Summary of the book ”Matilda”:

The book “Matilda” is written by Roald Dahl. The book is about a little girl whose name is Matilda. She lives with her family, Mr and Mrs Wormwood. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood is not very nice people. Mr. Wormwood owns a second-hand car garage and cheats people all day. At daytime, Mrs. Wormwood is at the bingo outside town. She spends almost the entire day there.

When Matilda was alone she went down to the library and spent her day sitting in the library reading.

When Matilda was five and a half years old she went to school for the first time. The school Matilda was going to go to was called Crunchem Hall Primary School. The head teacher was called Miss Trunchbull. Matilda began in the bottom class with eighteen other children. Their teacher’s name was Miss Jennifer Honey.

The first day, Miss Honey tested the class in the two-times table. Matilda said the whole two-times table, she even got up to two times twenty-eight. Then Miss Honey had to stop Matilda. Miss Honey asked if Matilda could do two times four hundred and eighty-seven, and Matilda answered correctly immediately. Miss Honey was shocked that a little girl was so smart.

After the class was over, Miss Honey walked to Miss Trunchbull to tell her about Matilda. Nevertheless, Miss Trunchbull was an awful person, she hated children, and no one knew how she possible could get the job. Miss Honey went to ask Miss Trunchbull if Matilda could move up some classes because she is so smart, but Miss Trunchbull said no, because Matilda’s father told her that Matilda was a little brat.

The following night, Miss Honey goes to talk to Matilda’s parents. Matilda’s parents do not know what Miss Honey is talking about, because they never notice Matilda. Miss Honey tried to convince Mr. Wormwood that Matilda is a genius, but he thinks that Matilda is stupid and nothing can change that.

In the lunch break, the next morning, Matilda and Lavender (Matilda’s newfound friend) meets a girl named Hortensia. She was 10 years old. She told Matilda and Lavender all about Miss Trunchbull. She told them all about the terrible things Miss Trunchbull had done to pupils at the school. She had once thrown a girl many metres by holding the girl’s pigtails. Matilda and Lavender was shocked that Miss Trunchbull could get away with it.

When the lunch break was over, all the pupils gathered in the Assembly Hall. Miss Trunchbull stood on stage, and when they got settled, she screamed “Bruce Bogtrotter!” Bruce Bogtrotter was one of the pupils. He had the day before taken some of Miss Trunchbull’s cake. Now it was time for revenge for Miss Trunchbull. She made Bruce eat an enormous chocolate cake. When he was done, he looked like he was going to explode.

The next day, Miss Trunchbull was going to test Matilda’s class in the weekly test they had. Lavender had secretly put a newt in Miss Trunchbull’s water glass. Therefore, when Miss Trunchbull was going to drink the water she saw the newt and screamed. She blamed Matilda for putting the newt there.

Matilda got so mad for being accused for something she hadn’t done. However, when Miss Trunchbull treated to expel her, Matilda really got mad. She felt her eyes become very hot, and suddenly she managed to tip the glass with her eyes. Miss Trunchbull got so scared of the newt that she ran out of the room.

Miss Honey said that everybody could go home, but Matilda stayed. She told Miss Honey that she was the one who tipped the glass over, and she showed it to Miss Honey.

Matilda and Miss Honey went home to Miss Honey to talk about Matilda’s powers. Matilda found out that Miss Honey was extremely poor, and lived in a very tiny house. When they were talking, she told Matilda that Miss Trunchbull is Miss Honey’s aunt and that Miss Honey owns Miss Trunchbull a lot of money.

Miss Trunchbull used to be Miss Honey’s nanny, but when Miss Honey’s father died Miss Trunchbull became her guardian. Matilda found out that Miss Trunchbull’s name was Agata and Jenny’s fathers name was Magnus.

When Matilda got home, she started to practice to make things fly, with only using her eyes. She practiced for many hours, and eventually she made to make things fly for a long time.

The next day, they were having their weekly test. Miss Trunchbull asked a boy a question, and he couldn’t answer. Miss Trunchbull grabbed the boy’s ears and lifted him up in the sky. It was that moment that Matilda started her plan. She got the chalk to write on the blackboard:

“Agata, this is Magnus. It is Magnus. And, you better believe it. Agata, give my Jenny back her house. Give my Jenny her wages. Give my Jenny the house. Then get out of here. If you don’t I will come and get you like you got me. I am watching you Agata.”

Miss Trunchbull was so shocked that she fainted. No one ever saw Miss Trunchbull again. Miss Honey got her house and was happy.

However, the police had found out about that Mr. Wormwood was cheating people. So when Matilda got home, everything was a totally chaos, and they were obviously moving to Spain. Matilda didn’t want that, she got Miss Honey, and they asked if Miss Honey could adopt Matilda. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood said yes, and Matilda and Miss Honey stood happily watching the car drive away.

The main characters:

Matilda:

Matilda is a little girl who is 5 ½ years old. She lives with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood. Matilda is a little genius! She taught herself to read when she was 3 years old. She has some special powers; she can move things fly with only using her eyes. In the book her headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, is very mean. One day Matilda get so mad that she tips a glass of water over Miss Trunchbull. In the end, Matilda gets adopted by her, Miss Honey, and they live happily ever after.

Miss Jennifer Honey:

Miss Honey is Matilda’s teacher. Miss Honey is about 23/24 years old. She is a very quiet person and she is very skinny. Miss Honey’s aunt is Miss Trunchbull. Miss Honey seems very insecure. Miss Trunchbull has harassed Miss Honey, since she was a little girl. Miss Honey is also very poor. She lives in a very tiny house, and she almost doesn’t have any furniture. Miss Honey owes Miss Trunchbull a lot of money, because Miss Trunchbull paid for Miss Honey’s food and clothes when she was little. So almost Miss Honey’s entire salary goes to Miss Trunchbull, except 1 pound, which is Miss Honey’s pocket money.

Mrs Agata Trunchbull:

Mss Trunchbull is the Headmistress at the school Matilda goes to. Miss Trunchbull is a gigantic person. Miss Trunchbull hate children and she is very awful to he children at the school. Miss Trunchbull is the aunt to Miss Honey. Miss Trunchbull thinks she can do whatever she wants to whomever she wants. Miss Trunchbull makes Miss Honey give her entire salary. Miss Trunchbull gives Miss Honey 1 pound a week, for pocket money. In the end, Miss Trunchbull finally leaves, and no one ever sees her again.

Roald Dahl:

Roald Dahl was born 13th of September 1916 in Wales. He had Norwegian parents but he grew up in England. Every summer, Roald and his parents went on holiday to Norway. Roalds father, Harald Dahl, was the joint owner of a successful ship-broking business, "Aadnesen& Dahl" with another Norwegian. Before emigrating to Wales, Harald had been a farmer near Oslo. He married a young French girl named Marie in Paris, but she died after giving birth to their second child. In 1911, Harald Dahl married Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. Harald died when Roald was four years old, and three weeks later his elder sister, Astri, died from appendicitis. The family had to sell their jewellery to pay for Roalds upkeep at a private school in Derbyshire. When Roald was 13 he went to a public school named Repton.

When Roald was 18, he joined an expedition to Newfoundland. When he returned to England he took a job with Shell, working in London and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. During World War II Roald served in the Royal Air Forces in Libya, Greece, and Syria. He was shot down in Libya, and wounded in Syria, and then posted to Washington as an assistant air attaché to British Security (1942-43). In 1943 he was a wing commander and worked until 1945 for British Security Co-ordination in North America.

In 1953 Dahl married the successful and wealthy actress Patricia Neal, they had one son and four daughters. The eldest daughter, Olivia, died of measles when she was eight. Dahl's wife suffered a series of brain hemorrhages at the age of 38. While Patricia was pregnant with their fifth child she had a stroke. She described her recovery and her husband's solicitous help in the autobiography As I Am (1988). The marriage ended in 1983 after other family tragedies, and Roald married Felicity Ann Crossland.

Roald Dahl’s books are known all over the world. He writes with a humor that attracts all age groups. Roald Dahl first book was “The Gremlins”. It was a children’s picture book adapted from a script he got from Walt Disney.