Most nights I read to the boys in their bed, and while usually it's short kids' books, lately I have been trying to read longer pieces - we did Alice in Wonderland and have gotten most of the way through Looking Glass as well. I decided they were probably old enough for The Hobbit and so we started it some months ago. We recently finished it, and they really seemed to enjoy it. I used my green slipcase edition that Mother got me in 1979 - I remember it clearly because I read it in the round hotel at the Houston airport (which I thought was just like the primary hull of the starship Enterprise) while in town with her for a teacher's conference right after I finished 9th grade. While I think the boys liked it (they particularly liked all the original Tolkien illustrations), I know I did because when you have to slow down and read a book line by line you - or at least me - get a different feel for the book. Scenes that raced by too fast when I was reading alone now slow down and I can get a better feel. There were many, many scenes that I clearly saw this time but don't ever remember seeing before.