#30 Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)
58 points
I loved that Dahl wrote completely for children. A kid reading Dahl knows he can make something or be someone or do something, no matter what anyone else around him says or does. – Heather Christensen
It just wouldn’t be right to make a list like this without Dahl. Last time, I included The Witches, my personal favorite as a child, but having just read Matilda to my daughter, I have to admit that this one is probably his best written book. – Mark Flowers
Matilda has the customary humor and bits of vileness that all of Dahl’s children’s books have that make them so fun and so true to life. It has loveliness and celebrates knowledge and reading. It has enthralling writing that you just want to devour and wonderful illustration. But most of all it has somebody to cheer for. Yes she has supernatural power, but in the end it’s Matilda’s sensibility and thoughtfulness, it’s just doing the right thing that leads to the take down of a horrible villain and encourages all the kids around her. She’s someone to root for. And it’s like eating candy, reading this book. One of the best storytellers of all time. You must read him, so why not start here? – Nicole Johnston
Those parents! The Trunchbull! What’s not to love? – Tracy Flynn
Watch out for the quiet ones.
It may surprise some to see Matilda standing higher on this list than poor modest Charlie Bucket. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that while most (not all) Dahl books starred boys of one stripe or another (George, James, Charlie, etc.) Matilda was the only gal to get her name front and center in the title. This is the closest Dahl ever got to a feminist vision, and little girls everywhere love them their Matilda. She was a kind of proto-Harry Potter complete with a nasty family and secret magical abilities. For a certain generation, Matilda was our Harry.
The plot description from the book reads, ” ‘The Trunchbull’ is no match for Matilda! Who put superglue in Dad’s hat? Was it really a ghost that made Mom tear out of the house? Matilda is a genius with idiot parents – and she’s having a great time driving them crazy. But at school things are different. At school there’s Miss Trunchbull, two hundred menacing pounds of kid-hating headmistress. Get rid of the Trunchbull and Matilda would be a hero. But that would take a superhuman genius, wouldn’t it?”
This could be all heresay and conjecture, but at a past ALA event I spoke with an editor who told me that Dahl’s original vision for Matilda was quite the opposite of the final product. By all accounts, Dahl wanted Matilda to be a nasty little girl, somewhat in the same vein of Belloc’s Matilda Who Told Lies and Was Burned to Death. Revision after revision turned her instead into the sweet little thing we all know and love today. He retained her tendency towards revenge, however, and I think that’s another reason the book works as well as it does. In the end Matilda bore some similarities to James and the Giant Peach, though Dahl had the guts to go and make the actual parents in this book the bores, and not just mere aunties.
- In the book Revolting Recipes, there is a recipe for the chocolate cake The Trunchbull makes poor little Bogtrotter devour. That also happens to be my favorite scene, you know.
- True fan dedication.
Publishers Weekly said of it, “Adults may cringe at Dahl’s excesses in
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You can, of course, talk with children about how important reading is, discuss some of the books Matilda read, talk about the problems and solutions in the book, use Roald Dahl’s wonderful writing style to teach about the 6 + 1 traits of writing, and so much more. However, you can also give this book to a child who is a reluctant reader and see if he or she falls in love with this book. You can use it as an read aloud to spark the imaginations of your students and get them interested enough to read more Roald Dahl on their own. Parents can read it with their children as a bedtime story. However you decide to read this book and use it–that’s fine! Just do it. If your students or children aren’t familiar with this wonderful author, then hopefully they will be soon enough! 
Count me as a fan of the movie. I believe I have a copy at school if you want to borrow it.
I liked the movie. And friends who saw the musical in London loved it – it’s supposed to come to Broadway next season, I think!
Yes, they’ve had auditions for Matilda for Broadway, supposed to open in 2013 sometime. http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/news-and-features/e3i6721a02199c788d319585f741aec992f
Same here. The movie is one of those rare, magical treats that really capture the spirit of the book. And I love your connection between Matilda and Harry Potter. I’ve always thought there were echoes of Mr. Wormwood in Mr. Dursley!
My kids love the movie — and I agree, no objections. (I also note that perhaps b/c of Danny DeVito’s involvement, it’s got one of the few positive — or at least, not negative — portrayals of fat kids in children’s movies.) Love the book — tho I see my older daughter listed it in her 10 best list, while I chose Charlie instead.
Can’t WAIT for the musical!
You gave a shout-out to Rusted Root! That’s so cool!
The third of the books on today’s list that I can’t remember if I voted for or not. I voted for it LAST time, but it was down in the debatable section this time around. These almost-votes deserve as much love as my actual votes, anyway!
LOVE the movie! In fact, I saw it before I ever read the book and (is this heresy?) like it slightly better than the book. Okay, it’s not perfect. But it’s really good. Matilda was written in that short decade or so when I wasn’t really reading children’s books.