Matilda - Roald Dahl

Published by Scholastic Inc.: New York, 1996.
First published 1988.

Matilda is a funny little story - as most of Roald Dahl's stories are. Matilda, the youngest child of Mr and Mrs Wormwood, is a very intelligent girl, a bookworm (with a special love of Charles Dickens - also a common trait in Roald Dahl books) in a family of television addicts and low-level criminals. 

Similar to the first chapters of The Twits, Matilda begins the story with a series of pranks, these ones designed to get revenge against her parents for their wrongdoing - an odd subject for a children's book really. Although Matilda is doing some fairly naughty things, we are never in doubt that her parents (especially her father) deserve what's coming to them. They also show Matilda's creativity and strong sense of justice, which will come into play later in the story.

Once Matilda begins attending school (as a five and a half year old), we are introduced to the sweet and gentle Miss Honey, as well as the terrifying 'giantess' of a Headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. Trunchbull makes the perfect villain for the story; she is menacing and imposing, willing to fling a child across the playground by their hair or lock them in a cupboard full of broken glass, and we know from the beginning that Matilda will inevitably face off against The Trunchbull eventually.

How she does is quite a surprise for someone who does not know the story in advance, with Matilda learning some skills later in the book to help her that are never hinted at earlier. Elise had not heard this story before, and told me that she had to re-evaluate where she thought the story was going to go from that point onwards.

As an introduction to Roald Dahl stories, Matilda works well. The cartoonishly evil villains, the Dickenesque names, and the twisted humour are all on display, along with the heart that his best stories show.

And Matilda is also a nice simple easy-to-read children's story; a good breather or 'palette-cleanser' to relax with on a hot summer's day.

Completed, with Elise, 29 January 2022.



(Elise Books)

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