#5 in Middle grade
The Hobbit
- 310
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
- Film 2012 +4
- On screen
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
Written for children, this quest with a dragon, a wizard, elves and a burglary remains one of the easiest ways into fantasy and Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The tone is warm and adventurous rather than grand, and at about three hundred pages it never drags. Readers who expect the weight of darker modern fantasy may find it light; anyone after a hopeful adventure should feel at home.
Worth knowing Tolkien began it as a story for his own children, and Allen & Unwin published it in September 1937, long before The Lord of the Rings existed. For the 1951 edition he rewrote the chapter Riddles in the Dark so that Gollum’s ring would fit the sequel he was writing; that revised text is what most people read today. Lighter and more playful than its sequel, it works as a first Tolkien at any age.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction. It is recognized as a classic in children's literature and is one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 100 million copies sold.
Reading order · Middle Earth
Full order & progress →- The HobbitThis book
8.68.6 / 10 - In De Ban Van de Ring I: De ReisgenotenIn De Ban Van de Ring I: De Reisgenoten–Not ranked yet
- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingLord of the Rings: The Return of the King–Not ranked yet
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 5 times — from 1977 to 2014.
- FilmThe Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyIMDb
- FilmThe Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugIMDb
- FilmThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesIMDb
- FilmThe HobbitIMDb
- TV filmThe HobbitIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.6 across 8,321 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 98% of the weight and the score stays at 8.6 — the Middle grade average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.6 | 498 | 6% |
| Google Books | 9.0 | 101 | 1% |
| Hardcover | 8.6 | 7.7K | 93% |
Frequently asked
What age is The Hobbit for?
The Hobbit sits on the Middle grade shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 8–12. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 310 pages — shorter than 93% of the ranked books in Middle grade.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Middle grade — with scores between 7.5 and 8.8, closest to this book.
