Matilda

Sections: Information | Description | Reviews | Awards | Articles | Criticism and Analysis |Fun Stuff | Teacher Ideas | Covers | Penguin Readers, Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Scots, Serbian, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Welsh Covers

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Information

Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.

• First editions:
  • Jonathan Cape, 1988, UK.
    • Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
    • To identify: Used standard single statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with later printings stated underneath) and published with a jacket priced at £8.50.
  • Viking, 1988, USA.
    • Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
    • To identify: Used a number line and published with a jacket priced at $13.95.
• Other editions:
  • Viking, 2020, USA.
    • Illustrated by: Sarah Walsh
• Recent news: 
  • Lego Roald Dahl Characters in UK - September 10, 2017
  • Remember the child stars from Matilda? They all look very different now - June 9, 2017
  • ‘Being cute just made me miserable’: Mara Wilson on growing up in Hollywood - September 24, 2016
  • ‘BFG’ to ‘Matilda’: How Roald Dahl Books Became Big Movies | Variety - June 30, 2016
  • More news…

• Related books:
  • Matilda’s Fantastically Fine Notebook
  • Matilda’s How to be Brave
  • Matilda’s Jokes For Awesome Kids
  • Matilda: Be Outrageous – Big Ideas from a Small Girl
  • Roald Dahl 15 Book Box Set
  • Roald Dahl’s Matilda Wonderful Sticker Activity Book
  • Roald Dahl’s Matilda’s How to be a Genius
  • Roald Dahl: Three Tales of Magic and Mischief
  • Roald Dahl’s Creative Writing with Matilda: How to Write Spellbinding Speech
  • The BFG, Matilda, and George’s Marvelous Medicine
  • The Book of Children’s Classics
  • The Kingfisher Book of Great Girl Stories: A Treasury of Classics from Children’s Literature
  • The Marvelous Matilda Sticker and Activity Book
  • The Puffin Roald Dahl Collection 3
  • The Roald Dahl Centenary Boxed Set
  • The Roald Dahl Collection
• Movies:
  • Matilda (1996)
• Theater:
  • Matilda (musical), 2010, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK (currently running in the West End and touring US & AU/NZ)
• Audio Books:
  • Matilda read by Jean Marsh
  • Matilda read by Joely Richardson
  • Matilda read by Miriam Margolyes
  • Matilda read by full cast
  • Matilda read by full cast
  • Matilda read by Kate Winslet
  • Matilda read by Ron Keith
  • Matilda read by Hella von Sinnen, Peter Fricke, Laura Maire, Johanna Burg, Gerd Köster, and more
  • Matilda read by Christian Ganon
  • Matilda read by Jenny Hanley
  • Matilda read by full cast
  • Roald Dahl Audio Books read by David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet, Chris O'Dowd, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Peter Serafinowicz, Miranda Richardson, Richard Ayoade, Douglas Hodge
  • Roald Dahl Audio Books (10 CD Collection) read by Simon Callow, Miriam Margolyes, Geoffrey Palmer, James Bolam, Andrew Sachs, June Whitfield, Timothy West, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis
• Radio Shows:
  • Matilda (2009)
• TV Shows:
  • Jackanory (1965)

• Buy this book:
  

Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.

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Description

Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she’s just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It’ll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!

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Reviews

• “I like Matilda…” by Vicki Weissman (New York Times)

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Awards

• Federation of Children’s Book Groups Award (UK 1988)
• Voted “Nation’s Favorite Children’s Book” in BBC Bookworm Poll (UK 1998)

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Articles

• “The dangerous transphobia of Roald Dahl’s Matilda” essay by Eliot Glenn 

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Criticism and Analysis

• Roald Dahl: The Master Of Darkness And Light
  • Written by J. L. Gargett
  • Description: “…The first essay discusses The BFG and Matilda in some detail, asserting that Dahl’s work for children deals in disturbing ideas…”
• “Child Giftedness as Class Weaponry: The Case of Roald Dahl’s Matilda“ 
  • Essay by Clémentine Beauvais published in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly
• “Chocolate and Honey: Disenfranchised Teachers and Children in Harry Potter and Matilda“ 
  • Essay by Jaquelin Elliott published on The Book Wars 
• “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Resistance and Complicity in Matilda“ 
  • Paper by Kristen Guest published in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 
• “Ideology in Children’s Literature: Critical Discourse Analysis of the Adult-Child Power Relation in Roald Dahl’s Matilda“
  • Thesis by Annelies Martens
• “Patriarchal Practices and Resistance in Roald Dahl’s Matilda“  (PDF)
  • Thesis by Erisa Anggraeni
• “Wish-fulfilment and subversion: Roald Dahl’s Dickensian Fantasy Matilda“ 
  • Paper by Dieter Petzold published in Children’s Literature in Education 

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Fun Stuff

Merchandise

• Elsewhere on the web:
  • Trivia quiz 

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Teacher Ideas

• Matilda – Educators’ Guide
  • PDF guide for educators to using Matilda in the Classroom, including chapter-by-chapter lessons plans and tie-in to Broadway musical
• Matilda – Lesson Plans
  • Several lesson plans for various chapters in the book, which develop various skills through wordplay, drama and many other methods
• Matilda – Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary
  • Includes excerpt from the text and interactive worksheet
• Matilda – Sorting Out Homophones
  • Lesson plan where students learn how to identify homophones in a reading passage and how to best use the Visual Thesaurus to help them decide on the appropriate homophones to complete quotations from the book
• Quick Student Workbooks
  • Designed to get students thinking critically about the text they read and provide a guided study format to facilitate in improved learning and retention

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Covers

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Penguin Readers Covers

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. Simplified story texts are combined with beautiful original illustrations for students aged 7 and above.

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Afrikaans Covers – Matilda

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Arabic Covers – ماتيلدا

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Basque Covers – Matilda

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Bulgarian Covers – Матилда

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Catalan Covers – Matilda

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Chinese Covers

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Czech Covers – Matylda

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Dutch Covers – Matilda

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Estonian Covers – Matilda

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French Covers – Matilda

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German Covers – Matilda

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Greek Covers – ΜΑΤΙΛΝΤΑ

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Hindi Covers

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Korean Covers – 마틸다

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Lithuanian Covers – Matilda

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Norwegian Covers – Matilda

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Polish Covers – Matylda

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Portuguese Covers – Matilda

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Russian Covers – Матильда

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Scots Covers – Matilda

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Serbian Covers – Matilda

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Slovakian Covers – Matilda

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Spanish Covers – Matilda

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Swedish Covers – Matilda

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Turkish Covers – Matilda

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Vietnamese Covers – Cô bé Matilda

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Welsh Covers – Matilda