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Well, The Hobbit is a children's book & LotR is an 'adult' book certainly but maybe its a bit more complex. Perhaps the explanation is that TH was written for his children while LotR was written for himself. He knew that his children wanted to be entertained, so he produced a lighthearted romp which would serve as a perfect bedtime read. One only has to read Roverandom (also writen for his children) to see that they liked that kind of thing - fast moving adventure centred around a likeable little hero.
LotR certainly starts out the same way, & while his own children had grown up by the time he began it he still had in mind the audience of TH when he started to write it. Its clear from HoME though, that pretty soon he was writing, as I said, for himself. So rather than considering others he began considering himself. If there is a difference between the two works - beyond the obvious one of childrens book vs adult book - I think its that: LotR was the kind of story he wanted to write while TH was the kind of story his children had wanted him to write.
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