I really enjoyed The Hobbit. The writing style is quite different from Lord of the Rings (and quite frankly I preferred the style of The Hobbit), but Tolkien still maintains that richness of style in both. It's also a good foundation for reading LotR; its events are explained briefly, and gives enough of Bilbo's story to understand Frodo's, but it's just not the same.
(plus while I was reading it, whenever I mentioned the title more often than not it sounded like I was talking about an actual hobbit... "The hobbit's quite excellent", "Where's the hobbit?", "Man, I should've brought the hobbit...")

The Hobbit, is definately written in a style for a 'younger' audience. It's so blatantly obvious when you read it in conjunction with The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Anyway. It's still an engaging tale. I didn't mind when I read it again durring college. I'm still waiting for the day when my mom decides to let me have the nice hard cover copy, with fold out map, that she has. I don't want to own the book in anyother form! *grin*

Actually, I'm waiting for the day my daughter is ready for stories like that... So many wonderful memories of reading in the evening before bedtime.

:} Elorithryn

@Elorithryn I actually read it for the first time at the end of last year as my reward for getting through my first year of college. X)

I read The Hobbit for the first time when I was seven! Ha, we had these 'reading records' at school and there were all these comments about how I'd finished the books before we got out of the playground, whatever, and then there was one week where it just says, "Miriam didn't read her book this week, because she was too busy reading The Hobbit."

Bite me, year three teacher.

Anyhoo. I love the Hobbit, but never had a copy of my own. Then this year I bought one! It's a nice edition too with all the pictures in green and blue on it, if you guys know what I mean? But still the black-and-red-hardback large-print edition that I read from the library when I was a kid is the one that stays with me.

@Del I do believe that the version you had in school may be the one my mom has... Or is it Lord of the Ring that's in Red and the Hobbit that's bound in green?

Bah I can't remember.

My daughter's is just over a year away form being 7, but she's not all that enthused about being able to read herself... stuborn child. She'd rather memorize things *sigh*

:} Elorithryn

Just remember that The Hobbit was writien for a lowe age group than the Lord of the Rings, so you'll wnat to give yourself more time to read it, and not just because it's three book in one. :}

But it's good stuff, especially if you liek fantasy, because they all say Tolkien was the father of the epic Fantasy. :}