Publication of the sequel The Lord of the Rings altered many critics' reception of the work. Instead of approaching The Hobbit as a children's book in its own right, critics such as Randel Helms picked up on the idea of The Hobbit as being a "prelude", relegating the story to a dry-run for the later work. Countering a presentist interpretation are those who say this approach misses out on much of the original's value as a children's book and as a work of high fantasy in its own right, and that it disregards the book's influence on these genres. Commentators such as Paul Kocher, John D. Rateliff and C. W. Sullivan encourage readers to treat the works separately, both because The Hobbit was conceived, published, and received independently of the later work, and to avoid dashing readers' expectations of tone and style.
Publication of the sequel The Lord of the Rings altered many critics' reception of the work Instead of approaching The Hobbit as a children's book in its own right critics such as Randel Helms picked up on the idea of The Hobbit as being a "prelude" relegating the story to a dry-run for the later work Countering a presentist interpretation are those who say this approach misses out on much of the original's value as a children's book and as a work of high fantasy in its own right and that it disregards the book's influence on these genres Commentators such as Paul Kocher John D Rateliff and C W Sullivan encourage readers to treat the works separately both because The Hobbit was conceived published and received independently of the later work and to avoid dashing readers' expectations of tone and style