Tolkien recommendations

[VAmom]

We just finished reading Farmer Giles of Ham, which my 7 and 9 year old loved. Forgive my ignorance but are there other age appropriate Tolkien books?

How old were your children when you first read aloud The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe?

P.S. Read alouds might be our favorite MP thing.

[Melisa Burke]

Heidi,

My children are now 13 and 15 and read alouds are still our favorite thing! I would definitely recommend beginning Narnia with your children. Tolkien has other short stories: Leaf by Niggle, Roverandom and The Smith of Wooten Major. Also, I can’t recommend enough Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas. The Audible version is a true delight.

Melisa

[carriede]

I read The Hobbit to my kids last year, so they were 9, 7, and 4/5 (and 2/3). The three older kids LOVED it, and I was surprised how much my 4/5 year old remembered (that might just be him though). My older ones wrote out two of the longer poems out of the book and would make parades to honor The King Beneath the Mountain. They had never before nor since done anything like that with a book.

(If you've only seen The Hobbit movie and not read the book, know that the book is a Children's story and all the dark wizardry and those black figures in the movie are not in the book.)

So yeah, I think you could read The Hobbit and also The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. They'll be more likely to pick them up to read on their own later (or read ahead like my oldest did for both books at 9 and 8 respectively ).

[KF2000]

Agreeing with what has been said! Start now, and repeat often. Love Tolkien! (And Lewis, but Tolkien wins in our house).

And check out their comrades - Macdonald has great stories, Sayers, and others. (I can’t think of all their names right now...will edit again when we get back from Mass).

AMDG,
Sarah

[jen1134]

Hi Heidi!!

J read the entire Narnia series to the younger kids last year, as well as the Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring (they still have to finish that last one). They LOVED it!

[VAmom]

Thank you ladies! As it turns out, we had a snow day today so I started the Hobbit after lunch. I’m excited to have more books, as if I needed more, to read with the kids.
Melisa Burke I haven’t read the other short stories. I’ll see if our library has them.

[DiannaKennedy]

My current 7 and 5 year old have listened to parts of LWW, and from time to time, they listen to parts of The Hobbit.

We listen to audiobooks every night before bed, and there's only so much Ramona Quimby I can tolerate. I may have memorized the entire series.

Another author my older children enjoyed when they were younger was Elizabeth Nesbitt (The Five Children and It), and a book called Half Magic (Eager).
Other favorites --- The Indian in the Cupboard (but check the forum or pre-listen, as it's hotly contested here), and My Father's Dragon.

[Beorn]

Forgive my ignorance but are there other age appropriate Tolkien books?

Talk about a wheelhouse question. Answer: Any and all. Just kidding. I would say The Hobbit would be age appropriate for you and I am glad to hear that you have started it already. You have gotten a lot of great recommendations already. I will only add, there is an abridged four CD audiobook version that is great for younger ones, if desired. I do not usually like abridgements but this one is very good.

How old were your children when you first read aloud The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe?

Five years old for us. We started with the excellent audiobook version then moved on to reading it chapter by chapter. Tolkien and Lewis are my two favorite fiction authors so I gladly admit I am biased.

[VAmom]

My current 7 and 5 year old have listened to parts of LWW, and from time to time, they listen to parts of The Hobbit.

We listen to audiobooks every night before bed, and there's only so much Ramona Quimby I can tolerate. I may have memorized the entire series.

Another author my older children enjoyed when they were younger was Elizabeth Nesbitt (The Five Children and It), and a book called Half Magic (Eager).
Other favorites --- The Indian in the Cupboard (but check the forum or pre-listen, as it's hotly contested here), and My Father's Dragon.

For our household, it’s Boxcar Children and a fairy tales audiobook. Fortunately they listen to it during quiet time so I don’t have to listen quite as much.

I’ll have to reread The Indian in the Cupboard. I read the series as a kid but that was a few years ago.

It is so nice to be able to have trustworthy recommendations where people don’t look at you sideways for not watching movies (or TV) or reading Tolkien at early ages. My kids were cracking up over the dwarves song about cleaning up and thought it would be awesome to replace “Bilbo Baggins” with my name. Thank you!