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

Could she try the Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchet. My Hobbit lover also loved these at a similar age.

@Brefugee I probably need to read the Bombadil bit again, as I have been listening to the audiobook for ages and Andy Serkis does the most annoying sing-song voice for Bombadil which just hypes up my rage. It is a shame the wights were left out but perhaps they would have ended up too similar to the Nazgul and it would have been confusing. There is also the rather problematic bit where TB tells the hobbits to run around naked to warm up

Treebeard also annoys me a bit with all the faffing and "hoom-ing" and "Let us not be hasty" stuff, and he lets bloody Saruman go as well!

I'd love to hear Goldberry's story, and to know what Farmer Maggot gets up to in the Old Forest, and how Frodo's parents really died, and what was so remarkable about the Old Took's three daughters. Should probably get out more

I agree with the others - I am a big reader but struggled to get through LOTR as an adult because of the very lengthy descriptions of landscapes etc - I think I'd even already watched the films by then so knew the characters and storyline which helped to keep track of what was happening.

My 8 year old is currently loving the Artemis Fowl series plus the Fowl Twins sequels. Less of a historical feel and more technology but still fantasy.
Some sad/dark bits but no more than Harry Potter I would say.

This was just one of my beefs with the films, I thought the Barrow Wights encounter important. I feel Frodo's particular experience here has a cumulative affect on his health along with the knife wound, the burden of the ring and all the other trauma he experiences, it's why he can't find peace once back in the Shire - which is another problem for me, I felt the Scouring needed to be in the film, but obviously there wasn't enough time

Edited to add another gripe with the films

I think it’s more likely to be boring than upsetting. My husband read them to my son when he was around 6 and now at 9 he’s read them again and watched the movie several times. My older daughter finds the books boring and the movies too scary so it’s super kid dependent.

It’s a denser and more difficult read than The Hobbit, but there’s nothing in it content-wise that’s inappropriate for a child, so there’s no reason she shouldn’t give it a try.

I think it would hard going for all but a pretty exceptional 8 year old. But there’s no harm in her giving it a try. She is a Mumsnet 8 year old after all!!😉 Make sure you tell her it’s absolutely fine to give up and wait til she’s a bit older.

@SydneyCarton I must admit that i have started, over the last couple of reads, not to totally loathe Tom Bombadill and that part. And i do love Goldberry - would love to hear more about her.

And i think the difficulty with leaving him out of the films (which i do love) was that because that then left out the barrow wrights, you had the ridiculous scenario of Aragorn apparently striding around with a bag full of hobbit sized swords...

I read LotR for the first time when I was 8. It really depends on the child - she'll either love it (quite possible as she loves The Hobbit), or she'll struggle and will have to leave it until she's older. I adored it!

It's a very different book from The Hobbit, although you might not realise just starting off with The Fellowship of the Ring, as it's heavily hobbit/Shire focused. When it gets into Rohan and Gondor in particular, the language becomes a lot more old fashioned and formal, and Tolkien's writing is even more descriptive than in The Hobbit - my cousin struggled with it even as an adult, complaining about there being 'pages of description about a tree's eyes' (obviously Treebeard is an Ent, not a tree, but never mind...).

I've been reading it through with my 9 year old - he's largely loved it, but he did occasionally glaze over at some of the landscape descriptions!

@Brefugee I find it telling that both Peter Jackson and Radio 4 left Bombadil out! I would love to have tea at his house though, and ask Goldberry if she has an exit plan.

I also love The Borrowers and must dig out my ancient DVD of the BBC adaptation as that was utterly charming. I am longing for someone to write an update/sequel about Borrowers in the modern world - I know there was a drama a few years ago but I can never find it on any streaming service.

Lynne Reid Banks' The Indian in the Cupboard trilogy is also very good, but takes place in the real world rather than an imaginary land like Middle Earth or Narnia.

Narnia is the answer if she hasn’t read those yet.

For the gap between Hobbit and LOTR I’d suggest Harry Potter, and then Percy Jackson. The big, popular choices tend to be the best imo.

Edit: His Dark Materials are great books but to my mind they’re not children’s books at all. I wouldn’t be recommending them until the last years of school tbh, and only to kids who had done the groundwork of the less subversive classics.

Yes the TB bit is so tedious!

I'm pretty sure there's an abridged version though OP, that might be more suitable for her.

I am probably in the minority here but I don't like his Dark Materials.

There wasn't much fantasy around when I was 8, all I can remember DD1 reading is the Redwall books. Not sure if Animals of Farthing Wood is too young

Please go to your local library and ask the librarians for suggestions, DD1 is a librarian and it's the bit they love doing most

Has she tried the Redwall series? That scratched my fantasy itch at that age.

So David Eddings is problematic, but I loved his books. Dianna Wynn Jones is amazing. TBH they’re probably a bit too old for her yet too, but get them lined up and ready to go !!

It’s not inappropriate theme wise but it is hard read in terms of language and Tolkien does wander about in terms of the plot. I struggled with it in my twenties and haven’t tried again!

It's a hard read so probably too young.

Same 😂I wouldn't read it now because I know it's related to religion and it spoils it somehow (for me, as an atheist). As a child you don't get any of that theoretical stuff, it's just a great story.

Whereas I am very much looking forward to reading the latest in the Book of Dust series.

How about the Percy Jackson books? Greek myth based but a lot of fun.

ETA: also The Borrowers, they are fab too

Another suggestion - how about Tom's Midnight Garden? It was dramatised on the BBC when I was 8, so I definitely read it and loved it at that age. It's not exactly fantasy but is quite other-worldly because of the time travel.

I liked Narnia when I was primary aged, but when I realised a few years later that it was an allegory for Christianity I was a bit pissed off, so I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much if I'd waited till I was older. Definitely read it around OP's DD's age as I remember the TV series being on after I'd read the books. Whereas I still really enjoy His Dark Materials now (in my 40s).

(fist bump to the Bombadil-refusniks in here)

How about the Black Cauldron books? And the Sword in the Stone? They are fab and a bit middle-earthy in feeling.
Concur about the other Tolkien books - and how about the ones that were brought out relatively recently: The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien?

And deffo if you want Tolkien in your life: The Father Christmas Letters.

Fantasy for that age also includes the Wild Magic trilogy by Celine Kiernan. Pretty much an outrider in books for children that don't banish the parents and instead makes them part of the story.

I meant the relationship between Lyra and Will, but yes of course. I didn't know anything about the allegorical aspect of Narnia when I was a child though, I just loved the fantasy world. I think both series can be read on very different levels, but Narnia is better suited to an 8 year old.