Matilda

Matilda is a fictional novel by well-known author Roald Dahl, who has also written novels such as James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The novel is about 240 pages, so it is an average length for a chapter book.  The chapters are sprinkled with illustrations, so the reader is able to get a good visual idea of who Matilda and Ms. Trunchbull and Miss Honey are as characters.  The story of Matilda is one of redemtion and hope - and revenge.  It is a childhood classic and little Matilda holds a unique power that all kids wish they had at some point in their lives.  

Matilda is a unique young lady.  Since she was very young, she has always been different than other children.  Matilda has taught herself how to read and do mathematics. She is often left alone by her parents and eventually she begins to visit the library, where she is opened up to the world through books.  Before beginning kindergarten, she is reading authors like Charles Dickens and Shakespeare.  She loves reading and learning about new people and places. However, her parents and older brother do NOT see value in reading.  They value two things most: money and the television.  Matilda doesn't fit in with her family and her parents definitely don't see how gifted Matilda is.  Her father owns a car dealership where he takes used cars and makes them like new again, but in many dishonest ways.  Her mother spends her days playing Bingo, hoping to strike it big one day.  They see Matilda's love for reading as strange and ridiculous and tease her constantly and cannot understand why she can't eat her dinner in front of the television every night with the rest of the family.  Matilda finally starts kindergarten, where she meets Miss Honey, a kind and sweet teacher who quickly sees how unique and talented Matilda really is.  But Matilda also meets Ms. Trunchbull, the principal of the school who hates children and rules by force and fear. Ms. Trunchbull immediately hates Matilda and many of her other classmates. But Matilda learns she is more unique than anyone realizes - she has a special power no one else has. It is an amazing, fatastic gift that Matilda figures out how to control and even develop. Matilda sets out to use her power to stop the mean, children-hating principal and teach her a lesson she deserves.  

Matilda is one of Roald Dahl's classics and is sure to be loved by both boys and girls, especially the ones that feel like they sometimes don't belong where they are.  Matlida feels like an outsider in her own family, but more accepted at school with her friends and teacher.  Matilda is certainly the underdog, the tiny, quiet, shy little girl that sits quietly on the side of the room and doesn't expect anything from anyone. I would recommend this book to anyone who can relate with feeling in those places at times. Matilda is a great read for 5th and 6th grade kids, as it does have some language that may not be appropriate for younger readers.  Roald Dahl is a British author, so there are some words that may be unfamiliar through cultural differences.  Our family read this novel aloud together at bedtime and I had to change a few words as I read to help my youngest understand, but also change some of the stronger language to make it more appropriate for my youngest and middle (my oldest was reading over my shoulder).  We did read the book aloud and then watched the movie together once we finished reading.  (Beware: the movie is different from the novel!)