This topic came up the other day at home. I can't remember when I first read The Hobbit, but I was probably older than most when I found out about it (11?). Someone once mentioned reading it to his son when the kid was 9.
I'm just wondering at what age they can really begin to "get" the whole story. And even though it didn't seem to mess me up too much, sometimes I could do without swords, battles, etc., in kids books.