Title: The Hobbit:

There and Back Again, A Hobbit's Holiday

By J.R.R. Tolkien; Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien

Publishing Info: - New York: A Doubleday Anchor Book, 1954.

Genre: Novel

Sub-genre: -  Fantasy // Children's Literature

Nationality: - Britain

Time Period: -20th Century

First  read by Dr. Rearick -1979 //  Most recent reading: July-August  1997.

Rated: A+

Location: - Dr. Rearick's  Office and Dr. Rearick's Home:

In fact I have several editions.  One of them is the paperback edition from the 60s  (it was my mother's), a hard cover, boxed edition with Tolkien's original illustrations, and an anotated edition filled with commentary both by the editor and myself (I love those annitatoed edtions and teach from them whenever I can). I also own a graphic novel version, a audio dramatized version and the Raskin Bass animated versioin.

• A Page Containing Tolkien or Hobbit Links
• Helpful Study notes from Barrons Booknotes 

Comments:

I had heard about The Hobbit a number of times during my college years.  My mother had raved about the book and has commented on how easily she had been able to envision and believe while reading about the imagined world of Tolkien.  One college friend considered me unread because I had never gotten around to reading it. (Bye the bye she hated the animated version that came out around the same time--it failed completely to meet her imagained expectations).  But I never got into it since at that time my life was filled with science fiction.  It was when I was serving as a VISTA volunteer that I fianlly got around to reading a number of fantasy classics, and this was one of them.

This is one of those books written for children which I think adults also find wonderful--and not in any way childish.  Bradbury's Halloween Tree and Baun's Wizard of Oz are two other like this.