how to write a book review on matilda

Children's Book Reviews

Matilda by Roald Dahl – Book Review

Matilda is the world’s most famous bookworm, no thanks to her ghastly parents.

Her father thinks she’s a little scab. Her mother spends all afternoon playing bingo.

And her headmistress, Miss Trunchbull?

She’s the worst of all.

She’s a big bully, who thinks all her pupils are rotten and locks them in the dreaded Chokey.

Despite these beastly grownups trying to push her down, Matilda is an extraordinary girl with a magical mind.

And she’s had enough.

So all the terrible adults had better watch out, because she’s going to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget!

As a child, I was a massive Roald Dahl fan and spent hours with my nose in his books. At school, we had to read his older children’s work on his life, Boy and Going Solo. However, over the years I have noticed that I never actually read a few of his work, namely Danny the Champion of the World, The Witches, and Matilda.

This wasn’t something I really thought about recently until I saw it on Sarah Cox’s book show as one of the guests ‘Bring Your Own Book’ and she made it sound so appealing that I ordered it right away and then read it in a day. Why, oh why, did I ever leave it so long.

The book is for any bookworms no matter your age, it is a book about a bookish child. A child who loves all the classics. It is also a book about nasty people and how through being very clever from reading this little five-and-a-half-year-old Matilda gets her revenge.

The book is truly amazing. It was a beautiful, fun, energetic read and I fell in love with the little girl and want to spare her from these brutes that call themselves adults, including her parents who dislike their own child.

The copy I bought was the 30th-anniversary copy, mainly as I love a hardback book and partly because I loved the cover and the colour – yes I am that easily pleased.

Within the book is artwork by Quentin Blake who illustrated I think all of Roald Dahl’s work. He has a way with his artwork that not only brings the story to life but makes you laugh and connect with the characters too.

Part of me is glad that I never this book as a child as I got to appreciate it as an adult and part of me thinks I missed out on such a fabulous book that would have made me constantly giggle and frown.

Overall, this is a book that still after all these years works in today’s society. It was great fun to read and this edition would make a wonderful gift too.

Book Reviewer – Stacey

Purchase online from:, amazon.co.uk – amazon.com – amazon.in – apple books – blackwells – bookshop.org – waterstones, about the author.

The son of Norwegian parents, Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916 and educated at Repton. He was a fighter pilot for the RAF during World War Two, and it was while writing about his experiences during this time that he started his career as an author.

His fabulously popular children’s books are read by children all over the world. Some of his better-known works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.

He died in November 1990.

What did you think of Matilda? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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True Gossamer: A Wingless Fairy Tale by S.E. Page – Book Review

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I read this back when I was a kid. Great book.

Such a good book! I love the movie too.

I watched the movie, never read the book.

I love this curious child and this author – I love your thoughtful review

definitely one of my fav authors and books!!

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Matilda by Roald Dahl - review

The exceptional Matilda is about a smart, easily infuriated little girl who is misunderstood by her parents and loathed by the school's headmistress. On the other hand her kind and generous teacher, Miss Honey, thinks she is a brilliant academic genius. Matilda has a number of excellent schemes in her head to teach her nasty parents and headmistress a lesson.

Whilst Matilda is the novel's central character many readers will be drawn to the larger-than-life, extrovert, humourous and strangely likeable headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. Her unique reprimands to the children, with phrases such as 'blithering idiot' and 'stagnant cesspool' will leave you in stitches.

The novel is littered with excellent examples of Dahl's use of creative imagination to keep the reader's attention alive such as when Matilda uses her magical eyes to write a truthful message to the headmistress on the blackboard.

On a disappointing note for me, Quentin Blake's doodle-like illustrations failed to match Dahl's impressive and brilliant character descriptions.

Despite this Matilda is a fantastic and entertaining novel and I recommend it to children aged 7 – 12 and a must read for lovers of Roald Dahl . Four out of five stars!

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Friday 19 March 2010

Review: matilda.

The Literary Edit

Review: Matilda – Roald Dahl

When I first decided to work my way through the BBC’s Big Read , I wanted to do a thorough job – thus no half-hearted attempts or unfinished books are permitted. I’m sure that at some point during my childhood I read Matilda, but in the name of being thorough, when placing my most recent order on Amazon, I included Matilda in the line-up.

Without wanting to sound horribly tacky, the first thing that struck me about this book was the similarities between myself and Matilda. I may not have had the ghastly parents, but I did have a love of reading instilled in me from a very young age, much like the protagonist in this novel. Growing up in a small town in Sussex, I remember walking to my local library every Saturday aged seven and stocking up on books for the week; I can still recall the glee I felt when I was told that the borrowing limit had been extended from three books to seven. And while I certainly wasn’t reading Dickens, books absolutely played a big part in my childhood and have continued to do so throughout my adult life.

London’s Evening Standard has recently launched a literacy campaign hoping to ‘get London reading’ on the back of recently published statistics. One in four children under five have a TV in their bedroom, and one in five children leave primary school without being able to read properly. Thus, while this novel was published almost twenty-five years ago, it’s message is as poignant as ever.

The tale is a charming one; Matilda’s parents neither own nor have they read, a single book between them, indeed like much of modern society they spend their time slobbed in front of the TV and have no interest in reading. At school she is befriended by her teacher Miss Honey – the niece of the evil Headmistress Miss Trunchball – who discovers that Matilda has an incredible gift and is far ahead of her years in terms of intelligence. When Miss Honey tries to notify Matilda’s parents, they remain uninterested, as does Miss Trunchball. And thus forms an unlikely friendship between teacher and pupil, with a very happy ending.

About Matilda

Matilda Wormwood’s father thinks she’s a little scab. Matilda’s mother spends all afternoon playing bingo. And Matilda’s headmistress Miss Trunchbull? Well, she’s the worst of all. She is a big bully, who thinks all her pupils are rotten and locks them in the dreaded Chokey. As for Matilda, she’s an extraordinary little girl with a magical mind – and now she’s had enough. So all these grown-ups had better watch out, because Matilda is going to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget.

About Roald Dahl

He died in November 1990.

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4 comments on “Review: Matilda – Roald Dahl”

Even though I’m a bloke I completely identified with Matilda. This was something Roald Dahl always did brilliantly. His protagonists were always perfect for the young mind reading the book, a bit like how a horoscope can seem to resonate with you.

Hi – glad to hear it – I totally agree and think that Roald Dahl was fantastic at creating characters that readers could idetify with. Thanks for stopping by on my blog – let me know if you have any reading recommendations!

They just put out stamps dedicated to Roald Dahl books in the UK. They’re amazing. I’m kind of obsessed with his book The BFG.

Wow – they sound fab! The BFG is down on my reading list for next month so I’ll let you know what I think – Fantastic Mr Fox was my fae of his when I was younger 🙂

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Roald Dahl's Matilda . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Matilda: Introduction

Matilda: plot summary, matilda: detailed summary & analysis, matilda: themes, matilda: quotes, matilda: characters, matilda: symbols, matilda: theme wheel, brief biography of roald dahl.

Historical Context of Matilda

Other books related to matilda.

Full Title: Matilda
When Written: 1987
Where Written: England
When Published: 1988
Literary Period: Postmodernism
Genre: Children’s Novel; Fantasy
Setting: An English village
Climax: Matilda uses her secret power to make the Trunchbull believe that Miss Honey’s father’s ghost wants Mrs. Trunchbull to return the family home and fortune to Miss Honey.
Antagonist: Mrs. Trunchbull and Matilda’s Parents
Point of View: Third Person

Extra Credit for Matilda

Great Welshmen. Dahl and poet Dylan Thomas (whose poem “In Country Sleep” appears in Matilda ) are sometimes considered the best-known Welsh writers. Though the men never met, they were born only 40 miles and two years apart. Thomas died at age 39 (having already achieved fame and recognition for his poetry and radio work) not long after Dahl’s career took off, and Dahl developed a great love for Thomas’s poetry—one of Thomas’s poems was read at Dahl’s funeral.

Fixed It! Dahl wrote Matilda twice—and the first time, he wrote Matilda as the villain. He’s quoted in interviews as saying that he knew after finishing the first draft that he’d gotten Matilda wrong. The rewrite paid off: Matilda won the Federation of Children’s Book Group Award in 1988.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Kid genius gets revenge on mean adults in fun fantasy.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Children will learn some quick facts (titles, auth

Intelligence can matter more than brutal power, ev

Miss Trunchbull abuses Miss Honey and her students

Miss Trunchbull throws children out of windows, pi

There's a lot of name-calling directed from adults

Educational Value

Children will learn some quick facts (titles, author names, and some plot summaries) of great books that Matilda reads, including Burnett's The Secret Garden and Dickens' Great Expectations . They'll also learn what times tables are, and how to spell a few words, such as "what" and "difficulty."

Positive Messages

Intelligence can matter more than brutal power, even when power is wielded by a large adult over a small child.

Positive Role Models

Miss Trunchbull abuses Miss Honey and her students, and Matilda's relationship with her parents is one of mutual dislike. However, Miss Honey is a wonderfully warm and encouraging teacher. She's also very brave in her way, and she has the adult perspective to express how adult cruelty affects children. Matilda is a special young hero, avenging adult crimes with her marvelous brainpower. Of course, this is all in the context of Roald Dahl's fantastical imagination, so the physical abuse is cartoonish, and little children can't really do magic, yet there is much to admire in the genius of Matilda Wormwood.

Violence & Scariness

Miss Trunchbull throws children out of windows, picks them up and swings them around by their hair or ears, and locks a child in a tiny room with spikes protruding from the walls. She also has pushed a young girl's head underwater as punishment. Though no one is really injured in this fantastical novel, some sensitive youngsters may be upset by the Trunchbull's cruelty.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

There's a lot of name-calling directed from adults to kids, or between adults, including "stupid," "glob of glue," "ignorant little twit," "gangster," "useless bunch of midgets," and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Roald Dahl 's Matilda is about a brilliant, magical little girl who's miserable at home with her nasty, clueless parents and oppressed at school by her mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. However, Matilda finds a loving, kindred spirit in her teacher, Miss Honey, who values her pupil's amazing brain power. Miss Trunchbull inflicts mental cruelty and physical abuse on the students, including name-calling, tossing children out of windows, locking them in a closet lined with spiky nails, and spinning them around by their hair or ears. These exaggerated acts of malice are part of the fantasy, though, along with Matilda's magical mental tricks. This novel was made into a dark yet delightful 1996 movie , and it's available as an audiobook read beautifully by actress Kate Winslet .

Where to Read

Community reviews.

Parents say (19)
Kids say (77)

Based on 19 parent reviews

Kids are smarter than reviewers are giving them credit for...

Let's read matilda little girl has powers, what's the story.

MATILDA is the story of a little girl genius. By age 4, the title character has read all the books in the children's section of her local library, and moved on to Dickens, Austen, and Hemingway. She can also do advanced math in her head and has a sophisticated understanding of the world. Unfortunately her crooked car-dealer father and bingo-holic mother, TV addicts both, don't appreciate her at all. In fact, they "looked upon Matilda ... as nothing more than a scab." Matilda spends most of her time reading and the rest thinking up clever ways to punish them for their atrocious behavior, such as putting superglue into her father's hat brim, and swapping his hair tonic for peroxide. Things change when Matilda starts school. Crunchem Hall Primary School is run by the horrific Miss Trunchbull, "a gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster who frightened the life out of pupils and teachers alike." At the same time, Matilda is taken under the wing of her perfectly sweet teacher, Miss Honey, who needs the little girl as much as the student needs her. Getting back at the Trunchbull will be much more difficult, and dangerous, than punishing her parents, so Matilda's magnificent mind starts developing even more unbelievable talents!

Is It Any Good?

This classic book has been delighting kids and their parents since 1988, appealing both to readers' imaginations and to their sense of justice. The good in Matilda are all good, and the wicked get their comeuppance at the hands of giddy, delighted children. Precocious readers, like Matilda, will recognize in this novel's villainous characters some of the same qualities that define the bad children in what is probably author Roald Dahl's most famous work, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . Mean characters exhibit gluttony and greed, watch too much television, and cheat to get what they want. Good characters are lovable, smart, and triumphant. Matilda is a wonderful romp -- a great read-aloud for young children, and a mild challenge for middle graders to read themselves. Either way, it's tons of fun and immensely satisfying.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the idea of revenge in Matilda . Is it right for Matilda to play tricks on her parents and Miss Trunchbull?

Do you think any real person can do magical tricks like Matilda does?

If you had Matilda's powers to move things with your mind, how would you use them?

Book Details

Author : Roald Dahl
Illustrator : Quentin Blake
Genre : Fantasy
Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Penguin Group
Publication date : May 8, 2005
Number of pages : 240
Last updated : June 10, 2015

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James and the Giant Peach

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Book Review: Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda by roald dahl.

Reviewer: Lin Ding aged 7

The main characters in this book are Matilda, Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull. I liked Matilda because she was very wise and curious and I liked Miss Honey because she was helpful and kind.

Matilda is a little girl who loves reading. She has superpower eyes. She can use them for lifting and breaking things. She protected the other children in the class from Miss Trunchbull and she helped Miss Honey get her mansion back. At the end she defeated the evil Miss Trunchbull and it is a really happy ending (but you need to read the book to find out what happens).

This book is amazing. There is a lot of fantastic creative imagination. My favourite part was when Matilda poured the water all over Miss Trunchbull to make her swallow the lizard that was in the water. It was super funny. I learnt kindness, bravery and diligence from Matilda.

I strongly recommend this book to all children from ages 7 to 12 I believe they will enjoy the funny story.

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Falling in Love with Reading & Roald Dahl’s Matilda | 25 Years of Matilda

Penguin Teen: I think it’s safe to say that Matilda falls head over heels in love with books. She takes a wagon to gather them from the library. She hides away in her room and reads them for hours. She loves the worlds, the knowledge, the writing. What was it like for you to fall in love with books for the first time? Was it similar to Matilda’s experience? Do you remember reading Matilda for the first time?

Bianca Schulze: For me, falling in love with books could be compared with a romantic comedy in which a woman awakens one day only to realize that the boy she’s always considered her best friend is actually the man she wants to marry. Books have always been accessible to me: my mom read to me as a child, my mom read her own books in front of me and would disappear into the pages for hours, and I have had a library card for as long as I can remember—and lots of late fees too. However, it wasn’t until I became a parent that I realized that these objects full of words were a lifelong passion—I had always enjoyed books, but I was now officially “in love” with books.

I never considered myself a bookworm, but reflecting back to my childhood years I have some very fond memories that involve books and that would indicate I was always destined to be a lover of books:

I used to build homes for Barbie out of Golden Books.
I would spend entire recess and lunch breaks searching for Waldo in the Where’s Waldo? books.
I dreamed of running my own babysitting club just like the characters in Ann M. Martin’s series The Baby-sitters Club .
I listened to many books on tape— The Wizard of Oz book on tape scared me, but I tortured myself regularly with the flying monkeys and dramatic background music.
I also, of course, delighted in the wonderfully wicked worlds that Roald Dahl created in his books.

I can whole-heartedly say that my experience of falling in love with books was similar to Matilda’s: Once I realized how much I love to read, I immersed myself in literature—I even went as far as creating this blog! I only wish that I had realized how much I enjoyed the company of books as early as Matilda did—she’s a little genius! Now, perhaps if I had actually read Matilda as a child, it’s possible I would have connected the dots and found my calling as a literature enthusiast much sooner—perhaps I’d even be a published author.

Throughout my childhood, I read many of Dahl’s other books: James and the Giant Peach , Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator , Fantastic Mr. Fox , The Witches , The Twits (my second favorite) and (my favorite) Revolting Rhymes . Dahl’s talent lies within his power to create poignant satire—his ability to touch the hearts of young readers through absurdity is unmarked. This is why I am so thrilled to introduce Roald Dahl to my seven-year-old with the book loving character Matilda. I will always remember the first time I read Matilda because I’m currently sharing this moment with my daughter who so clearly is already in love with books. I know I am creating a lifelong reader and, with any luck, a reader that will continue to have a wickedly good sense of humor. Thank you Roald Dahl (forever in my reading heart) for your creative writing and thank you Matilda for empowering young girls to be knowledgeable and brave!

About Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a job that would take him to “a wonderful faraway place.” In 1933 he joined the Shell Company, which sent him to Mombasa in East Africa. When World War II began in 1939 he became a fighter pilot and in 1942 was made assistant air attaché in Washington, where he started to write short stories. His first major success as a writer for children was in 1964. Thereafter his children’s books brought him increasing popularity, and when he died children mourned the world over. Matilda was published just two years before he died. Quentin Blake, the first Children’s Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated most of Roald Dahl’s children’s books.

Book Overview

Matilda is a genius. Unfortunately, her family treats her like a dolt. Her crooked car-salesman father and loud, bingo-obsessed mother think Matilda’s only talent is as a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in their miserable lives. But it’s not long before the sweet and sensitive child decides to fight back. Faced with practical jokes of sheer brilliance, her parents don’t stand a chance. Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

Just saw the musical in New York about a month ago. It was hilarious. Miss Trunchbull was the star of the show for sure. No one can do absurd, sweet and dark all at the same time quite like Dahl.

I’m so envious that you have watched the musical!! I really hope to see it sometime.

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Home › Book Reviews › Book Review: Matilda by Roald Dahl

Book Review: Matilda by Roald Dahl

By georgelthomas on 22 Sep 2023 • ( 0 )

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another review . Today, I am reviewing one of my favourite books: Matilda by Roald Dahl .

Matilda by Roald Dahl was first published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape and is 239 pages long.

The Plot Matilda tells the story of a young, intelligent girl named Matilda who develops telekinetic powers, using them to punish one terrible teacher while helping another.

Characters Matilda Wormwood Matilda is a precocious five-year-old girl with a love for reading and learning that surpasses that of her neglectful parents, who believe children should not waste their time reading. In one instance, her father even tears up one of her library books, causing her to take revenge by setting up some clever practical jokes.

Later, when she attends school (she starts late because her parents forgot to make the appropriate arrangements), she is wrongly blamed for putting a newt in mean headmistress Miss Trunchbull’s water. Matilda gets so mad at being wrongly accused and discovers she has a gift, suddenly finding she can move things with her eyes, tipping over the glass of water and causing the newt to jump on Miss Trunchbull.

With the help of her lovely, kind teacher Miss Honey, Matilda learns to harness her telekinetic powers, deciding to use them to help improve her life.

Miss Honey Miss Honey, Matilda’s school teacher, immediately sees Matilda’s intelligence and compassion and is instrumental in advocating for her. She is a kind-hearted mentor who believes in her students and works to help them achieve their full potential. Miss Honey is a model of kindness, gentleness, and patience and is adored by her students. Throughout the book, she is a ceaseless support to Matilda in learning to harness her telekinetic gift and intelligence, with the two forming a close bond , becoming so close that Miss Honey confides in Matilda about her harsh upbringing.

Miss Trunchbull Miss Trunchbull is the strict headmistress of Matilda’s school (and without giving too much away, a lot more). Miss Trunchbull is a terrifying authoritarian figure with strict rules and a strong dislike for children. She is imposingly tall and muscular, having once been an Olympian, and has a brutal reputation for corporal punishment. Her punishments are often cruel and humiliating, and she is notorious for her explosive temper.

Trunchball takes an immediate dislike to Matilda because she hates intelligent children. As a matter of fact, in her ideal school, there would be no children at all.

Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood Mr. And Mrs. Wormwood are Matilda’s parents and are neglectful, selfish, and unrepentantly ignorant. Their interests lie more in watching TV and engaging in shady car deals than caring for their daughter. They see education as pointless and do not believe in reading or academic achievements. Mr Wormwood hates that Matilda is intelligent and thinks his son to be superior, even though all the evidence points to the opposite. Mrs Wormwood seems to be a little less awful to her daughter, though only slightly. She seems to care more about bingo than her children and tends to agree with her husband on most things, especially regarding their hatred of books.

Lavender Lavender is one of Matilda’s classmates, a mischievous and adventurous girl who becomes Matilda’s good friend, helping her manoeuvre around the harsh school environment. Lavender is the one who puts the newt in Miss Trunchbull’s drinking water in a moment of self-confidence and defiance.

Bruce Bogtrotter Bruce is one of the students at Matilda’s school. At one point, he is accused of stealing a slice of cake from Miss Trunchbull’s tea tray in the kitchen, a crime she sees fit to punish him for in front of the whole school. Gathering all the students together, Miss Trunchbull calls Bruce to the front of the room, where she doles out his infamous punishment: forcing him to eat an entire, giant chocolate cake. It’s clear Trunchbull intends for the boy to be sick or for him to be unable to finish eating the cake – but Bruce defies her expectations and finishes the lot to the sound of every student cheering him on. It’s one of the more memorable scenes in the story.

Writing Style One of the most notable aspects of Dahl’s writing style in general, but especially in Matilda is his use of his descriptions. Here, he paints a clear picture of Matilda’s world; from the oppressive atmosphere of her home to the empty, bare-bones feel of Miss Honey’s cottage, his descriptions are not only rich in detail but also appeal to the senses, making the reader feel as though they are right alongside the characters.

Another thing that shines through is his use of humour. Despite the heavy nature of some themes in the book, some of which are rather dark, such as neglect and mistreatment, and even the suggestion of a suicide at one point, Dahl manages to infuse the story with lightness and whimsy that keeps the tone from becoming too heavy.

Additionally, as with many of Roald Dahl’s books, he expertly captures and conveys the world from the point of view of a child. He writes with empathy and understanding of how children interpret the world around them, including how adults seem so mysterious and inexplicable. This gives the book an authentic and relatable feel, making it all the more enjoyable.

Illustrations The illustrations done by Dahl’s long-time collaborator, Quentin Blake, are an integral part of the reading experience of Roald Dahl’s books, adding depth and dimension to his fantastic stories.

In Matilda, Blake’s illustrations are instantly recognizable, and his drawing style perfectly complements Dahl’s whimsical writing. Every page is filled with his simple yet brilliantly drawn pictures, perfectly capturing the playful and mischievous spirit of the story. Their exaggerated expressions and gestures work particularly well here. From Matilda’s steely determination to Miss Trunchbull’s manic rage, and even the scenes where Matilda glues a hat to her father’s head and then tricks him into dying his hair, the illustrations perfectly portray the emotions of each character, making the story all the more engaging.

Final Thoughts I have read Matilda several times over the years. It has been a great escape from the world for me, and it has also been a go-to to read to my nephews when they were growing up.

Overall, it is a classic story that should be on the reading list of all children (and grown-ups, for that matter). It is a testament to the power of imagination, kindness, and determination and a reminder that hope exists even in the bleakest circumstances.

I am giving Matilda an 8/10.

Have you read Matilda or seen any of its adaptations? What did you think of them?

As ever, thanks for stopping by. It really means the world.

Until next time,

Themes and Analysis

By roald dahl.

'Matilda' by Roald Dahl is jam-packed with intriguing themes which range from exploring the power of books to righteousness and bravery.

Article written by Neesha Thunga K

B.A. in English Literature, and M.A. in English Language and Literature.

The writing style of the story is simple yet playful and funny. The use of the first-person narrative point of view adds flavor to the story . The story also introduces certain important symbols to the reader, including the chocolate cake and the newt in the glass of water.

Matilda Themes

In this section, we will be exploring some significant themes within Roald Dahl’s ‘ Matilda ,’ including the power of books, righteousness, and magic.

The Power of Books

Right from the beginning, we are told that Matilda loves reading. When she finishes reading the one book in her house, she asks for more books from her father. However, Matilda’s parents do not think much of reading. They also do not understand the importance of education or the power of knowledge. They prefer to watch television instead. As such, the contract between those who watch television and those who read books is stark in the book. Matilda, a voracious reader, is smart, witty, and highly resourceful. However, the rest of her family is vain and superficial. Not only this, but her parents are also shown as crooks who deal with criminals and commit fraud.

Righteousness

Matilda seems to know what is right and what is wrong without her parents teaching her. When she finds out about her father’s (Mr. Wormwood) car business, she understands that he is tricking people. She calls him out on this. However, when she is not listened to, she pulls out her own brand of justice in the form of pranks. This theme continues even when she learns about the plight of Miss Honey. Deeply disturbed by the injustice of the situation with Miss Honey and her aunt, Miss Trunchbull, Matilda decides to take matters into her own hands. She uses a deep-rooted sense of righteousness, resilience, and creativity to help her teacher, Miss Honey, win back her inheritance.

There is a touch of the supernatural in ‘ Matilda .’ The protagonist of the story can move objects with her mind. Miss Honey speculates that this phenomenon occurs since Matilda’s brain is not challenged enough to use up all of the brain juices. As a result, she can perform what is generally known as telekinesis. In the novel, these acts are termed “miracles.” These miracles disappear when Matilda’s mind is challenged with schoolwork in an advanced class. In a way, the miracles performed by Matilda teach children to use their minds in productive ways.

Analysis of Key Moments in Matilda

Matilda Wormwood is a child genius born to unpleasant parents. She can speak like an adult at 5 years old and teaches herself to read.
Matilda reads classic novels at the local library with the help of a kind librarian.
She understands that her father is a dishonest car salesman and calls him out on his thieving ways.
Her father gets angry and calls her ignorant and stupid. Matilda gets back at him by playing a bunch of pranks.
At school, Matilda meets a caring and loving teacher named Miss Honey. Miss Honey tries to put her into an advanced class.
The headmistress of the school, Miss Trunchbull, does not allow this. She is mean and unpleasant towards students and punishes them in abusive ways.
Matilda’s friend, Lavender, pranks Miss Trunchbull by putting a newt into her glass of water.
Miss Trunchbull wrongly accuses Matilda of the prank, which makes her angry. She uses her mind to tip the glass of water along with the newt onto Miss Trunchbull.
Matilda confides in Miss Honey about her powers. Miss Honey, in turn, tells Matilda that she is poor because Miss Trunchbull, her aunt, has taken away her inheritance.
Matilda practices her powers and uses them to write a threatening message to Miss Trunchbull on the blackboard.
Miss Trunchbull leaves town and gives Miss Honey back her inheritance.
Matilda is moved to an advanced class and loses her powers.
One day, she arrives home to find her parents packing for Spain. They tell her that they are not coming back.
Matilda finds out that her father is a crook who is now on the run. She asks her father if she can stay behind with Miss Honey. Her parents agree and drive away.

Writing Style and Tone

Roald Dahl has adopted a simple and clear writing style for ‘ Matilda .’ The sentences are shorter than normal, and the words used are basic and simple. Being a work of children’s literature, this kind of writing style makes comprehension easy for young children in terms of the plot and Matilda’s journey.

Nearly every weekday afternoon Matilda was left alone in the house. Her brother (five years older than her) went to school. Her father went to work and her mother went out playing bingo in a town eight miles away. Mrs. Wormwood was hooked on bingo and played it five afternoons a week. ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl

The tone of the story is cheerful and optimistic. It is playful, funny, and sarcastic at times as well. Roald Dahl engages his young audience by using exaggerations and hyperbole. The use of the third-person narrator’s point of view brings an additional voice into the story, helping the readers with new opinions and perspectives.

Symbols and Motifs

In this section, we will be exploring some important symbols and motifs within Roald Dahl’s story of ‘ Matilda ,’ including the chocolate cake and the newt.

The Chocolate Cake

When Bruce Bogtrotter is caught stealing from the kitchen, he is made to eat an entire chocolate cake by Principal Trunchbull. While this was supposed to be an act of public embarrassment for Bruce, it turns into a source of humiliation for Miss Trunchbull herself. This is because Bruce can finish off the entire cake without becoming nauseated as Headmistress Miss Trunchbull had hoped. Thus, the chocolate cake becomes a symbol of hope in the face of adversity for the students. It tells them that they are capable of standing up to the terror of Miss Trunchbull’s reign.

The Newt

Lavender pranks Miss Trunchbull by putting a newt into her glass of water. The newt in the water is extremely important as it exposes Miss Trunchbull in two ways. Firstly, it demonstrates her lack of knowledge, as she is unable to identify a newt. Secondly, it also shows that Miss Trunchbull is not as frightening as she appears to be. She is afraid of a tiny reptile such as a newt – a reptile that Lavender had no trouble picking up with her bare hands. Not only this, but it is with the incidence of the newt that Matilda’s powers are finally awakened. Matilda then uses her powers to correct injustices.

What are the symbols in ‘ Matilda ‘?

There are numerous symbols in ‘ Matilda ‘ that enrich one’s reading experience. The chocolate cake, for instance, which Bruce Bogtrotter is forced to eat by Miss Trunchbull, is a potent symbol of hope for the students in ‘Crunchem.’ It is a mammoth obstacle, yet Bruce is able to conquer it, thereby providing hope to the rest of the students to stand up to the mean and frightening principal.

What is the overall message of ‘ Matilda ‘?

When Roald Dahl first published the book ‘ Matilda ‘ in 1988, the television was the biggest invention taking over the world. Roal Dahl, therefore, wrote ‘ Matilda ‘ as a message to kids around the world to discover the magic of reading books again.

What is the main theme of ‘ Matilda ‘?

The main theme of ‘ Matilda ‘ is standing up for the right things in life. Roald Dahl intended ‘ Matilda ‘ to inspire children across the world to stand up for themselves in the face of ‘big, scary adults’ and be carriers of justice.

What does ‘ Matilda ‘ teach kids?

‘ Matilda ‘ teaches kids to believe in themselves and to use their agency in the world to make a difference. It teaches kids not to blindly believe everything that adults tell them. Instead, ‘ Matilda ‘ inspires children to think for themselves.

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About Neesha Thunga K

Neesha, born to a family of avid readers, has devoted several years to teaching English and writing for various organizations, making an impact on the literary community.

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Matilda: Book Review (Roald Dahl)

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

12 February 2021

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Book Review worksheet concentrating on summarising, forming opinions and concluding on Matilda by Roald Dahl.

UK and US versions included

In this book review, children are asked to summarise the main parts of the story, give their opinion on the story as a whole, state the funniest, scariest and favourite parts, rate the story from 1-5, explain if they would recommend the book, and discuss who their favourite and least favorite characters were.

This works great as a post-text exercise, and also works as a movie review if you are following the feature film instead. Reviewing books helps children know that it’s okay to like or dislike a book, and also allows them to work out what their favorite genres are.

Included in this download:

UK and US versions of PDF and Word documents
PDF version of the book review
.docx Word document version of the book review for editing purposes
‘Lost in Chalk’ font to help you edit the resource and keep the style

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Tangled but celebrating, matilda by roald dahl: book review.

Book: Matilda

Author: Roald Dahl

Publication: Penguin Random House

Price: Rs. 295

Plot: Matilda, a 3-year-old girl who taught herself how to read. By the age of 4, she could read newspapers and magazines at her home. But there were no books in her house, except one, a cooking book, which she has already read. So one day, she asked her father if he can buy her some books. To this, her father said, “What’s wrong with the telly, for heaven’s sake? We’ve got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen and now you come asking for a book! You’re getting spoiled, my girl!’

But Matilda was convinced that she wants to read. Every afternoon, she is alone at home. So, she decided to go to the Public Library one afternoon. She met the Librarian there, Mrs Phelps. Mrs Phelps was astonished to see a young girl on her own, but welcomed her and showed her where children’s books are. Since then, Matilda would always come to the library and read. She has not only read children’s books but also many adults’ books. She is a fast reader, and an intelligent girl too.

The day came when she was admitted to the school. She was happy because she would be able to meet new people and make friends. At her home, her parents were always rude to her, calling her ‘stupid’ and whatnot. In school, she met a lovely teacher, Miss Honey, who was an ideal parent-like figure for her. Matilda loved her and enjoyed her classes. But she hated the headmistress Miss Trunchbull. Miss Trunchbull loves torturing children and for her, Matilda is a ‘nasty little worm.’

Matilda wanted her parents to love her, to appreciate her for her intellect, but all she got from them was rebukes and shunning. She hated Miss Trunchbull as she always ill-treated students in the school and Matilda’s favourite teacher, Miss Honey, too. One day during her school Matilda find out that she has some special powers. She can do magic using her eyes. So she decided to teach a lesson to her parents and Miss Trunchbull.

What is the lesson, and what do you think a little girl, Matilda would do? To know that, you have to pick this book up and read it.

My Views: It was very easy for me to fall in love with Matilda. She is funny, witty, mischievous and intelligent. I found her adorable.

There were times when I laughed hard at some of the scenes in the book. The book instantly took me back to my childhood days. The author’s imagination is so childlike, the gardens, school, Matilda’s house, the way he has explained all these places is beautiful and like drawings, I would make as a child.

There are characters like Matilda’s parents and Miss Trunchbull whom anyone can hate. And then there is Matilda, a little, naughty girl with her ‘superpowers’ who is nothing but endearing.

Coming to the writing style, I find the book easy. I think any child who can read would find this book easy and would love this book. Moreover, it is an illustrated book, so illustrations can really help to engage children more.

I have read many children’s book, but there is none where the author has such vivid imagination, it was like as if I am watching a cartoon show. This book would definitely bring out the inner child in you, and with it, the hope, that everything will be fine in the end.

It is a great book for children, I think perfect for 9-13 years old. So any teacher and parent looking forward to buying a new book for their classroom or child can go for this book.

Finally, I would say, I loved reading this book, it took me to a humorous, mysterious and an adventurous world of Matilda.

Recommendations: If you are looking for a light and fun read, then go for this book. This book helped me in overcoming my reading slump. And as said, earlier it is perfect for children.

Ratings: 4/5

If you are looking forward to reading more children’s book, then give this post a read. It is a book review of one of the Ruskin Bond’s children’s books.

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Mar 29

17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

Should you become a book reviewer?

Find out the answer. Takes 30 seconds!

What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book.
A book review will offer an evaluation of the work.
A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience.

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

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Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim. To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Hopefully, this post has given you a better idea of how to write a book review. You might be wondering how to put all of this knowledge into action now! Many book reviewers start out by setting up a book blog. If you don’t have time to research the intricacies of HTML, check out Reedsy Discovery — where you can read indie books for free and review them without going through the hassle of creating a blog. To register as a book reviewer , go here .

And if you’d like to see even more book review examples, simply go to this directory of book review blogs and click on any one of them to see a wealth of good book reviews. Beyond that, it's up to you to pick up a book and pen — and start reviewing!

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Matilda’s Powers Explained & Where They Came From

Matilda is a beloved children's book that has had a lasting impact, with millions of copies sold and two successful film adaptations.
The original concept for Matilda was much darker, featuring a mischievous and manipulative main character who used her powers for personal gain.
Matilda's powers are telekinesis, but they differ slightly in the book.

While Matilda proves charming in its portrait of a bright young girl who gains magical powers, the extent and origin of these powers isn’t necessarily clear. Roald Dahl’s Matilda is widely considered one of the greatest children’s books ever written. Not only has the novel sold over 17 million copies, it has also seen two major films which are now considered among the best Roald Dahl movies . The story follows young Matilda Wormwood, a clever, book-loving young girl who finds herself neglected and abused at home and school, until she discovers magical powers that allow her to turn the tables on the cruel authority figures in her life.

Despite the work’s massive and enduring popularity, Matilda almost looked very different. Roald Dahl originally conceived the book with a much more cynical edge. In his early drafts, Dahl envisaged Matilda as a wicked and opportunistic child who causes trouble for her kind-hearted parents and uses her magical powers to help an unethical teacher cheat at horse racing (via Oakland Press ). It was Dahl’s editor who pushed the author to dramatically rewrite the story. In the end, Dahl restarted the novel from scratch, keeping only the core concept of a young girl who gains magical powers. It’s worth looking into just what those magical powers mean.

What Matilda's Supernatural Powers Are

In 1996’s Matilda , as well as in the novel and the musical, Matilda’s main power is telekinesis. Her powers first materialize when she becomes angered at the injustice of Miss Trunchbull’s rule, and uses her mind to tip over a glass of water with a newt in it. As the narrative progresses, her powers grow stronger. She hones her abilities by practicing with her father’s cigar, and before long, she’s able to blow up her family’s TV, levitate a room full of objects, and even summon the dexterity needed to telekinetically write a message with a piece of chalk.

Matilda’s powers are different in the book , where they are less reliant on Matilda’s emotional state and are limited to an object she’s directly concentrating on. In the 1996 movie, Matilda struggles to demonstrate her powers to Miss Honey when she’s not feeling angry, and there’s no limit to what she can do. In the musical, Matilda’s psychic powers also allow her to access the memories of Miss Honey. A story she tells about an acrobat and an escapologist turns out to be the true story of Miss Honey’s parents. It’s unclear whether Matilda can do this with everyone, or whether she shares a unique connection with Miss Honey.

RELATED: How Old Matilda Is In The Movie & Musical

Matilda's Genius Intellect Seemingly Gave Her Magical Powers

Matilda never fully explains how and why Matilda’s powers suddenly appeared, although the most plausible explanation comes from Miss Honey in the original novel. It’s clear that the young Matilda is a genius. At just 6 and a half (or 5 and a half in Roald Dahl’s story), Matilda is tearing through literary classics such as Moby Dick and already has an understanding of complex multiplication. Miss Honey theorizes that Matilda’s powerful brain is under-stimulated due to her poor schooling and TV-centric home life, so this unused potential manifests in psychic energy.

Why Matilda Ends Up Losing Her Powers

While it doesn’t happen in the 1996 movie or the Matilda musical , the ending of Roald Dahl’s original novel sees Matilda losing her powers. In light of Miss Honey’s theory that Matilda’s powers come from her under-stimulated brain, it makes sense that they would begin to fade after Miss Honey moves her up to year 6, where her genius mind can be properly challenged. In the 1996 movie, Matilda has less need for her powers, but there’s no indication that they go away. However, there’s also another, deeper theory behind Matilda’s powers.

At first, the young Matilda’s abilities only seem to become activated during moments of heightened emotion, particularly anger and injustice. Her powers first appear while Miss Trunchbull is giving a speech about her unquestionable, god-like authority. It would seem that the neglected and abused Matilda’s powers manifest as a reaction to her sense of powerlessness. One particularly touching scene in the film sees Matilda use her telekinesis to fix herself a bowl of cereal, something her uncaring parents would never do for her. At the end of Matilda , she’s adopted by Miss Honey, finally finding herself in a loving household where she doesn’t need her powers.

Source: The Oakland Press

Matilda’s Powers Explained & Where They Came From

10 rules for reading from someone who does it for a living

Where to read, when to read and why you need a pencil in hand: The Post’s Michael Dirda offers some advice from his years as a critic.

How do you read a book? Like most people, I still decipher the meaning of words printed on sheets of paper bound together, but you may prefer to peer at pixels on a screen or listen through ear buds to a favorite narrator. They are all reading, in my book. Each of us, I think, seeks what the critic Roland Barthes called “the pleasure of the text,” though finding delight in what we read doesn’t necessarily mean a steady diet of romance novels and thrillers. Scholarly works, serious fiction, poetry, a writer’s distinctive prose style — all of these deliver their own kinds of textual pleasure.

As someone who has been lucky enough to earn his living in the rarefied world of book reviewing, I’ve gradually developed reading-related habits as part of my work. Some of them — listed below — may even be similar to yours. At the least, I hope a few of my customary routines and practices will be useful in your own reading life.

Be choosy, but not too choosy

I spend a lot of time, often way too much, dithering about what to read next. A book has to fit my mood or even the season. Spooky stories are for winter, comic novels for spring. What’s more, I like to mix it up, the old with the new, a literary biography this week, a science fiction classic the next. I can adjust my expectations up or down — you don’t read Thomas Mann’s “Doctor Faustus” in the same way you read Ian Fleming ’s “Dr. No.” — but the book must be, on some level, exciting. I try to avoid wasting time on anything that leaves me indifferent. As Jesus memorably told the Laodiceans: “Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

Editions matter

In my youth, I could read paperbacks printed in tiny type on pages you could see through. No more. These days, I opt for hardcovers whenever possible, if only because they’re generally easier on aging eyes. For classics, I want a good scholarly edition; for translated works, I try to acquire the best English version. This just makes sense. As a reviewer, I often work with a galley or advance reading copy of a forthcoming title, but these are simply tools of the trade. I generally don’t keep them. I want the finished book.

Check the small stuff

Before turning to Chapter 1, I glance at a book’s cover art, check out the author’s dust jacket biography and photo, and read through the back page endorsements. Unlike many people, I pay close attention to copyright dates, introductions, dedications, acknowledgments and bibliographies. All these provide hints to the kind of book one is dealing with.

When to read

Mine is a simple system: I read from morning till bedtime, with breaks for my job, family, meetings with friends, exercise, household chores and periodic review of my life’s greatest blunders. On the days I don’t read, I write. As I say, it’s a simple system. Many people complain that they have no time for books, yet somehow they manage to spend three or more hours a day watching television or scrolling through social media on their phones. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Where to read

Even though I know better, I still read more often than not while sprawled in an overstuffed armchair or on an old couch. You probably do something similar. Not only ergonomically bad, these soft options invite dozing. Realistically, the best place to read is at a table or desk with lots of good light. Other good locations include the public library, an outside table at a coffee shop away from background music and other customers, and the quiet car on the train to New York. In truth, though, don’t expect to find an ideal place to read. Trust me: You never will. Instead, as the Nike slogan says, Just Do It.

Don’t read in a vacuum

To read any book well often requires knowledge of its author, context, history. So I surround myself, when possible or appropriate, with collateral texts to help me better appreciate the writer’s artistry or arguments. These can be biographies, volumes of criticism, competing titles on the same subject or, most basically, other books by the same author. For example, if I’m reading E. Nesbit’s “Five Children and It,” I want to have the sequels, “The Phoenix and the Carpet” and “The Story of the Amulet,” close at hand for possible comparison. This is one justification for building a personal library. I also keep within easy reach a notebook, magnifying glass and Chambers 20th Century Dictionary. Other reference books are shelved near where I type these words.

Attention must be paid

As I read, I do all I can to live up to Henry James’s dictum: “Be one on whom nothing is lost.” This vigilance means that I seldom lose myself in the story, which is the devil’s bargain I made by becoming a professional reviewer. As it is, I track the clues in whodunits and the symbolic events or objects in literary fiction. I note oddities of style, repetitions, possible foreshadowings and anomalies that might be meaningful. I frequently flip back to previous pages to check details. In every way, then, I try to make my first reading as intensive and comprehensive as possible, knowing I may not pass this way again.

Be prepared to take notes

I can’t open a book without a pencil either in my hand or nestled conveniently in that space between my right ear and skull. For a long time, my weapon of choice was a No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil, but it now tends to be a Paper Mate disposable mechanical pencil. As a boy, I took to heart the lessons of Mortimer J. Adler’s essay “How to Mark a Book.” I place two or three vertical lines next to key passages, scribble notes to myself in the margins, sometimes make longer comments on the blank end papers. I never underline words or phrases — this seems too much like sophomoric highlighting, plus it just looks ugly. All these practices serve one end: to keep me actively engaged mentally with the words on the page. For the same reason, I scorn bookmarks: If you can’t remember where you stopped reading, you haven’t been paying close enough attention.

Make some noise

I don’t skim or speed read, though I envy people, like the late Harold Bloom, who can zip through a novel in 20 minutes. When I try to pick up my own reading pace, I end up constantly flogging myself not to slow down. Where’s the fun in that? Woody Allen once said that he’d taken a speed-reading course and had finished “War and Peace” in half an hour; he gathered that it was about Russia. As an exceptionally slow reader, I mentally murmur every word on the page, which allows me to savor the author’s style and to remember what he or she has said. Sometimes I also pause to copy a striking passage into my commonplace book. Here’s a fairly recent example from the poet John Ashbery: “I am aware of the pejorative associations of the word ‘escapist,’ but I insist that we need all the escapism we can get and even that isn’t going to be enough.”

Find a shelf

After finishing a book, I tend to keep it. While not a frequent rereader, I do like to refresh my acquaintance with old favorites, if only by opening one up occasionally to enjoy a page or a passage. When I look at my living room’s bookcases, while sleepily sipping coffee in the morning, I see not only my past laid out before me but also my future: Someday I will read David Cecil’s “Melbourne,” a biography of the Victorian prime minister that was said to be John F. Kennedy’s favorite book. Someday, I will get to — hangs head in shame — Willa Cather’s “The Professor’s House.” Other shelves remind me of the books I want to reread: Angela Carter’s “Nights at the Circus,” Dawn Powell’s “The Locusts Have No King,” Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” Frederick Exley’s “A Fan’s Notes.”

Long ago, one of my teachers in high school told me that he didn’t feel right unless he spent at least three hours a day reading. This seemed incredible to me then. Not anymore.

More from Book World

Love everything about books? Make sure to subscribe to our Book Club newsletter , where Ron Charles guides you through the literary news of the week.

Check out our coverage of this year’s Pulitzer winners: Jayne Anne Phillips won the fiction prize for her novel “ Night Watch .” The nonfiction prize went to Nathan Thrall, for “ A Day in the Life of Abed Salama .” Cristina Rivera Garza received the memoir prize for “ Liliana’s Invincible Summer .” And Jonathan Eig received the biography prize for his “ King: A Life .”

Best books of 2023: See our picks for the 10 best books of 2023 or dive into the staff picks that Book World writers and editors treasured in 2023. Check out the complete lists of 50 notable works for fiction and the top 50 nonfiction books of last year.

Find your favorite genre: Three new memoirs tell stories of struggle and resilience, while five recent historical novels offer a window into other times. Audiobooks more your thing? We’ve got you covered there, too . If you’re looking for what’s new, we have a list of our most anticipated books of 2024 . And here are 10 noteworthy new titles that you might want to consider picking up this April.

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Matilda, by Roald Dahl
Book Review of Matilda. 4 min. Matilda was the last long kids' book that Roald Dahl wrote before he passed away in 1990. When Dahl first wrote the book, she was a wicked child and very different from how she is now known to readers worldwide. Matilda is a very kind-hearted character—she's a gifted, intelligent, book-loving five-year-old ...
Matilda Review: Roald Dahl's Magical Children's Novel
4.4. Matilda Review. ' Matilda ' is a children's novel written by Roald Dahl and published in 1988. The novel follows the story of a young 5-year-old girl, Matilda, who has a mature intellect as well as magical abilities to move objects with her mind. Matilda encounters several bullies in her life, which include her parents and ...
Matilda by Roald Dahl
ISBN-13 - 978-0241378694. Format - ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio. Review by - Stacey. Rating - 5 Stars. This post contains affiliate links. Matilda is the world's most famous bookworm, no thanks to her ghastly parents. Her father thinks she's a little scab. Her mother spends all afternoon playing bingo.
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Published in 1988, ' Matilda ' is Roald Dahl's long children's book. It took almost 2 years for Dahl to complete the novel. Though the writing is simple and to the point, ' Matilda was a work of labor.'. Dahl famously rewrote the entire novel because he was unhappy with the first version. Lucy Dahl, Roald Dahl's daughter, received ...
Matilda Summary
The book is loved by children across the world and is appreciated for the magical tone of its writing. The popularity of 'Matilda' has grown over the ages, and the plot of the story grows more and more relevant as time passes. Spoiler-free Summary of Matilda. Matilda Wormwood is a little girl who is extremely mature for her age.
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The novel is littered with excellent examples of Dahl's use of creative imagination to keep the reader's attention alive such as when Matilda uses her magical eyes to write a truthful message to ...
Kids' Book Review: Review: Matilda
This story is beautifully heartwarming; a surprising mix of humour, adventure and mystery. And, as with any Dahl story, Matilda provides a strong message to children: you can do it. Oh, plus a message to grown-ups - treat your children nicely, as they're not as helpless as you may imagine! Title: Matilda. Author: Roald Dahl.
Review: Matilda
The tale is a charming one; Matilda's parents neither own nor have they read, a single book between them, indeed like much of modern society they spend their time slobbed in front of the TV and have no interest in reading. At school she is befriended by her teacher Miss Honey - the niece of the evil Headmistress Miss Trunchball - who ...
Matilda Study Guide
Like Matilda, many of Roald Dahl's children's novels feature adult characters who are evil and cruel, magic and nonsense, and bright young children as protagonists.For his children's books, Dahl drew inspiration from Lewis Carroll's Alice books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.Published more than a century before Matilda, the Alice novels brought the ...
Matilda by Roald Dahl
961,911 ratings23,601 reviews. "The Trunchbull" is no match for Matilda! Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet.
Matilda Book Review
Our review: Parents say ( 19 ): Kids say ( 77 ): This classic book has been delighting kids and their parents since 1988, appealing both to readers' imaginations and to their sense of justice. The good in Matilda are all good, and the wicked get their comeuppance at the hands of giddy, delighted children. Precocious readers, like Matilda, will ...
Matilda: Study Guide
Matilda, the last work of children's literature written by best-selling British author Roald Dahl, won the Children's Book Award shortly after publication in 1988.Illustrated by Quentin Blake, to date it has sold over 17 million copies. Matilda was made into a feature film in 1996, directed by Danny DeVito, who also starred as Mr. Wormwood.A critically acclaimed musical based on the novel ...
Book Review: Matilda by Roald Dahl
Matilda is a little girl who loves reading. She has superpower eyes. She can use them for lifting and breaking things. She protected the other children in the class from Miss Trunchbull and she helped Miss Honey get her mansion back. At the end she defeated the evil Miss Trunchbull and it is a really happy ending (but you need to read the book ...
Matilda (novel)
Matilda is a 1988 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl.It was published by Jonathan Cape.The story features Matilda Wormwood, a precocious child with an uncaring mother and father, and her time in school run by the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull.. The book has been adapted in various media, including audio readings by actresses Joely Richardson, Miriam Margolyes and Kate ...
25 Years of Matilda
When she had read every single children's book in the place, she started wandering round in search of something else." Every Monday, bloggers on the Matilda 25th Anniversary tour will write about how they fell in love with books, just like Matilda! Penguin Teen: I think it's safe to say that Matilda falls head over heels in love with books.
Book Review: Matilda by Roald Dahl
Today, I am reviewing one of my favourite books: Matilda by Roald Dahl. Matilda by Roald Dahl was first published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape and is 239 pages long. The Plot. Matilda tells the story of a young, intelligent girl named Matilda who develops telekinetic powers, using them to punish one terrible teacher while helping another. Characters.
Matilda Themes and Analysis
Matilda Wormwood is a child genius born to unpleasant parents. She can speak like an adult at 5 years old and teaches herself to read. Matilda reads classic novels at the local library with the help of a kind librarian. She understands that her father is a dishonest car salesman and calls him out on his thieving ways.
Matilda: Book Review (Roald Dahl)
Book Review worksheet concentrating on summarising, forming opinions and concluding on Matilda by Roald Dahl. UK and US versions included. In this book review, children are asked to summarise the main parts of the story, give their opinion on the story as a whole, state the funniest, scariest and favourite parts, rate the story from 1-5, explain if they would recommend the book, and discuss ...
Matilda By Roald Dahl: Book Review
February 16, 2020. Book: Matilda. Author: Roald Dahl. Publication: Penguin Random House. Price: Rs. 295. Pages: 232. Plot: Matilda, a 3-year-old girl who taught herself how to read. By the age of 4, she could read newspapers and magazines at her home. But there were no books in her house, except one, a cooking book, which she has already read.
17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review
It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking. Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry's Freefall, a crime novel: In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it's a more subtle process, and that's OK too.
Matilda's Powers Explained & Where They Came From
Matilda is a beloved children's book that has had a lasting impact, with millions of copies sold and two successful film adaptations.; The original concept for Matilda was much darker, featuring a ...
How to read a book: 10 rules from a reviewer
Check the small stuff. Before turning to Chapter 1, I glance at a book's cover art, check out the author's dust jacket biography and photo, and read through the back page endorsements. Unlike ...

Matilda by Roald Dahl – Book Review

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Friday 19 March 2010

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Themes and Analysis

Matilda Themes

The Power of Books

Righteousness

Analysis of Key Moments in Matilda

Writing Style and Tone

Symbols and Motifs

The Chocolate Cake

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What are the symbols in ‘ Matilda ‘?