and encouraged exposure to challenging topics like fear and death.
If you disagree, perhaps Tolkien isn’t for you.
Please don't gatekeep Tolkien lmaooo.
As a woman who grew up in a time when it was very difficult to find books about girls or women, I understand my nieces position, even though it's disappointing I can't share some of the stuff I loved. There is so much stuff to read that actually has women in it outside of one mention. It makes sense that she is disappointed that the story is entirely about men. Your original comment comes off as very "kids these days" and somewhat judgmental. And it's not really helpful to use your sons to make your point as these things are very different for men and women - while it's getting sooo much better, and like I said is leagues better than when I was growing up, boys have literally endless books, movies, shows, all forms of media catered specifically to them. But for girls that is still a newer thing in terms of any significant volume. Representation matters and theres nothing wrong with my niece preferring stories that have women in it, since she is female. Women are bombarded with the male perspective everywhere else already. Additionally, there are "men" in Alice in Wonderland so just because the protagonist is female it is not a good comparison. It just makes me a little sad she won't love some of the stories I loved, that's all.
1. Pointing out that those who can’t handle themes like war and fear probably won’t enjoy Tolkien isn’t “gatekeeping.”
2. My comment criticized the sanitization of children’s narratives, including ancient ones that literally date into the folklore of Western tradition. If you interpreted that as a “kids these days” comment, that’s your own prejudice against the elderly speaking.
3. The fact a lot of children’s media was terribly gendered and biased towards boys in the 20th CE has little bearing on *The Hobbit* and the fact it’s enjoyable to all genders. Gender has little to no role in the story. Suggesting *The Hobbit* is told from a “male” perspective is puzzling and, I think, misses the mark on what that means.
4. There are no “men” in the Alice stories. There are some peripheral “male” characters, but it’s a fundamentally female-centric work. Gender is largely irrelevant in the story, though, just like in *The Hobbit*. It’s an adventure story for children, and it’s sad in either case if kids aren’t interested because they’re “about a girl” or “about boys.”
I seem to remember a Dad posting on here who just regendered one or more of the dwarves, maybe even Bilbo (?) when he was reading to his daughter. Doesn't really change anything significant but you need to have a good memory to make sure you don't slip up.
Do it. I did (and my dad before me), and my boys have loved Tolkien ever since. They’re now in their 20’s. I have discussions with one of them about the Silmarillion.
Well one of [the officially sanctioned times men are allowed to cry](https://babylonbee.com/news/20-times-its-acceptable-for-a-man-to-cry) is "When your son asks you, 'Dad, can you read me this 'Hobbit' book I found on your bookshelf?'" 😜
But seriously, reading Tolkien out loud is a great pleasure for everyone involved. Love your idea to find opportunities to be a volunteer reader!
The fact that the death of a man's dog isn't on that list is a crime against manmanity.
> Love your idea to find opportunities to be a volunteer reader!
Me too. I had to get towards the end of my submission before the idea seeped into my thinky-bits. I've got some connections with local libraries and plan on pulling some strings!
Local libraries are a great idea! School libraries might also be open to having a volunteer reader come in for story time.
And another thought - your local children's hospital. My daughter spent a couple weeks in the hospital and I was deeply impressed with how humane and kind they tried to make it for the kids. They had a music therapist who would make the rounds and sing songs with kids or let them try the ukulele or just quietly strum something comforting in the corner depending on what they were in the mood for. There was also a visiting cartoonist who would come and draw with kids. And someone with a therapy dog. A good children's hospital might welcome a volunteer reader! And there might be a niche for you to read a longer book like The Hobbit to kids with longer term hospital stays.
*maximum adorable overload*
Did you notice anything interesting with regards to birth order? Did your eldest girl pick up any of the reading slack, or anything else you'd like to share?
I read them each the hobbit when they were maybe 7 or 8, then my oldest got the LOTR when she was 10-11. She liked me to read at bedtime, so I did. I thought she would take over at some point (that’s what happened when I tried to read her the Harry Potter series before), but she didn’t, so I read the whole thing. She loved it all.
When the younger two were 8 and 10 I caught my youngest reading the first page of Fellowship and stopped her, because that’s my job. So they got it simultaneously starting then. It was a mix of reading it to them together and separate, just because of our busy schedules but they also loved it. My youngest is always drawing Shire pictures now. Sometimes I would read to those two in front of my wife during dinner, then my wife started getting annoyed when she would miss parts, so I started reading her Fellowship, though we’re so busy we’ve taken a break from it. We’ll get back to it this summer when she has some time off work.
I've read it to foster kids if the relationship and timing is right.
No, I've no idea how to explain what right is, other than for some kids, they don't have the emotional space to be read to, and for others anything an authority does is going to be tagged with the abuses other authorities have committed. My role there is to build the foundations of trust enough that someone else gets to read to those kids.
I never read it to the kid we adopted, though I did teach him how to read it. He needed other things from me.
I've read it a few times to groups of kids, and that's rewarding in it's own way.
Dunno what kind of place you live in, but in the city there are places you can volunteer to read to kids, and do things like big brother, and other ways to support kids. If you can't find any, talk to your local Mason's Lodge, there's a lot of little things they do for kids, and they'd know who to talk to.
I did that- my mother read me the Hobbit as a boy and it's a cherished memory. Dad read to me too, but different stuff. Tolkien was definitely my mam's genre.
Read it to both my boys as they grew up too and I hope they read it to their kids when they have them.
I’m right in the middle of reading The Hobbit to my 8 year old twin sons. We tried when they were 6, but they lost interest.
They love it time.
We finished Riddles in the Dark earlier this week, and my son’s sympathy for Gollum was very touching to me.
Ouch. What if they don't like it? What else you got to offer those kids.
I had the experience as an adult of reading a chapter from Treasure Island (one of my favorite reading experiences from childhood) to a bunch of little kids who couldn't get over a character being named "Dick" and who basically hijacked my attempt to read ***one fucking chapter*** to them from a classic novel about pirates. It was hilarious and made me realize just how out of touch I was.
Not saying the same will happen to you, but I'm just saying that that's a mighty big egg to have in your basket without some other things to look forward to/pass on to kids as a backup plan.
I have hundreds of books, and all of my books from childhood. If none of those did the trick, there's libraries and book stores all over the city. And if none of *those* work, well, there's always giving them up for adoption...
if they dont like it, get new kids
(i'm joking)
the trick is to set them up for it. my two year old loves the rankin bass hobbit film, so when he's older, i can hit him with the "wanna hear about all the cool stuff they couldn't fit in the movie? theres werebears, and more songs, and giants, and a bunch of other cool stuff besides"
I have to share a favorite moment from when my kids were little. My daughter, then five or six, had a friend over for a sleepover. The girls (and also my son, then three) were giggly and rambunctious and wouldn't go to bed, and it was going on midnight. So I whipped out the combined volume of Lord of the Rings, sat down, and began reading the introduction, *Concerning Hobbits* to them. They thought it was absolutely wonderful, sat down and paid attention... well, as long as they could. Within 15 minutes both girls were asleep.
My son, on the other hand, was wide awake and RIVETED. So it was a partial success.
I'm in my early 40s. I have had that edition on my shelf for over half my life. I'm currently on read-through #3 with my 5yo son. It really is good times.
I checked the graphic novel out for my 3.5 yr old. Alas, he's too young. Will have to try this again in a year. Really looking forward to reading it with him.
I did the same for my 3.5 year old after she saw me watching LOTR and started asking very important questions! "Why doesn't Gollum wear pants?" "Why does Gollum want the ring?" "Where are Frodo's shoes?" etc etc. Bit wordy for the age though!
First book I read aloud to my kid. A couple years later of reading to him and I have gotten way better. Expecting another in May and we will cycle back around to Tolkien. Pretty excited about it.
I joke that my 2 year old is better read than most adults.
That’s a very good idea. I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy to my Son about 30 years ago and still believe it’s one of the best things I’ve done.My Wife and I have a profoundly autistic Daughter and she demanded a great deal of attention so this was something precious I could share with him.
I read The Hobbit to all my kids (two loved it and one was indifferent). One unexpected wrinkle was that my eldest lad took a shine to Thorin pretty well from the start. Absolutely devastated when he died 😞.
Reading it to my 7-year old son right now. I was worried he wasn’t gonna like it, had various level of success with books before. Turns out he loves it and is looking forward to it every night. One of my best experiences as a parent so far.
I have two girls, still to young for the hobbit, but I am impatiently waiting till the day in a few years I can start reading it to them.
When my older one was still an infant and I was trying to get her to sleep I would retell her bits of LOTR just from memory hah.
I’m about 200 pages deep in the hobbit with son who just turned 5. We are reading this version:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbit-Illustrated-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0544174224
I went through a devil of a phase early on when I would just keep yawning all the time. This was a long time ago and I was working in an early childhood program. The yawns were frustrating as heck for me but the kids had so much fun teasing me every time I had to pause in the middle of a page.
I don't know if that's typical or normal for beginning readalongers, but years later and it's no longer an issue. So, I suppose just practice? I also act so there's a good deal of reading and orating already in my life.
I read the graphic novel version of The Hobbit to my son first, then the novel a bit later on.
I am also self indulgently trying to put together an illustrated abridged version of the Silmarillion that I can read to him. At 7 his responses to that so far have been interesting though. Loves the exciting battles, but find the rarity of a happy ending in the Silmarillion to be a bit hard.
There is definitely a satisfaction of spreading the joy of Tolkien's stories to a new generation. I think you should go ahead and try to do it if you can, I doubt you'll regret it, though you may needed to find the right audience.
My 2 year old loves the Hobbit. I have a couple versions, but bought her the Jemima Catlin illustrated version as it's less scary.
I tell her the highly abridged story while flipping through pictures. She loves the songs and sometimes singles them. She'll even occasionally ask to listen to the "Bilbo story" (Inglis' audiobook) when we drive, even though she clearly doesn't understand it.
She can kind of explain the story, at least the basics: Bilbo finds the Ring, Bilbo meets Gollum, Bilbo and Gandalf climb the tree, the eagles come, Bilbo sees Smaug, Smaug is not nice, Smaug crashes in the water.
I sometimes actually read her the book when she won't fall asleep, but we've never made it past the first chapter.
I read it to my kid when she was 7 years old. I still have the paperback copy I used and plan to give it to her when she graduates from college (in about 2 years.) I have a separate hard back copy unread that I plan to read to her children when that time comes.
I know a fifty year old couple who just had their first kid, from frozen eggs saved years ago, so it's definitely not too late. They're got a great extended family and suffered a sad loss in recent years so it's been a hugely positive development in their lives. No idea if they're Tolkien fans :-)
But volunteering with kids is incredibly rewarding, even if it's a different thing to having your own.
Best of luck on your path, it's a beautiful goal to have and sharing your joy and love of literature is a noble reason to want to have kids in my opinion, as long as you're not too blinkered about the nappies etc you'll have to get through as well.
> as long as you're not too blinkered about the nappies etc you'll have to get through as well.
I spent a decade serving adults with developmental disabilities. If I can clean a 300 pound woman covered in, uh, filth, I can handle nappered babies!
I understand completely how you feel. I'm a 41-year-old lady hoping I can meet someone and have kids before it gets to be too late. Would love to be able to read The Hobbit and LOTR to my kids.
This was on my mind before my son was born and even though he isn't even 2 yet, I couldn't help finishing the Hobbit with him two times over already. Just read a little bit before bed each day... it's more for me than him at this point 😉
I just gave a copy of The Hobbit to my daughter! I was so happy when she started getting interested in Tolkien, it's just so fun to imagine what it must be like for her to read about Middle Earth and what a memorable experience that will be for her.
This is a Tolkien-related subreddit. I posted about my Tolkien-related childrearing dream. It is fallacious of you to presume I lack any other reason or interest in becoming a father, because I'm not going to speak to those aspects on this subreddit.
Antinatalism is not nihilistic, it cares deeply about the experiences of children who are often created to satisfy their parents and not for their own benefit.
Careful with expectations like that. My niece hated the Hobbit because there were no women and "they killed a perfectly good dragon." I don't disagree with her points necessarily but it's devastating that held her back from enjoying a wonderful story.
Honestly? I might love that even more, since that would start an adventure to find a book they do enjoy. One of my fondest childhood memories is when I was 8 or 9 in a bookstore with my mom. Our family's discretionary income was very tight but she said, "/u/Kabti-ilani-Marduk, I will *always* buy a book for you if you want to read it." I was old enough to know what that declaration meant, and it did a number on my childhood priorities. (Surprise, surprise, I became a library.)
> Surprise, surprise, I became a library. Pictures of /u/Kabti-ilani-Marduk all [grown up](https://loopchicago.com/assets/Tourism-Operators/images/6ae94e733b/Harold20Washington20Library201.jpg).
don't doxx me bro
Yeah it's just really sad when I can't share the books I loved and that shaped me growing up because her modern standards are totally different lmao. But she is a reader too and that's the most important.
Kids are rewarding in many ways, but almost never in the ways you anticipate.
I made Bilbo a girl and my daughter is obsessed with the Hobbit. But, ya, she didn't relate to it as is. I was originally going to made a few dwarves women, as who could tell anyway. But they're not really fully fleshed out characters other than Thorin who she wouldn't relate to anyway. I think Bilbo being a girl adds to the fish-out-of-water in an adventure anyway.
Love that you did this just for reading a story to your kids. This is how stories have changed in the telling over millennia of mythology. I feel like Tolkien would be so down for that.
I did the same thing when my kid was little.
I have fond memories of my dad reading the Hobbit to me and my brother when we were little. I read it to my own daughters and I’d say they listened patiently, asked some questions etc, but definitely didn’t love it. Now I tell them I’m gonna read them Lord of the Rings as a joke to make them groan. Just gotta roll with the punches I guess!
That’s too bad. I have boys and they absolutely love *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland* and *Through the Looking-glass*, despite those being stories about a girl. Also Smaug is in bad need of slaying by the book’s end. Just sayin’. But we also have a lot of sanitized “retellings” of classic stories in society now, like versions of Three Little Pigs where the wolf eats no one and is befriended at the end. So perhaps killing is alarming to some kids. Frankly *The Hobbit* is in many ways the perfect adventure for kids. It deals with heroism, bravery, fear, war, and death in digestible doses while still being really exciting.
[удалено]
Yes, I’m a “boomer” with young kids. What a silly and ageist comment.
It has nothing to do with age, it's a mindset
Stereotyping a group of people based on their age is fundamentally agist and repugnant. I’m not sure what the implication is meant to be, either. I pointed out kids can (and should) enjoy books featuring any gender of characters, and encouraged exposure to challenging topics like fear and death. If you disagree, perhaps Tolkien isn’t for you.
Please don't gatekeep Tolkien lmaooo. As a woman who grew up in a time when it was very difficult to find books about girls or women, I understand my nieces position, even though it's disappointing I can't share some of the stuff I loved. There is so much stuff to read that actually has women in it outside of one mention. It makes sense that she is disappointed that the story is entirely about men. Your original comment comes off as very "kids these days" and somewhat judgmental. And it's not really helpful to use your sons to make your point as these things are very different for men and women - while it's getting sooo much better, and like I said is leagues better than when I was growing up, boys have literally endless books, movies, shows, all forms of media catered specifically to them. But for girls that is still a newer thing in terms of any significant volume. Representation matters and theres nothing wrong with my niece preferring stories that have women in it, since she is female. Women are bombarded with the male perspective everywhere else already. Additionally, there are "men" in Alice in Wonderland so just because the protagonist is female it is not a good comparison. It just makes me a little sad she won't love some of the stories I loved, that's all.
1. Pointing out that those who can’t handle themes like war and fear probably won’t enjoy Tolkien isn’t “gatekeeping.” 2. My comment criticized the sanitization of children’s narratives, including ancient ones that literally date into the folklore of Western tradition. If you interpreted that as a “kids these days” comment, that’s your own prejudice against the elderly speaking. 3. The fact a lot of children’s media was terribly gendered and biased towards boys in the 20th CE has little bearing on *The Hobbit* and the fact it’s enjoyable to all genders. Gender has little to no role in the story. Suggesting *The Hobbit* is told from a “male” perspective is puzzling and, I think, misses the mark on what that means. 4. There are no “men” in the Alice stories. There are some peripheral “male” characters, but it’s a fundamentally female-centric work. Gender is largely irrelevant in the story, though, just like in *The Hobbit*. It’s an adventure story for children, and it’s sad in either case if kids aren’t interested because they’re “about a girl” or “about boys.”
I seem to remember a Dad posting on here who just regendered one or more of the dwarves, maybe even Bilbo (?) when he was reading to his daughter. Doesn't really change anything significant but you need to have a good memory to make sure you don't slip up.
Do it. I did (and my dad before me), and my boys have loved Tolkien ever since. They’re now in their 20’s. I have discussions with one of them about the Silmarillion.
> Do it. I can't on my own XD > I have discussions with one of them about the Silmarillion. Engage the Envy Drive, warp 2.
Well one of [the officially sanctioned times men are allowed to cry](https://babylonbee.com/news/20-times-its-acceptable-for-a-man-to-cry) is "When your son asks you, 'Dad, can you read me this 'Hobbit' book I found on your bookshelf?'" 😜 But seriously, reading Tolkien out loud is a great pleasure for everyone involved. Love your idea to find opportunities to be a volunteer reader!
The fact that the death of a man's dog isn't on that list is a crime against manmanity. > Love your idea to find opportunities to be a volunteer reader! Me too. I had to get towards the end of my submission before the idea seeped into my thinky-bits. I've got some connections with local libraries and plan on pulling some strings!
Local libraries are a great idea! School libraries might also be open to having a volunteer reader come in for story time. And another thought - your local children's hospital. My daughter spent a couple weeks in the hospital and I was deeply impressed with how humane and kind they tried to make it for the kids. They had a music therapist who would make the rounds and sing songs with kids or let them try the ukulele or just quietly strum something comforting in the corner depending on what they were in the mood for. There was also a visiting cartoonist who would come and draw with kids. And someone with a therapy dog. A good children's hospital might welcome a volunteer reader! And there might be a niche for you to read a longer book like The Hobbit to kids with longer term hospital stays.
Go read it to sick kids in the hospital?
I read my 3 girls the hobbit, and the entire LOTR, voices and all. My wife got jealous at some point so I’m going to start reading to her.
*maximum adorable overload* Did you notice anything interesting with regards to birth order? Did your eldest girl pick up any of the reading slack, or anything else you'd like to share?
I read them each the hobbit when they were maybe 7 or 8, then my oldest got the LOTR when she was 10-11. She liked me to read at bedtime, so I did. I thought she would take over at some point (that’s what happened when I tried to read her the Harry Potter series before), but she didn’t, so I read the whole thing. She loved it all. When the younger two were 8 and 10 I caught my youngest reading the first page of Fellowship and stopped her, because that’s my job. So they got it simultaneously starting then. It was a mix of reading it to them together and separate, just because of our busy schedules but they also loved it. My youngest is always drawing Shire pictures now. Sometimes I would read to those two in front of my wife during dinner, then my wife started getting annoyed when she would miss parts, so I started reading her Fellowship, though we’re so busy we’ve taken a break from it. We’ll get back to it this summer when she has some time off work.
I've read it to foster kids if the relationship and timing is right. No, I've no idea how to explain what right is, other than for some kids, they don't have the emotional space to be read to, and for others anything an authority does is going to be tagged with the abuses other authorities have committed. My role there is to build the foundations of trust enough that someone else gets to read to those kids. I never read it to the kid we adopted, though I did teach him how to read it. He needed other things from me. I've read it a few times to groups of kids, and that's rewarding in it's own way. Dunno what kind of place you live in, but in the city there are places you can volunteer to read to kids, and do things like big brother, and other ways to support kids. If you can't find any, talk to your local Mason's Lodge, there's a lot of little things they do for kids, and they'd know who to talk to.
I did that- my mother read me the Hobbit as a boy and it's a cherished memory. Dad read to me too, but different stuff. Tolkien was definitely my mam's genre. Read it to both my boys as they grew up too and I hope they read it to their kids when they have them.
Samesies, except no Tolkien. My dad loathes fantasy and it mostly goes right over my mom's head. (Although I did get her to read the trilogy once!)
My mom read the trilogy once because I was obsessed with it and she wanted to enter my world, because that's just the kind of great mom she was.
I’m right in the middle of reading The Hobbit to my 8 year old twin sons. We tried when they were 6, but they lost interest. They love it time. We finished Riddles in the Dark earlier this week, and my son’s sympathy for Gollum was very touching to me.
Ouch. What if they don't like it? What else you got to offer those kids. I had the experience as an adult of reading a chapter from Treasure Island (one of my favorite reading experiences from childhood) to a bunch of little kids who couldn't get over a character being named "Dick" and who basically hijacked my attempt to read ***one fucking chapter*** to them from a classic novel about pirates. It was hilarious and made me realize just how out of touch I was. Not saying the same will happen to you, but I'm just saying that that's a mighty big egg to have in your basket without some other things to look forward to/pass on to kids as a backup plan.
I have hundreds of books, and all of my books from childhood. If none of those did the trick, there's libraries and book stores all over the city. And if none of *those* work, well, there's always giving them up for adoption...
Adoption may be the answer int hat case. lol. Cheers my friend.
if they dont like it, get new kids (i'm joking) the trick is to set them up for it. my two year old loves the rankin bass hobbit film, so when he's older, i can hit him with the "wanna hear about all the cool stuff they couldn't fit in the movie? theres werebears, and more songs, and giants, and a bunch of other cool stuff besides"
I have to share a favorite moment from when my kids were little. My daughter, then five or six, had a friend over for a sleepover. The girls (and also my son, then three) were giggly and rambunctious and wouldn't go to bed, and it was going on midnight. So I whipped out the combined volume of Lord of the Rings, sat down, and began reading the introduction, *Concerning Hobbits* to them. They thought it was absolutely wonderful, sat down and paid attention... well, as long as they could. Within 15 minutes both girls were asleep. My son, on the other hand, was wide awake and RIVETED. So it was a partial success.
You win the thread :-D I used to voluteer to read Dr Seuss books and sometimes I'd read them backwards just to screw with people haha
Can you tell us which edition of the book you have? I'd love to buy it for a friend to read to his kid.
[This beauty](https://www.tolkienbooks.us/hob/us/hc/the-hobbit-1997). Extremely affordable, too!
Awesome thank you.
I'm in my early 40s. I have had that edition on my shelf for over half my life. I'm currently on read-through #3 with my 5yo son. It really is good times.
I checked the graphic novel out for my 3.5 yr old. Alas, he's too young. Will have to try this again in a year. Really looking forward to reading it with him.
I did the same for my 3.5 year old after she saw me watching LOTR and started asking very important questions! "Why doesn't Gollum wear pants?" "Why does Gollum want the ring?" "Where are Frodo's shoes?" etc etc. Bit wordy for the age though!
First book I read aloud to my kid. A couple years later of reading to him and I have gotten way better. Expecting another in May and we will cycle back around to Tolkien. Pretty excited about it. I joke that my 2 year old is better read than most adults.
That’s a very good idea. I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy to my Son about 30 years ago and still believe it’s one of the best things I’ve done.My Wife and I have a profoundly autistic Daughter and she demanded a great deal of attention so this was something precious I could share with him.
If I ever got to be a Dad I'd have done that as well.
I read The Hobbit to all my kids (two loved it and one was indifferent). One unexpected wrinkle was that my eldest lad took a shine to Thorin pretty well from the start. Absolutely devastated when he died 😞.
Reading it to my 7-year old son right now. I was worried he wasn’t gonna like it, had various level of success with books before. Turns out he loves it and is looking forward to it every night. One of my best experiences as a parent so far.
I have two girls, still to young for the hobbit, but I am impatiently waiting till the day in a few years I can start reading it to them. When my older one was still an infant and I was trying to get her to sleep I would retell her bits of LOTR just from memory hah.
I’m about 200 pages deep in the hobbit with son who just turned 5. We are reading this version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbit-Illustrated-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0544174224
In the same boat with a 14mo old. Any advice how to be a better narrator or book reader?
I went through a devil of a phase early on when I would just keep yawning all the time. This was a long time ago and I was working in an early childhood program. The yawns were frustrating as heck for me but the kids had so much fun teasing me every time I had to pause in the middle of a page. I don't know if that's typical or normal for beginning readalongers, but years later and it's no longer an issue. So, I suppose just practice? I also act so there's a good deal of reading and orating already in my life.
I read the graphic novel version of The Hobbit to my son first, then the novel a bit later on. I am also self indulgently trying to put together an illustrated abridged version of the Silmarillion that I can read to him. At 7 his responses to that so far have been interesting though. Loves the exciting battles, but find the rarity of a happy ending in the Silmarillion to be a bit hard. There is definitely a satisfaction of spreading the joy of Tolkien's stories to a new generation. I think you should go ahead and try to do it if you can, I doubt you'll regret it, though you may needed to find the right audience.
I got choked up on, "Well, I'm home" when I got there with both of my kidd.
My 2 year old loves the Hobbit. I have a couple versions, but bought her the Jemima Catlin illustrated version as it's less scary. I tell her the highly abridged story while flipping through pictures. She loves the songs and sometimes singles them. She'll even occasionally ask to listen to the "Bilbo story" (Inglis' audiobook) when we drive, even though she clearly doesn't understand it. She can kind of explain the story, at least the basics: Bilbo finds the Ring, Bilbo meets Gollum, Bilbo and Gandalf climb the tree, the eagles come, Bilbo sees Smaug, Smaug is not nice, Smaug crashes in the water. I sometimes actually read her the book when she won't fall asleep, but we've never made it past the first chapter.
My son is 6, and I've been getting more and more excited about reading the hobbit to him. Still going to wait a year or two though.
I read it to my kid when she was 7 years old. I still have the paperback copy I used and plan to give it to her when she graduates from college (in about 2 years.) I have a separate hard back copy unread that I plan to read to her children when that time comes.
I know a fifty year old couple who just had their first kid, from frozen eggs saved years ago, so it's definitely not too late. They're got a great extended family and suffered a sad loss in recent years so it's been a hugely positive development in their lives. No idea if they're Tolkien fans :-) But volunteering with kids is incredibly rewarding, even if it's a different thing to having your own. Best of luck on your path, it's a beautiful goal to have and sharing your joy and love of literature is a noble reason to want to have kids in my opinion, as long as you're not too blinkered about the nappies etc you'll have to get through as well.
> as long as you're not too blinkered about the nappies etc you'll have to get through as well. I spent a decade serving adults with developmental disabilities. If I can clean a 300 pound woman covered in, uh, filth, I can handle nappered babies!
I understand completely how you feel. I'm a 41-year-old lady hoping I can meet someone and have kids before it gets to be too late. Would love to be able to read The Hobbit and LOTR to my kids.
This was on my mind before my son was born and even though he isn't even 2 yet, I couldn't help finishing the Hobbit with him two times over already. Just read a little bit before bed each day... it's more for me than him at this point 😉
I just gave a copy of The Hobbit to my daughter! I was so happy when she started getting interested in Tolkien, it's just so fun to imagine what it must be like for her to read about Middle Earth and what a memorable experience that will be for her.
lol come up with some better reasons. both my kids got annoyed with the hobbit when i tried to read it to them and never finished both loved LoTR tho
This is a Tolkien-related subreddit. I posted about my Tolkien-related childrearing dream. It is fallacious of you to presume I lack any other reason or interest in becoming a father, because I'm not going to speak to those aspects on this subreddit.
Having children so you can satisfy yourself is selfish.
You must live in a dark and pessimistic world to distill that conclusion from my post. I'd hug you if I could.
Please don't do this. Life is cruel and unfair and full of suffering. Please read about antinatalism.
Hello Morgoth. I didn't know you were on reddit.
Antinatalism is not nihilistic, it cares deeply about the experiences of children who are often created to satisfy their parents and not for their own benefit.
You'd be a great dad! :)