Irish Marine | 26 Oct 2013 10:42 a.m. PST |
I would really like to read the Hobbit to my little girl but I'm not sure if four years old is old enough part of me says no, any thoughts? |
dilettante | 26 Oct 2013 10:54 a.m. PST |
Reading the Hobbit should be ok. Just keep an eye on her to judge whether you need to gloss over or skip a bit. Now I would say that the movie is right out (not a good idea) until she's a good bit older. |
Warmaster Horus | 26 Oct 2013 10:55 a.m. PST |
Bro, Nick was bored and turned off by the dwarves singing
.and he'll watch sharknado for gods sake! But then, he's been watching Dawn of the Dead and Batman since he was four lol |
LordNth | 26 Oct 2013 10:58 a.m. PST |
I recall watching the cartoon when I was very young. 3rd grade is when I started reading the Hobbit. |
dam0409 | 26 Oct 2013 11:25 a.m. PST |
Hi Mike, It kind of depends on the child and wether or not they are skittish about bad guys, scary spiders and dragons. I believe that It was written for grand children. I think dilettante gives great advise. |
Parzival | 26 Oct 2013 11:30 a.m. PST |
I'd say too young, in part because it introduces a lot of themes and allusions he probably won't know or understand yet. It's also long for that age. Give him a couple of years. |
Warmaster Horus | 26 Oct 2013 12:09 p.m. PST |
Damn Mike, I missed the "read" not watch lol. Nick's aversion to the movie caused me to go right to thinking movie bro |
79thPA | 26 Oct 2013 12:21 p.m. PST |
I know my four year old wouldn't have a clue what I was reading. |
MacSparty | 26 Oct 2013 12:53 p.m. PST |
I have twin 4 year old girls. I'm sure as soon as we started talking about elves, they would wonder where Santa is. |
darthfozzywig | 26 Oct 2013 12:58 p.m. PST |
Also, be mindful of *how* you read it. My children (7 and 5) are really sensitive to tone, so a "scary and ominous" voice is going to make things more intense than if I use a light voice. |
SonofThor | 26 Oct 2013 1:42 p.m. PST |
The book, no. The movie, yes. |
kreoseus2 | 26 Oct 2013 2:15 p.m. PST |
I would wait a few years, my eldest son is 6 & I am waiting a year or two before I read it for him. It depends on the child of course, levels of development and attention span etc but I would wait a while. Phil |
War Panda | 26 Oct 2013 11:12 p.m. PST |
I started reading it for my then 4 year old daughter and she just found it way too drawn out and was bored
she's now six and while I haven't tried it since I do believe she would enjoy it now. The reason I deleted earlier is I thought you were asking about the movie which my 6 year old has watched and abosutely loved. I was a little worried because of some of its dark and frightening scenes but she had no problems. |
religon | 27 Oct 2013 8:43 a.m. PST |
I asked my 9-yr old this morning. I began reading it to her aloud at age 5. After a few chapters, she wanted read it herself. She says she understood it, but it was too dull and failed to finish. I suspect reading it to 6-year old children with good attention spans would be the norm. My other child with a poorer attention span would likely just now (age 7) enjoy sitting through the story. |
Lucius | 28 Oct 2013 4:41 a.m. PST |
5 or 6 is better, just due to the length. My daughters did enjoy Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham, and Roverandom at age 4. Better pacing, shorter stories, and fewer characters for that age group. |
billthecat | 28 Oct 2013 10:59 a.m. PST |
Wut iz reeding, and dus it hav exploshuns? |
Andy Skinner | 29 Oct 2013 5:55 a.m. PST |
If your child is used to reading longer books a bit at a time, I'd say it is fine. I read The Hobbit to my son when he was young, and he got it. (Two of my favorite reading moments were when my son got excited about Bilbo being the hero with the spiders, and when he teared up as the ruffian called Frodo "little cock-a-whoop". The latter especially showed he "got it".) andy |