I started reading The Hobbit to Max in the expectation that he's too young for it and that we'd need to abandon the book almost immediately. It was a desperate attempt to sneak in some reading that also interests me, and hey, he's really good at sitting and listening to stories, so who knows what'll happen, right?
Delightfully, Max has latched onto the story with more vigour than I'd ever dared hope. We're presently in the middle of Riddles in the dark (chapter 5) and he hangs off my every word. Bilbo has just defeated Gollum with a riddle of questionable legality and Max and I tested each other with riddles of our own before bed tonight.
It's been twenty years since I read The Hobbit, so the book is quite fresh for me and I enjoy our reading time immensely. I'm surprised how well suited the book is for children (so far, at least). It moves very quickly; straight off the bat we meet a wizard, dwarves, trolls, and special swords with writing on them that no one can read. Just as Max was starting to fidget during the visit to Elrond's house, bam!---suddenly we were inside a mountain and goblins were everywhere.
Max is very excited to see the dragon. Here's hoping we make it all the way to the end, but even if we don't it's already been a resounding victory.
