The Fellowship of the Ring....for a 6 yr old????

[guest^]

I need some wise mama input here.... dh just got done a while ago reading The Hobbit to dd....she is now begging for The Fellowship of the Rings. I have read The Hobbit, but haven't read anything else by J.R.R. Tolkien. My dh is a huge fan, and while he hasn't pushed dd in this direction, he is thrilled-mostly because it gives him the excuse to reread some of his favorite books! I guess I hesitate,'cuz I am a pretty sheltering mama....since she started losing teeth, I've lightened up a bit, but overall, am very protective of her early youth. She isn't allowed to watch pg rated movies w/o me widely screening them. She isn't allowed to watch commercials on Nickelodeon in the afternoon.Actually I am extrememly anti-commercialism-so she doesn't see much. While dh may be more relaxed about exposing her to things, he does think good-quality literature is the best medium to exp[ose her to a more complicated way of life. He feels like if she is asking, we should accomodate. They actually started reading it tonight....and this is an area where dh feels he knows best....and since he was hesitant to HS in the first place, I am feeling like I need to let him guide her inthis area.

Just curious...what do you think of this? Be kind, as I STILL have PMS.:

mamapoppins

[Arduinna]

Since he is reading it to her he can skip over any parts he feels are inappropriate for her. So I wouldn't worry much. The movie is definately too intense though.

[mom at home]

I thought you meant the movie
I would say that if your dd wants to read it, then let her try it. I think she'll let you know if it's too intense. I worry a little about what my dd (7) reads sometimes. She's read all the Harry Potter books (and slept in our room for about a month). Now she's reading the Anne of Green Gable series, of which the first one is okay, but the subsequent ones seem way too old for her. But what can I do, she can read them herself and I don't want to go censoring her reading choices.

I definitely understand the difficulties of letting go.

[khrisday]

Yeah, I think reading the book along with an adult is ok, but not the film.

[rebx]

I have great memories of my dad reading The Hobbit and then The Fellowship of the Ring trilogy to me, starting when I was around 6. I read some on my own, and then he'd read to me each night from the book I was working on. I'll have to ask him if he did any quick editing as he read, but I doubt it. There are battles in the books, but Tolkien's words are so much less graphic than the movies! On the plus side, these books are great for reading out loud - lots of poems, songs, great rhythmic language...I vote yes!

[mirlee]

Some of Dh's earliest memories are of Tolkien's works. I see no problem with reading them together.

[guest^]

I was talking about the book!!LOl! Even dh was scared while watching the movie!!! I like the idea of him censoring as he reads(gosh, I do that while reading Marc Browns Arthur books..yk...dumb,idiot,etc) he has probably already been doing that and we just haven't talked about it!

I feel much better from all of your responses!

mamapoppins

[Astrid]

I have read them to my 4 year old but I did some creative editing He loved the stories and knows more about the story and characters then dh. I agree that Tolkien's words are less graphic then the movie.

[hydrangea]

My dh and I read it to each other. Sometimes our girls were in the room playing, and sometimes they weren't. But they loved, loved, loved what they heard and now make up all sorts of Lord of the Rings games together.

It is beautiful, classic, literature about good conquering over evil.

There are battle scenes, but I believe battle scenes in such a context can only teach children the gravity of war.

[kel]

My 7 yr. old read the Hobbit at around 5 yrs. old when he first learned to read, and has read The Lord of the Rings multiple times since then - starting at around 6 yrs. He loved/loves it. I sort of figured that he would understand what he was ready to understand, that some of it would go over his head, and that the way the bad guys (ring wraiths, etc.) are described - that he would imagine it scarey, but only so far as his own kind of innocent imagination goes... you know? Not like Freddy Kreugger scarey or anything! He also has *not* seen any of the movies.

xo - Kelly

[lilyka]

I agree. Read the books. Dh can always edit but uinless the description are gruesom then she probably won't imagine anything too scary. just watch her while he is reading and see if she is handeling it. Also let her know that she can tell you if you need to tone it down because hs is having bad dreams.

[momsgotmilk4two]

I agree with what most of the others are saying. Reading the books with your dh sounds fine, but I would definatly nix the movie if she wants to see it. It was even scary for me

It's weird- I'm very comfortable censoring what my children watch on tv or in the movies, but once they can read, I think I'd feel really uncomfortable with the idea of censoring books (or at least classic books that I think have literary value). I wouldn't be too crazy about my boys reading some of those lame series books, but I did that when I was a kid and I think I turned out okay:

[hslingmomof4]

Dh and I are big JRR Tolkien fans. We took our kids *(see ages below) to see the movies (both). I didnt see anything wrong with the movie. It wasn't scary at all. The two youngest were so fascinated by the movie. What an imagination! They wanted to be Frodo for Halloween last year, and couldn't find a nice Frodo suit. Now, we have a friend making a cloak just for them. We are really open with imagination.