Writing Style

Tolkien writes in a contemporary fashion of balancing dialogue and description.  He keeps a light, hopeful, and whistling tone throughout the book.  In contrast to The Lord of the Rings series, The Hobbit was written as a children's story.  Tolkien developed the story for his children, which explains the lack of complex danger to the characters.  The diction in the story is simple and easy to follow.  Most importantly, The Hobbit is written to be read out loud. This is evident through the integral placement of side notes that Tolkien uses to insert an interesting fact

  "Not that Belladonna Took ever had any adventures after she became Mrs. Bungo Baggins.  Bungo, that was Bilbo's father, built the most luxurious hobbit-hole for her (and partly with her money) that was found either under The Hill or over The Hill or across The Water..." (Tolkien 3).

Tolkien has created a story that when read talks to the listener and reader. His style is unique for a lengthy book, but common among quaint children's tales.