Tolkein's Irrelevance?

So, here is the question: Why are kids not reading Lord of the Rings any more? Why are the LOTR movies and other excellent fantasy books not leading leading people to read LOTR? Has all of Tolkein's success in terms of inspiring imitators actually making people forget about his master works?

When I was in 5th grade, my teacher read The Hobbit to our class. Our first assignment was to use the description we heard to draw a Hobbit. I hated drawing and so wasn't sure I liked this whole fantasy thing, but survived the assignment to fall in love with the book and with Fantasy generally.

I subsequently read The Lord of the Rings about 5 times in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades or so. Maybe more. I've forgotten. And since then I've read it a couple times, most recently about five years ago perhaps. I remember in particular being comforted by it during a particularly long commencement/convocation ceremony at BYU. I received a paperback box set of the Hobbit and LOTR at some point around 6th grade. I still own it, the books so wide from wear that only three fit in a box originally intended for four.

I didn't just fall in love with LOTR; I fell in love with Fantasy generally. I've read more Fantasy than any other genre, easily, and I associate it with happiness, comfort, love, and all good things. And Tolkein didn't just invent a world, he invented a whole genre, which is amazing.

So I naturally assumed all my children would follow this passion. I read the Hobbit to each of them the summer after their fourth-grade year. I've now started early with Leah since it seems a nice winter activity. They've all enjoyed the Hobbit quite a bit. But no one has yet fallen in love with LOTR. Not one has even managed to read even Fellowship of the Ring. Well, Adrienne tells me she read the first two books but couldn't make it through the third. Nathan tells me he made it 150 pages but it was too boring. The fellowship had only made it two miles, in his view.

I'm trying to figure out why. It's not that they despise Fantasy at all. They've all gone on to read and love other fantasy books. Sammie with the Harry Potter series most closely resembles my passion for Tolkein. She has been fairly obsessed at times with Harry and has read every book in the series multiple times. Adrienne has read a bunch of different Fantasy books I've foisted on her and enjoyed them quite a bit, but doesn't really read Fantasy any more now that I have no influence on her reading habits, and I don't think ever read any Fantasy more than once. I just asked Nathan his favorite Fantasy series and he wondered if I was asking which fantasy sport was his favorite. Oh dear. But now that we're communicating, he says his favorite is Percy Jackson, and he has read each book multiple times.

And they really like the LOTR movies. Nathan puts the movies in his top 10 all-time movies. Sammie might as well. Probably not Adrienne. Leah is too young. I won't even ask Ellen about Fantasy; she will just talk about being on a desert island with no children, husband or anything but non-Fantasy books, a laptop with which to write, and maybe some PTA people to email. That's her version of Fantasy.

I actually think Harry Potter and Percy Jackson are reasonable contenders for the title of best Fantasy series of all time. They are both probably in my top five. But LOTR is still far ahead. Why? And why don't others see this? And does this a symptom of a deeper problem in education and society? Everyone was so pleased a few years ago that kids were reading Harry Potter. But if we've substituted Potter for Hobbits, is that progress?