Matilda

Sections: Information | Description | Reviews | Awards | Articles | Criticism and Analysis |Fun Stuff | Teacher Ideas | Covers | 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 full cast
  • Matilda read by Jenny Hanley
  • Matilda read by full cast
  • Matilda read by full cast
  • Matilda read by Kate Winslet
  • Matilda read by Ron Keith
  • Matilda read by Jean Marsh
  • Matilda read by Joely Richardson
  • Matilda read by Hella von Sinnen, Peter Fricke, Laura Maire, Johanna Burg, Gerd Köster, and more
  • Matilda read by Miriam Margolyes
  • Matilda read by Christian Ganon
  • 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:
  

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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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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