Series: Book 1 in the The Hobbit series
Rating: ****
Tags: Fiction, General, Magic, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9), Classics, Middle Earth (Imaginary Place), Baggins, & Magic, Children: Grades 2-3, Baggins; Bilbo (Fictitious Character), Children's 12-Up - Literature - Classics, Bilbo (Fictitious character), Lang:en
Summary
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a
nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and
an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing
in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and
that means comfort."
The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins,
an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our
height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like
most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when
sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer,
and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular
hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on
a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by
one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure,"
Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck,
however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the
hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can
even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out
his door and into a dangerous adventure. The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in
the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the
dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant
companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening
wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature
named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a
riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the
dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork,
The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring.
Though
The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that
follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron
at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this
is very much a story for adults, though older children will
enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable
hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed
for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader.
--Alix Wilber
Noted artist Hague provides 48 dazzling paintings for this
first-ever version of the timeless fantasy classic. All ages.
Amazon.com Review
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.