JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit

When I was in elementary school, I remember watching in Miss Lindsay's class an animated film of The Hobbit. I hadn't read the book yet, but I think I must have gone on to read it before much longer, because it was a memorable, inspiring movie. I don't have the faintest idea of when I last read the book, or how many times I've read it (maybe four now?), but after reading it again last week, I can confidently say that it's an absolute classic in the now-decaying genre of the long-form children's story.

What else is there to say? Most of Tolkien's followers are committed to the Lord of the Rings series, and the especially hardcore are bound to the Silmarillion, but for my money, it doesn't get any better than The Hobbit. Longer, more intricate, more fully realized, yeah -- but no better. There's drama, there's the commoner amongst the elite, there's humour, there's none of that icky love stuff.... OK, admittedly, there aren't female characters, but does that matter? ;-)