The Hobbit :: Read-Aloud Thursday

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday hosted by Amy at Hope is the Word. (I'm posting today as per my M/W/F posting schedule, but will link to RAT tomorrow.)

Yes, folks! We did it! We read The Hobbit! And before any amount of time passes, I wish to document our adventures with Mr. Bilbo Baggins.

For starters, if you are somehow unaware of what The Hobbit is about, here is the author's personal description:

"If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did) -- if you do not already know all about these things -- much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period. For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now (it is said) becoming rather rare. They do not like noise."

Now, I should tell you two things about our reading experience:

1. It came about as the result of the arrival of certain Lord of the Rings Legos which arrived *ahem* on our doorstep. Before the Lego Maniac is allowed to open up those sets, he must read the books. And we must start at the beginning - which is, of course, with The Hobbit. (It will obviously be a little while before we open those Lego boxes, but that's ok. I think we should age a bit before we move in with the trilogy.)

2. Bookworm1 is five years old and while some might think The Hobbit to be a bit above him, I thought it would be good for him to rise to the challenge. And it was! (Challenges are always good for us. We just frequently don't like to admit it!)

I think children can comprehend a lot more than we give them credit for and while they certainly have limitations, we place more on them than is really necessary. When it comes to literature, I would rather stretch them and grow their horizons early on. Coupled with the fact that I'm the mother to two boys, I want to read books to them that encourage them to want to live an honorable and adventurous life. For us, The Hobbit fit the bill for this moment in time. (Also, Mommy wanted to re-read this work before the movie is released this coming December! 'Twas a nice excuse!)

Although Tolkien was a bit wordy (there are some rather long descriptions of the land the hobbit and dwarves traversed) we ploughed through and read every word aloud. Certainly there were times when he was distracted or lost with the descriptions, but he did fully comprehend the story. Before we'd begin a new chapter we'd talk through what had happened in the last one (to refresh both of our memories!) and to make sure the story was sinking in. I'm not so naive to think that he won't need to re-read this one in the future, but at least I know the story will be familiar to him and I imagine that it will be just as exciting then.

Not every chapter was exciting to him, but most were. At various points of time (mostly when goblins were present) he was sitting rigid next to me, holding his breath, waiting to find out what happened. (His ears were even turning red.) And the character of Gollum was certainly interesting as well. All scenes which included Smaug the Dragon were well-received and the Skin Changer was a great curiosity. Bilbo brought a few laughs and the hamster we added to our family during the reading of this book bears his name.

Meet Mr. Baggins:



Personally, I loved reading this book with my oldest (with my second born in close proximity)! It was a challenging read, but worth every effort as it's a rather incredible story. And now Mommy and Daddy are eagerly looking forward to a date night on December 14th. Because I'm happy going there and back again a few times more!