Let me put it this way, The Hobbit only has 95,356 words
The Lightning Thief (one of my favorite books, and considered to be children's fiction, published in 2005) has 87,223 words.
Today's most popular children's book Dog Man (published circa 2016) is mostly illustrated, with roughly 1500 words.
There's a children's literacy problem in America because we're not giving them enough credit anymore. (Well, that and the rise of instant gratification via tiktok and youtube shorts, which also bleeds into children's movies, have you noticed that animated films marketed for children are paced faster?)
OP Pete sounds like a fool, and a fake fan in the Hobbit/LOtR fandom. and i bet he still reads at a 4th grade level. and the commenter, Brendan, sounds like someone who's never touched a book in his life. People like these piss me the fuck off.
Anyway, just wanted to add my two cents. (I deduced that Dog Man books are today's most popular books among the youth, based on what I've witnessed from watching the countoured librarian on youtube, i enjoy her end-of-the-year book round-up shorts)
oh also, when I was 11-12 i was reading at a highschool grade levels, back when Accelerated Reading tests were a thing, and you were locked into higher grade levels as you progressed. I read Jurassic Park by Michael Critchton, as well as classic novels by Jack London. (And before anyone says anything, the book is VERY different from the movie, had a lot more death and violence).
So please, if you're one of those people that decide to have children, when you're raising them, encourage them to pick up books in the subjects they're interested in, and nourish their reading comprehension. Don't just let them skate by. (Barring any learning disabilities, obviously, but even then, there are always ways to encourage reading, and making it easier for them, like audiobooks.)
