Matilda

 

Book: Matilda 

Author: Roald Dahl 

Illustrator: Quentin Blake 

Genre: Fantasy Fiction 

Awards: Children's Book Award

Age Group: 3-7

Summary: 

Matilda is a smart and gifted little girl who unfortunately has awful parents. Whenever her parents do something particular awful, Matilda saw it her mission to punish them- such as gluing her fathers hat to his head. When she wasn't punishing her parents, she was teaching herself how to read. Before starting school, she had already read multiple books and was already able to do advanced math- this all catching the attention of her teacher, Miss Honey. When Miss Honey tries to move Matilda to a higher grade, headmistress Trunchbull, absolutely refuses. Trunchbull is also awful and does horrid things, such as pulling a student by her pigtails and forcing a student to eat an entire cake in front of the whole school. Just like her parents, Matilda decides to punish her too. A situation in which Matilda causes a glass of water to knock down by just willing it to happen, makes it known that Matilda has some sort of power. She spends the next couple of days practicing her powers and comes up with a brilliant plan. While Trunchbull is in the class, Matilda lifts a piece of chalk and writes a message on the board, making it seem as if it's from a ghost (a ghost from Trunchbull's past). Frightened, Trunchbull leaves town and life gets better for Matilda. However, one day, Matilda finds her family packing up and getting ready to move to Spain. Matilda pleads for them to leave her behind and live with Miss Honey and they agree, her parents finally doing something good for their daughter.  

Evaluation and Comments: 

For Matilda, I chose to listen to the audiobook version that was narrated by Kate Winslet. Personally, I am not a big fan of audiobooks. This was the first time I listened to an audiobook and I found that I didn't really like it much. I am more of a visual learner so I like being able to see the words myself; just listening made it harder for me to pay attention. 

With that, not everyone is like me! Some students learn better by just listening so with that, Matilda is the perfect book to listen to. With this specific version, Kate Winslet did an amazing job. She provided voices for all the characters which helped bring them to life and made the story so animated and fun! Along with that, Matilda is a sweet story about a girl's love of reading! Despite the rough family upbringing and tough school experience, she never let anyone hinder her thirst for reading, learning, and justice. With all the unique characters and plotline, this book would be perfect for older elementary to middle school students!  

For activities, one thing students can do is visit the school library and or the local library. Since the book mentions Matilda going to the library, talking to the librarian, and reading books, this would be a neat way to connect the book to a fun, informational visit to the library. Students can also create Venn diagrams to compare and contrast many of the characters, such and Miss Honey and Trunchbull. Lastly, in the book, the students learn how to spell words using a song- the word in the book being difficulty. You can create your own songs, or have the students create their own songs over a set of words. 

In conclusion, Matilda (and the audiobook version) has my seal of approval! 🥇😄