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I know the Hobbit was written as a children's book (tale?) and I saw this when I searched the site for similar questions to this one. The story itself can certainly be regarded as almost a fairy tale if we are not going too much into details.

This aspect is actually the basis of my question: I want to tell my 4-year old daughter the story of the hobbit, as I'm sure she'll like it if it was made simple enough for her (i.e. if much of the details and even whole parts were omitted to make a simpler story). Of course, I COULD prepare this story on my own, but I was wondering if such a version was ever made (surely not be Tolkien himself, but perhaps as part of the franchise)?

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Don_S
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    You're looking for the S. Morgenstern "Good Parts" version ;) ? – NKCampbell Sep 03 '19 at 20:11
  • Since it's already regarded as a child's book - you'll probably only find abridged audio or illustrated graphic novels: https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-subtitle-illustrated-fantasy-classic/dp/0345445600 – NKCampbell Sep 03 '19 at 20:12
  • There are abridged audio versions; https://www.amazon.com/J-R-Tolkien-Hobbit-Abridged/dp/B00HTJSTZS – Valorum Sep 03 '19 at 20:21
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    Anecdotally, you may just need an illustrated version. I read the full text to my five-year-old son, but he would only pay attention if I was reading from an old edition illustrated with stills from the 1977 animated movie. The handful of Tolkien originals scattered through the edition that came with The History of the Hobbit weren't enough :) – chepner Sep 03 '19 at 22:28
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    Peter Jackson found the unabridged three-book set... – Machavity Sep 04 '19 at 00:22
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    Thanks to everyone. I HAVE read the Hobbit, many times. I am perfectly capable of abridging it myself, but it will obviously take time and may not be as smooth as a professionally made abridged edition, hence my question. Also, as someone pointed out above, it may be a story intended for children, but it is certainly not childish in style (in my opinion, of course), all the more to someone whose first language is NOT English. – Don_S Sep 04 '19 at 05:30
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    @Don_S If you reveal your first language, maybe someone find a story/audio in this? The Hobbit is a very widespread tale :) At the side: I gave a 8 year old a german radio play of The Hobbit to hear. Some years later the 3 movies about the Hobbit starts in cinema, and the parent of this child were outraged "How could you give our child such a brutal story to hear?" (and I know, they never heard it with their child ... ) – Allerleirauh Sep 04 '19 at 07:26
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    My first language is Hebrew. I did not mention it because I was pretty sure that no one here would be able to help in this regard. There are three translations of the Hobbit to Hebrew (one is particularly interesting because it was made by Israeli air force POWs during their captivity in Egyptian prison some fifty years ago), but they are all full translations of the book, and I'm fairly sure that if there was another Hebrew version I would know about it. At any rate, some translation on my part would be required, but that's not a problem. I was just looking for a good abridged source. – Don_S Sep 04 '19 at 07:36
  • I have read the story as a teenager and loved it, I am not sure if a 4-year-old girl has the ability to appreciate it, especially for the wealth of characters, except Gandalf and Bilbo, remember the names of all the dwarves and other characters It can be a bit overwhelming. If history manages to get your attention you would give it a beautiful gift. otherwise try again at 7 or 9 years. – Gonzalo Hunter Watts Sep 04 '19 at 16:05
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    There's hardly any need to differentiate the 12 dwarves aside from Thorin. It doesn't really matter to the story which dwarf served as the lookout, or which dwarf fell asleep in Mirkwood, or who Thorin's nephews are; they are effectively interchangeable. – chepner Sep 04 '19 at 16:21
  • It might be somewhat scary for a 4 year old, with orcs, Gollum and Mirkwood etc. My sis read it for me when I was 7 or so and I found it pretty scary then... except I loved it and also ended up a Tolkien nerd later on :) – Amarth Sep 04 '19 at 19:26
  • Not an answer, but be prepared for a potential response along the lines of "this is boring. there are no girls in it." That was my daughter's response to some (albeit non-Tolkien) things I thought she'd like at around the same age. Nowadays kids have reference points to compare against rather than all the interesting sff and adjacent stuff featuring a male-centric world. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Sep 05 '19 at 12:36
  • Maybe four years old is a bit early? I tried to read The Hobbit for my kids when our youngest was about five. That was at bit early for her. Next time, she was seven, I think, and it was magic. Today, she, and her older sister, are serious Tolkien fans :-) – Johan Sep 10 '19 at 13:49
  • I even read a comic book adaptation of The Hobbit once. – Stef Nov 07 '23 at 21:31

2 Answers2

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Yes, several abridged versions have been made available;

The latter is extremely hard to find, but definitely the shortest written abridgement available, with the exception of the see, hear and read-along novelisation of the Rankin Bass film of the same name.

You can see it in full below.

Valorum
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If you're looking for a picture book, there's a 1999 graphic novel you could look for. Otherwise there are a various illustrated editions that might be appropriate for reading along with; I found a list that includes several of them.

Cover of Hobbit graphic novel

Apparently there's even been a pop-up book, though it's not the complete story.

Hobbit pop-up book

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DavidW
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    a John Howe pop-up book! Nice! – NKCampbell Sep 03 '19 at 20:52
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    I have the graphic novel and I love it. I may use it, but it is also the full story (even if each picture is worth a thousand words of the original text...). But I'll give it a try. – Don_S Sep 04 '19 at 10:01
  • Most of the versions in your second link are 300+ pages and almost as long as the original. The 1999 Chuck Dixon version looks most appropriate. – Notts90 Sep 04 '19 at 14:14
  • @Notts90 That was my primary recommendation; the rest were noted mostly for completeness. – DavidW Sep 04 '19 at 14:53
  • I was also going to recommend the graphic novel by Dixon and Wenzel - really lovely artwork. – Klaus Æ. Mogensen Sep 06 '19 at 10:05
  • There's a newer version of the graphic novel, which better quality pictures, here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Hobbit-J-R-R-Tolkien/9780261102668?ref=grid-view&qid=1630054436053&sr=1-2, if anyone is interested. Also, can I add a picture of the first page to your answer? – Wade Aug 27 '21 at 09:00
  • The cover art of the book in your answer is also a little small; would you consider changing it with this one? https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9780/3454/9780345445605.jpg or this one: https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9780/2611/9780261102668.jpg – Wade Aug 27 '21 at 09:02