Is Lord of the Rings ok for an 8 year old?

I read it at that age and loved it. There were a few bits that I didn't 'get' until I reread as an adult.

I agree with the person who recommended Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series.

I loved it as a child - and still do!

I first read LOTR aged 10 . I still have the copy I was given on my 10th birthday aeons ago , now very battered ( me as well ). Read it countless times, loved it then and still love it now, though I can see the flaws. I’m a fan of letting children pretty much read what they like. Let her try and if she struggles tell to try again in a couple of years. Loads of good alternatives on this thread.

OMG the elvish singing. I can't put up with that kind of nonsense. I have a younger sibling who would insist that we not skip any elvish singing, or dwarf songs in the Hobbit and it was excruciating. My view was: if you can read well enough to notice me skipping it, you can sodding well read it yourself.

Anyway, I still think it's fine for 8 year olds to read pretty much anything they feel motivated to, because most of the unsuitable stuff goes over their heads, and if they get bored, they stop.

I read the lord of the rings first when I was in my late teens. Absolutely loved it, but it is so dense It took me about 9 months to read it. I cried when I finished.

I then went on to read the Hobbit and it was so basic in comparison. I rushed through it and was just really disappointed in how different it was in style and story telling. .

I think it would be too much for an 8yo personally

There's nothing "unsuitable" but the LotR has a much higher "reading age" because of the denseness of the prose and deliberately rich linguistic style. The Hobbit was specifically written for children with more accessible language but tLotR was written very much as an adult thing partly as an academic exercise to envision what might become like the Holy Scriptures for that civilisation. At times it is like reading the OT book of Deuteronomy or Leviticus and deliberately so. Tolkein was a Professor of English Language and one of his works is a translation of Beowulf from Old English into Modern English, and there's passages in LotR where he is clearly trying to mimic the style of Beowulf - I would say if she can tackle Beowulf (in an Adult-audience edition, not abridged and adapted for a child) then she might be ready for LotR but most 8 year olds would not be ready.

The films are good but only cover a fraction of the story - each film is only 3 hours long but each unabridged book takes at least 11 hours if you listen to the audiobook

Yep!

Small children, OTOH, presumably depend on care from their parents, their librarians, etc. Tiffany Aching, anyone?

I loved the Hobbit as a child but didn’t read LOTR until I was early teens, or maybe 12.
DS is a very able reader in year 9 and he loves fantasy but has just finished FOTR recently. It was just too heavy going before, even though I told him to skip Tom Bombadil 🤣

I just didn’t and it passed over their heads😀

To read!? Ha! No! I was an excellent and prolific reader as a child and I still couldn’t successfully make it through the Lotr until u was an adult, it is an incredibly complex story with multiple story lines, many different characters and some quite arcane language and culture.
There are about a million books more appropriate for a child his age.

@C8H10N4O2 Bit tricky trying to explain Mrs Palm's House of Negotiable Affection and the Ankh-Morpork Seamstresses' Guild to an eight year old 😂

Totally agree with this, don’t worry about the writing order or the published reading orders - pick the book which will appeal to that particular reader as the gateway drug and they will go back and work through the rest 😀

I read LoTR at this sort of age, following on from the Hobbit. I would warn her its much denser and with a lot more deviations from the main plot and that if she finds it tough going then put it down and come back a year or so later. That is what I did when mine were ploughing through my shelves.

Standard recommendations are for Narnia (although a bit dated) for this age but I was this age or younger when I read the Earthsea trilogy and adored it. I would second Diana Wynne Jones and add in Diane Duane’s “So you want to be a Wizard” series which my DC loved. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper is a fantasy classic which works for this age. More modern writers such as Eoin Colfer were popular with my DC.

The Pratchetts are all readable by children but some are written intentionally for children/young adults. (Bromeliad, Johnny and the Bomb trilogy and the subseries within Discworld labelled the Tiffany Aching adventures). I wouldn’t say the DW series is unsuitable for children but many of the jokes and references will mean more when they are a bit older (although they loved the puns at this age).

I second the suggestion for Howl’s Moving Castle, that’s one of my all-time favourites from around that age. I was a precocious reader and enjoyed Northern Lights when I was nine, though I think it took me a couple of years to make it through the second and third books of His Dark Materials.

Yeah!

Absolutely. Terry Pratchet is a genius and all you need to do is pick the entry-level/gateway drug for any particular person.

I suggested an ex-journo friend should try reading The Truth. The next thing I knew, she'd read every single bloody book in the Discworld series.

I would try Alan Garner's "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen " - I think it's first of a trilogy, or at least the "The Moon of Gomrath" was published shortly afterwards and has the same characters. . I loved The Hobbit and I loved those.
Also "The Dark is Rising" Susan Cooper.

Personally I would let her try LOTR but also let her put it back on the shelf for later if it becomes heavy weather. I read it at 9 but I did skip over a lot of the Elvish singing etc. TBH I am in my 60s now and I would still skip over all those bits.

Dragons reminded me of the book series Dragonriders of ROAR which have also been very popular here.

Everyone with any sense loves Pratchett 😍 I really should suggest DD1 gives him a go. DD2 loves the Carpet People, she'll be old enough for Discworld soon enough.

DD1 is 11 and very much enjoys the Hunger Games books too. More dystopia than fantasy, but they're an easy and engaging read, and DD1 enjoys that they don't have formulaic nearly wrapped-up happy endings.

And also there’s Pratchett’s ‘bromeliad trilogy’, Truckers, Diggers and Wings (I’ve dusted off an old user name ).

For others for kids who love fantasy - My kids both loved Terry Pratchett wee free men. My son is obsessed with the Skandar series and any books about dragons - reading Dragon Force right now.

On other books...

Joan Aiken is incredible for this age and up, and much more accessible. Tons of books.

For something newer, the Nowhere Emporium series.

Audiobooks my 8 year old likes a Secret Garden, Peter Pan, Little House on the Prarie series, Howls Moving Castle and other Diana Wynne Jones, Gobbolino, A Wrinkle in Time, the Hilda series (which is also v good on netflix).
Some of these including great new adaptations are on Audible Plus so are free with membership, or you get 15hrs free with Spotify Premium.

My 10yr old who is a pretty advanced reader is on His Dark Materials and loving it.
He's also enjoying The Dark is Rising and the Lockwood Series, and Percy Jackson.

Also A Wizard of Earthsea which is a good one to read aloud as quite dense. And Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

I read LOTR around ten, introduced by my brother, and have been a nerd ever since, it would depend on her reading capabilities. It does get rather wordy and high faluting in places.
second theDark is Rising series.
hated Dark Materials, what a depressing set of books.
Think you can read Narnia without being aware of the Christian undertones,

My dad read it TO me starting from 8. It took a while! I loved it.
I'd say independent reading through more like 10 for a good reader. It's not a kids book as such but definitely fine for early teenagers and maybe a bit younger.