Tolkien's The Hobbit- ok for a 10yo?

[winnybella]

I'm looking for books for Christmas for DS. He'll be 10 at the end of January. I remember liking The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I think I was a bit older, maybe 12 or 13.
He's a fluent reader, but up til recently was into manga etc so not used to long books. I have forced Harry Potter on him few weeks ago and he read the entire series averaging 5 hours per book.
What do you think?

My daughter read it at 6 and moved on to Lord of the Rings the next year. The language isn't modern and may be a stumbling block, but it's hardly Victorian. Certainly at the start 'The Hobbit' reads as if written for a very young child. It grows up as the pages turn.

I remember reading at school in 'reading aloud' when I was 10 - loved it!

What about the Narnia books by CS Lewis. I loved those as a child.

yes, it's lovely.

Yes, but it's rubbish

I remember it being great at school, really looked forward to the lessons when we were reading it BUT I didn't like it at all as an adult.

It's better than Harry Plopper notnow!

Ranger's Apprentice series is a huge hit in that age group.

I read The Hobbit younger than that (can't remember exactly what age, probably about 7 or something) and had no difficulty with it at all. I was scared by the giant spiders though, and cried when a certain thing happened towards the end!

Ephiny- I don't remember sad thing that happened at the end! What was it?

The Hobbit is a children's book. LOTR is a bit more adult, but I still read it at about 10-11.

I mean when Thorin dies after the final battle and forgives Bilbo from his deathbed :(

Though to be fair I did cry at anything even remotely sad at that age!

Narnia sounds good as well. Ok, so Narnia (how many books are there?3?) and The Hobbit, perhaps. I didn't have time to look at all the others, will do it after dinner.

There are 7 narnia books, but you can often pick up the entire series in one volume.
One worth a look is Joseph Delaney's "spooks" series, or Lemony Snicket's "a series of unfortunate events" series. In both, the first book is pretty tame and gets a little more graphic as the series continues. They cover good themes of good vs evil and loyalty though.

Also pratchett's "Tiffany Aching" stories (the wee free men, a hat full of sky, wintersmith etc) or his bromeliad trilogy (truckers, diggers, wings)
Hitchhikers is fine for 10yo, I read it with my 10 and 7 yo DCs, and they loved it, and restaurant at the end of the universe.

I loved The Hobbit - must have read it at about 9, and also the Narnias - which DS loves, save for The Last Battle which neither of us likes. The religious stuff completely washed over us .

Agree the Percy Jacksons - Rick Riordan - and have you thought of Horowitz - the funny Diamond twin series - awful puns -and the Alex Riders? DS enjoyed the Michelle Pavers too. And some of the Cherub series by Muchamore

Siobahn Dowd's The London Eye Mystery is short and fun, and if you are in or visiting London you can see the places they went to. DS loved it and trying to work out whodunwhat.

I would suggest Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising- it is a brilliant Christmas book and can be read as a standalone, although it is part of a series of five.

Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Seeing Stone.

TH White's The Once and Future King

and of course The Hobbit- it's wonderful, far better I think than LOTR.

Thank you all. Still didn't get time to look them all up. I went to the supermarket and they had Robinson Crusoe for really cheap, so I got him that. I don't care of he doesn't like it, I feel like I'm fullfilling my parental duty by getting it for him- it's a classic.

I mean I'll be getting him a few more, so your suggestions weren't for nothing!

Tolkien wrote The Hobbit for his own children. Narnia is great, the Dark is Rising series is also very good.
I didn't like Phillip Pullman, the whole concept made my skin crawl, and Twilight is shite!