The Tolkien Coming of Age Club - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Alphaelin · 12-24-2002, 02:30 AM

Estelyn, thank you so much for inviting me to this thread. I am pleased that so many young people are reading the books, for whatever reason, but it is nice to know there are also people my own age on the site.

I was introduced to JRRT over 30 years ago by a crusty 6th grade teacher who read The Hobbit aloud to us over a period of about 6 weeks or so. I was hooked. I read my dad's copy of LOTR the next year and I used my first baby-sitting earnings to buy my own PB set (in a shiny gold box with Feanorian tiles). I still have all four volumes, yellowed, ratty and dog-eared. I don't want to get rid of them because of Tolkien's watercolors on the covers...

In HS, I was introduced to Tolkien's essay on Faerie by a Creative Writing teacher, and found The Tolkien Reader, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and when it was published The Silmarillion.

Responding to another question in this thread: Yes, yes, yes, read Tolkien to children! The Hobbit is an excellent intro for kids to ME. (Just be sure to use funny voices when appropriate.) It won't guarantee interest - my older one wasn't interested in LOTR till she saw Orlando Bloom in FOTR [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] - but it will give them a taste of Tolkien.

Happily, my younger one is enjoying TH for the first time - we just got to Laketown last night!

12-24-2002, 02:30 AM	#11
Alphaelin Wight Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Tottering about in the Wild Posts: 130	Estelyn, thank you so much for inviting me to this thread. I am pleased that so many young people are reading the books, for whatever reason, but it is nice to know there are also people my own age on the site. I was introduced to JRRT over 30 years ago by a crusty 6th grade teacher who read The Hobbit aloud to us over a period of about 6 weeks or so. I was hooked. I read my dad's copy of LOTR the next year and I used my first baby-sitting earnings to buy my own PB set (in a shiny gold box with Feanorian tiles). I still have all four volumes, yellowed, ratty and dog-eared. I don't want to get rid of them because of Tolkien's watercolors on the covers... In HS, I was introduced to Tolkien's essay on Faerie by a Creative Writing teacher, and found The Tolkien Reader, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and when it was published The Silmarillion. Responding to another question in this thread: Yes, yes, yes, read Tolkien to children! The Hobbit is an excellent intro for kids to ME. (Just be sure to use funny voices when appropriate.) It won't guarantee interest - my older one wasn't interested in LOTR till she saw Orlando Bloom in FOTR [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] - but it will give them a taste of Tolkien. Happily, my younger one is enjoying TH for the first time - we just got to Laketown last night! __________________ Not all those who wander are lost . . . because some of us know how to read a map.