The Hobbit

“The Hobbit introduces the creature known as a hobbit, about half the height of a human, beardless, and with hairy feet. In particular, the book introduces the figure of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit in his 50s who enjoys eating, smoking his pipe and taking it easy, and who is very emphatically NOT in search of an adventure…The Hobbit is fun and light-hearted but has a slightly two-dimensional feel—featuring elves, goblins and dragons: creatures you might expect in a magical story for kids. It does not yet have the epic and ‘real’ feel of The Lord of the Rings. However, it’s in The Hobbit that a magical ring first makes its appearance, as does the creature who is obsessed with it—called Gollum because of the strange noise he makes in his throat when he talks.” Read more...

Lord of the Rings Books in Order

Sophie Roell, Journalist

“This one book, which was published in 1937, defined so many variables for the fantasy tradition that are still in place today. Tolkien’s extraordinary achievement was to recover the epic landscapes of Anglo-Saxon myth, bring them back to life, and then to take us through them on foot, so we could see the details up close, at human scale. The Hobbit is both mythic and relatable at the same time – The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik called it ‘an arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and The Wind in the Willows’, and I think that’s entirely fair. Though I would give more credit to the bass register of Tolkien’s imagination, its abyssal depths. Mole never delved as deep as the Mines of Moria.” Read more...

The best books on Fantasy

Lev Grossman, Novelist

“I have always thought that The Hobbit was a better book than Lord of the Rings. It was tighter and better. I remember discovering it and it launched me off on a big fantasy thing…Bilbo Baggins is the cosiest hero you could possibly imagine.” Read more...

Children’s and Young Adult Fiction

Melvin Burgess, Children's Author

“I chose The Hobbit over The Lord of the Rings because, as much as I adored The Lord of the Rings, I have a particular fondness for The Hobbit. It’s such a richly imagined world, the detail and the language. This very much influenced my Dragonese and the lost words in Wizards of Once. The Hobbit is such a richly imagined fantasy that, especially as a child, you can live in it. It is so completely immersive. The Hobbit also contains one of my favourite scenes in children’s literature – the riddling match with Gollum.” Read more...

Magical Stories for Kids

Cressida Cowell, Children's Author

BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author Andy Serkis expertly narrates JRR Tolkien‘s prelude to the Lord of the Rings epic. Andy Serkis is the narrator on all the original LOTR books (in the UK and US).  For listeners who have already seen the films, Andy uses the same characterful, evocative voice for Gollum in the audiobooks.

Narrator: Andy Serkis

Listening time: 10 hours and 24 minutes

Best Audiobooks for Kids