Chapter Book #7 - Matilda

Author: Roald Dahl

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Genre: Fiction

Sub genre: Picture Book

Theme: Reading, parents, school

Primary and secondary characters: The bats

Awards:

Publication Date: 1998

Publishing Company:  Puffin Books

     As a child one of my favorite movies was Matilda. So when I found this book I just had to look into it and recall the moments of my childhood I spent laughing and enjoying the movie. Of course, like any book and movie, the movie is a little different from the book. However they are both as charming and enjoyable to children. Matilda is a four year old who lives in a house with some of the most terrible, unloving parents a child could have. He parents even consider her "nothing more than a scab." When she enrolls in a primary school she has a principal who is just as bad. Even through all the craziness in her life Matilda is able to find happiness and joy in the books she finds at the public library and the sweet Miss Honey.
     I think this would be an excellent book to be read aloud in a classroom. The students would have fun reading it and using their imaginations. After each chapter they could break into groups to discuss the book or they could keep a journal about their feelings on each chapter. It would also be good to take a tour of a public library while this book is being read.