The Hobbit

by J. R. R. Tolkien
Houghton Mifflin, 2001, 328 pages

Tolkien’s work is the best old-fashioned fairy tale ever written - one I enjoyed both listening to and reading aloud to my own sons. The main character, Bilbo Baggins, is just the kind of hero that children love: a small person (much like themselves) who gets into adventures - facing trolls, goblins, spiders, hostile elves, and a talking dragon - without meaning to, and manages to get through with a little cleverness and a good measure of desperate hope (just like the first time a child loses his parents in the mall).

The ending battle is a little grim, just like a good fairy tale should be, as it shows just how deadly both vanity and greed are, even for the “good guys,” but the central character makes it through.

Related reviews

The film trilogy of The Hobbit
The animated film "trilogy" of The Lord of the Rings
The book The Lord of the Rings

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