Inching closer to The Hobbit film

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

I have never thought of the book as something for a five year old as you indicate in your post but more along the lines of THE WIZARD OF OZ. A tale for older kids to read and has enough interesting material in it to appeal to older readers also.

Just a question here: how old were Tolkien's boys when he recited The Hobbit to them as a bedtime--rather, evening tea time--story? In Carpenter I can find this:

Originally Posted by Enter Mr. Baggins

In 1937, shortly after the book was published, Christopher Tolkien recorded (in his letter to Father Christmas) this account of the book's origin: 'Daddy wrote it ages ago, and read it to John, Michael and me in our Winter "Reads" after tea in the evening; but the ending chapters were rather roughly done, and not typed out at all; he finished it about a year ago.' And writing to his publishers during the same year, Tolkien declared: 'My eldest boy was thirteen when he heard the serial. It did not appeal to the younger ones who had to grow up to it successively.'

Of course, children in those days were so much more innocent--naive?--than they are today.