Absolutely delightful!
Fabulous illustrations. ( )

Tolkien's poignant, beautiful words are only enhanced by the exquisite detail and care in the illustrations done by Pauline Baynes. I can't express my love for this wee book enough- but I will add that I wouldn't mind it as an epitaph when my time comes. ( )

"Bilbo's Last Song" is a poem that serves as a kind of epilogue to "The Lord of the Rings". In the end of that epic novel, Bilbo embarks on a journey to the Undying Lands. This poem is about the start of the journey from the Grey Havens, describing Bilbo's thoughts and feelings from his own point of view.
While there are a few Bilbo poems that to my mind are better than this one ("The Road Goes Ever On" or "I Sit Beside The Fire And Think"), this is still excellent in its simplicity. The words are clear and on point, and yet it is very moving and captures Bilbo's weariness and melancholy, accompanied by his hope and sense of adventure that is still lingering within him.
However, what makes this book special are actually the illustrations by Pauline Baynes. She was an illustrator favoured by Tolkien and is known for her illustrations of "The Chronicles of Narnia". She did the first illustration of the poem in 1974 when it was published as a poster.
The illustrations in this book are simply delightful! While each quartet of the poem is decorated with garlands and branches of different plants, there is a scene corresponding to it on the opposite page (for example, pictures of Bilbo in Rivendell, Bilbo and the elves riding through the forest, the ship waiting at the Grey Havens, Merry and Pippin arriving there to meet Frodo and Sam). On the bottom of each page, there is a small picture from "The Hobbit", thus showing Bilbo's first grand journey, which he might remember while he embarks on his last one.
These pictures are so lovely and full of vivid details! I think I will browse this small book time and time again just to look at them. ( )

By itself, the poem would merit three stars, but the illustrations are of such a superb quality, I had to bump up the rating. There's a great juxtaposition of scenes from Bilbo's original quest to the Lonely Mountain and his time in Rivendell - plus he looks so darn adorable. ( )

Read this with my daughters as a tribute to Tolkien on his twelfty-first birthday. I don't foresee reading it again (voluntarily).


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