My dad read me The Hobbit when I was 5. I fell in love with Bilbo, and even named a teddy bear after him. (Unfortunatly, the dog ate it, dad washed it, and it burned to a crisp in the drier because of the glitter in its fur. yea... it's kinda a traumatic experience for me... how would you like to see your favorite teddy bear named after your favorite character burning to death in your family's drier? But I'm getting off subject...) I was very moved by the whole book, even cried for days after Thorin died, and was eager to read more about Bilbo. When I was about 8, I was browsing the bookshelf for something to read and stumbled upon Dad's LotR collection, which he'd had since college but never read. I remembered Bilbo and eagerly opened the cover, but soon saw that it was about some fool named Frodo and I shoved the book back on the shelf, not wanting anything to do with it. Until...
...Peter Jackson made a movie. I was older, but still fixed on Bilbo and pretty stubborn about not being very interested in seeing the Fellowship movie, but good ol' Dad dragged me to the theatre anyway... and I fell in love with another Baggins. So, almost the minute I got home, I retrived the grudged books from the shelf and started on page one.
I've tried reading the books to my dad now, to kind of return the favor. It's hard because we both have busier scheduals, but we're slowly making our way through, and he loves them.
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