Though if you'd prefer the movies over the books, The Fellowship of the Ring is the place to start. It's not The Hobbit, but if you start with the movie currently out, you'll have to wait two more years to get to the end of the story. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has the advantage of being finished.

If you want The Hobbit right away in a close to faithful version, there is a pretty good cartoon rendition produced by Rankin/Bass in 1977. It was made for children, and shown on broadcast television, so it's quite tame. Also musical, though the dwarves do sing a lot in the book as well, and the lyrics in the cartoon are mostly drawn from the book. The characters remind many people my age and older of the American Dental Association's Saturday morning PSAs for kids: similar illustration style, without the toothbrushes. The voice talent is outstanding.

The cartoon's script was widely praised, but criticized for the numerous omissions for time, and for the edits to the story made necessary by the omissions. The Lord of the Rings wiki has listed all the changes, but only click on it if you want a summary of the story. No surprises will remain for you after reading the entry there.

When parents come to the library looking for The Hobbit for their children, I inevitably give them Tolkein's original, which he did consider his work for children. The parents are almost always taken aback, and ask for the shorter version. There isn't one. We have a chat about Tolkein and his friends, including C. S. Lewis, who also wrote for children in language that modern American children, and especially their parents, consider too challenging. (Lewis has been partially adapted in picture books.) Generally I recommend that the parent get the book anyway and let the child give it a try. Children will often voluntarily work at, and even struggle with, something that has their interest already, which will surprise the parents who want only guaranteed successes for their children. And if the child really can't master the prose, it's a great read-aloud.

Audiobooks of The Hobbit are also very well done. I believe there's at least one that has been done in a full-cast version. It's like listening to a very long radio play.