Age for Hitchhiker’s Guide First Read?

[Smackpixi]

Assume child is brilliant, precocious, and weird like you were, but not in the same way cause it’s decades later.

 

[Marc Radle]

I LOVE those books!
Maybe in the 10 - 12 range?

 

[the Jester]

I think I was about 10.

 

[Tonguez]

Yeah I go 12 for it to really resonate

 

[soviet]

42

 

[MarkB]

I was going to make a comment about being old enough to pick up (or ask about) some of the more outdated references, but a lot of them have come around again.

Like, we're back to thinking that digital watches are a really neat idea. We just call them "smart" now.

 

[Blue Orange]

God, I had the book of radio scripts that came out in the mid-80s and read that until it fell apart. I might have been 8 or 9?

Don't expect it to hit the way it did for you; the world is different now, and so is that kid's world. It might still be fun when they get older and realize what some more obscure references are, or why older geeks tend to have '42' in online account names.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think I was 10. Maybe 11?

 

[Larrin]

I was in 7th grade. That's about 11-12 years old? That was about right.

 

[Deset Gled]

I'd say around 12, but other books the kid reads are probably a better indicator of whether they're ready. I'm thinking it's ideal when the kids is ready to move past stuff like The Hunger Games but is also able to appreciate older kids books with a little depth like Dear Mr. Henshaw or From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.