I don't think I can say anything that hasn't been said before.
Bookworm girl who saves herself.
One of the most perfect stories there is!
I just wish that I could be Matilda.
It was wonderful imagining her at 30.

Brilliant, brilliant as always. I hope that hundreds of young girls read this book now that Matilda has turned 30 years old and see how incredible they can be with the power of their brains.

I jumped at the chance to read Roald Dahl's Matilda. I've no idea how I got to my 60s without having read the book or watched the film. I was aware of the characters in the story, I just hadn't read it.

How do you review a book that's been around and popular for 30 years? It's funny, it can be scary at times and is quite brilliant. So easy to imagine the scenes. You know exactly who the baddies are. It's brilliant and it's timeless. As an adult I enjoyed reading it. It's definitely one I want to read with my little granddaughter when she's a bit older.

I like the new covers created for the 30th anniversary edition. What would Matilda be 30 years on? Chief Executive of the British Library? Astrophysicist? World Traveller? She could be any of these things. I like to think that whether she was a chief executive or astrophysicist she could be a world traveller too.

Thanks for letting me read this one.

Matilda is my all time favourite Roald Dahl book and should be compulsory reading for everyone!

I love it!

Highly recommended and 5 big fat shiny stars *****

How wonderful to revisit Matilda having just started to read the original books again with my granddaughter, her mother has just been to see Matilda the Musical and the film was regularly watched on video(!) during both my daughter's childhoods. It so lovely that the stories span the generations and the childhood fans of Matilda remain into adulthood. The illustrations are just as expected and it seems so natural to revisit Matilda again as an adult. A wonderful read for children and adults alike and this will certainly be bought for both my daughters this Christmas, (as will the original film on DVD for my granddaughter as we no longer have a video player) a classic timeless book.

To my eternal shame, I don't think I have ever read this book (or seen the film) and that is mostly due to not being a fan of Roald Dahl politics more than anything else. But reading this whilst trying to put those out of my mind, I can see why this would be such a beloved book to millions of children. Perhaps if I had read it as a child my thoughts would be different? Matilda is an exceptional child and the writing style is extremely easy for a young reader to be able to cope with themselves. I love the new covers, my British Library one is a thing of beauty (and an inspired choice for Matilda's grown-up job).

Excellent children’s book, covering some serious themes but in a way that keeps children feeling safe. All about taking back control over your own life. There’s a reason this is a classic.

Matilda is one of my favorite childrens books, and it’s easy to see why it appeals to readers. This is about a little girl who loved to read and believed that she could do anything, even if people around her weren’t as supportive. It is adventurous and imaginative. As a child I wished I had powers like Matilda! Her adventure was fun to follow, and the illustrations are really good as well.

In our house of children's books and films, there are but a handful of leading ladies who champion reading, education, resilience, persistence and individuality above all else. Among our fistful of feminine favourites are Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Anne (of Green Gables and Avonlea -of course) and the triumphant, Matilda.
In fact, it is unlikely that I could overemphasise her popularity in our home. We have the bedspread and pillowcases, we've visited the show (twice), we have multiple copies and have watched, discussed and reviewed the film over and over again.
As with so many children's stories, Dahl first alienates (as opposed to annihilates, as in James and the Giant Peach, or The BFG) the parents and then sets his protagonist off on their adventure. Unlike many of his tales which I feel have a tendency to begin with a bang and then fade away (the Twits and The Witches), Matilda strides forward from beginning to end, finding solace in her local library and the comfort of a teacher who sees something in her that others are blind to.
And so there, amongst the caricatures of her ballroom dancing parents, her TV watching brother and her gymnastic headteacher, are the quiet and glittering pools of truth and simplicity that may just speak to your child as they join the legions of previous lucky readers and immerse themselves in Dahl's pages.

“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.”

I think every bookworm can relate to Matilda, and I think most probably adored the funny, whimsical and slightly silly stories Roald Dahl graced many childhoods with. Matilda is my most favourite of his stories, not least of all because Matilda embodies what it is to truly love to read. There is nothing quite like living through the pages of books, escaping reality and feeling that yearning to continue with a well-loved book.

Books for Matilda are, in some part, an escape route from her lousy family. I love how scheming she is! Plotting against her cruel, inattentive parents to teach them a lesson the hard way makes for a really fun read with a deeper message at heart. Her relationship with reading and thirst for knowledge inspired me as a child, and now as an adult they give me that nostalgic feeling - I remember curling up by the bookcase as a child and devouring this book in one sitting just wishing I could be like Matilda and, most of all, feeling safe in the knowledge that there were other children like me who found solace in books.

A sprinkling of magic, a dash of trickery and lots of wonderful writing; Matilda is the perfect children's book, not just for children.

I received an e-copy of Matilda for the upcoming release of Matilda at 30, but I'll always love my beaten up copy just that little bit more.

Perfection!
Matilda is just as good as the first time I read it as a child! I read this with my little girl, who also loved it.
Roald Dahl was always a favourite author of mine when I was younger, I now feel nostalgic and want to re-read all of Roald Dahl's books

Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she is knocking off double digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens.

Matilda Wormwood is often I'll-treated by her parents and older brother, Michael. She retaliates by playing pranks on them. When she goes to school, it's just as bad as the school principal is twice as bad as her parents. Her class teacher, Miss Honey, is the only person Matilda believes in.

This is a fun read. Royal Dhal is a fantastic author. I loved this book. A heart-warming of a girl living a tough life and finding a way to get through it. A book kids will either love to read by themselves or to be read to. Adults will enjoy this book as well.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK, Children's and the author Roald Dhal for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This, even 30 years on, is one of the most magical children’s stories of all time. Roald Dahl never shied away from addressing real subjects with children, and never dumbed down his writing to accommodate younger readers. If anything he challenged what it was to be a children’s writer by introducing the magical and exciting to everyday life. He inspired a generation of Ressler’s, and still delights my own children today. His stories are ageless.

This edition was extra special because of Quentin’s memorable pictures. Quentin Blake is synonymous with Roald Dahl, and it was delightful to see Matilda in her 30s (like me!) doing extraordinary things, yet also still inspiring the young.

An absolutely brilliant step back in time and one of my favourite Roald Dahl books. I have always been a bookworm and two of my favourite characters growing up were Marilda and Belle - both also avid readers like me who I felt connected to in some way.

Roald Dahl was able to teach amazing life lessons through his words - Matilda is able to overcome her obstacles - the awful family, the lack of early schooling and having no friends through her wonderful teacher, a lot of determination and a little magic.

A book for every child's bookcase, even thirty ye4ars on!

This book is an absolute delight! I have seen the movie and the stage show but am of a generation who are too old to have been of an age to read the book when it first came out and my children read it on their own so I didn't get to appreciate it that way either. I loved this edition and seeing the Quentin Black illustrations new and old was fabulous. Personally I am voting that Matilda is now Chief Executive of the British Library!

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children's UK Puffin for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read and collected Roald Dahl books as a child, now as a parent I’m able to treat my children to his incredible storytelling. 30 years later and Matilda is still just as good, in fact I think I appreciate it more.

A true classic! Matilda is just the most fantastic novel for young and old. This story never gets boring.

Matilda is such a beloved story, I remember it from my childhood and its crazy to think it is 30 years old!
Matilda is a little girl that loves to learn, she is the youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs Wormwood. She has an older brother too. Her family don’t like learning, they sit and watch the tv all the time, her dad is crooked and mum just likes to play bingo everyday. When Matilda asks for a book, her dad goes mad saying she has everything she could possibly want they have a tv why do you want books?
So Matilda goes to the library and starts reading all the books she can get her hands on. Soon she wants to go to school, so her dad sends her to a horrible school where the headmistress is an awful person who doesn’t like children at all. But luckily her teacher is lovely and she soon sees that Matilda is a remarkable girl.
Meanwhile Matilda finds out she has powers, she can move things with her mind! This comes in handy later in the book when the headteacher becomes more of a brute than usual and is mean to the lovely teacher that is also her niece.
It’s safe to say this story has a happy ending.
This story is a true children’s classic, loved by young and old alike.

Out of all the Roald Dahl books Matilda has always been one of my favourites, only really landing behing The Twits. This new edition showing what may have become of Matilda is brilliant, and re reading now has left me wanting to dig out my old copies of his various books. Many thanks for affording me the oportunity to read it again.

Matilda is 30! How is that even possible?! Matilda and I became friends 29 years ago and her story remains one of my all time favourites. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve read it over the years but I can say that it gave me hope that circumstances can always improve, taught me that girls can be powerful and resilient, and that it is perfectly okay to be a book nerd, and proven if you’re really lucky you’ll find your very own Mrs Phelps and Miss Honey. I spent my childhood on the lookout for my Miss Honey.

I never had friends that enjoyed reading when I was growing up so Matilda became that for me. We even had a shared favourite book, The Secret Garden. I loved this story so much that the year after I first read it I wrote a multi page poem about the infamous chocolate cake incident for school. Not many things survived my childhood but I still have my treasured 1989 paperback copy of Matilda and that poem.

I found an amazing article by Mara Wilson about Matilda at 30 here: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/10/mara-wilson-matilda-and-me-at-30. I love that there are multiple 30th anniversary editions of Matilda, each showing her thriving in a different way. Naturally this means that I have to buy one of each because, you know, marketing and obsessive book love and I have to have them all!!!

I need to press pause for a bit and tell you how much I adore all of Quentin Blake’s illustrations in Matilda and the rest of Roald Dahl’s books. As a kid I read about a bazillion books and while I always remembered the names of the titles and authors, the only illustrator whose name I knew was Quentin’s. Roald and Quentin made a perfect team, with Quentin highlighting all the phizz-whizzing quirkiness of Roald’s imagination. Even now I compare every illustrator I come across to Quentin; I can’t help it.

I don’t think you can truly put into words the impact a book has had on you like Matilda had on me but I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without it. While reading it this time I wondered where its characters would be today. I expect I’ll change my mind each time I reread this book from now on but here’s what I came up with this time:

The Wormwoods

Michael Wormwood eventually reconnected with his brilliant sister and they stay in regular contact. After some turbulent times as a teenager where he made some choices he’d prefer to forget including stealing cars, Michael turned his life around and now mentors troubled teens.

Mrs Wormwood is now a frumpet in an aged care facility where she cheats at Bingo and watches her programmes. She did try to sell Avon for a while but potential customers took one look at her caked on makeup and shut the door in her face. She never made a single sale. She bleached her hair one too many times so she’s now bald and her face has a look of perpetual surprise due to botched plastic surgery.

Mr Wormwood remains a grunion. The Wormwoods lived in Spain for a few years until his schemes were discovered and they were run out of the country. After trying and failing to implement new scams in numerous other countries Mr Wormwood eventually found work at a sawdust mill. His boss is a woman. He has a phobia of hats.

The Kids

Fred, Matilda’s friend who owned Chopper the parrot, became a veterinarian.

Lavender remains adventurous and now spends her days touring the world, conquering one extreme sport after another. She has lucrative sponsorship deals and whenever she’s photographed you can be sure her hair is a different colour, but never lavender. She has a pet newt and remains in contact with Matilda.

Hortensia now owns a pub and is known to regale her customers with wild, detailed yarns about her formative years under the watchful glare of the Trunchbull and her experiences in The Chokey. No one knows whether to believe her or not but she’s a born storyteller so they always come back for more.

Ollie Bogswhistle double crossed the wrong people and wound up serving time. He’s currently a prison snitch and after being on the receiving end of one too many punches he now sports a full set of dentures.

Julius Rottwinkle has a fear of heights and flying, among many other phobias. He attends therapy frequently. He hasn’t eaten liquorice since he was a child.

Nigel Hicks has extraordinary balance. He wrote a book espousing the health benefits of not showering very frequently but for some reason remains single.

Prudence, emboldened by being able to spell a ‘difficult’ word in Miss Trunchbull’s presence, went on to become a spelling bee champion.

Amanda Thripp never cut her hair again, an achievement that has made her the Guinness World Record holder for having the longest hair. She only ever wears her hair in pigtails.

Rupert Entwistle works at the Natural History Museum but his passion is cryptozoology. He had a secret crush on his next door neighbour Lavender for many years and follows her adventures on social media.

The other Rupert, Matilda’s classmate with the golden tresses, became an accountant and carries a calculator wherever he goes.

Eric Ink has a most unusual party trick; he can waggle his ears at will. He loves cosplay and due to his large pixie shaped ears he never needs to worry about adding prosthetic ears to his costumes.

Wilfred overcame his fear of being upside down when he went bungee jumping.

Bruce Bogtrotter became a competitive eater during high school and is now a well known food critic. His favourite food is chocolate cake and travels the world in search of a more delicious cake than the one Cook baked for him. He’s yet to find one.

The Crunchem Staff

Cook, may she rest in peace, quit her job shortly after selling her prized chocolate cake recipe to the highest bidder and then proceeded to lose every cent betting on the horses.

After Mr Trilby became the Head Teacher of Crunchem Hall Primary School the students and teachers breathed a collective sigh of relief. He became the most loved Head Teacher that ever ran the school. Sure, that’s not saying much, but he was wonderful. Honest!

Miss Plimsoll remained a teacher until she retired. She never had another student as brilliant as Matilda.

The Trunchbull was never heard from again. A school without children was established several years after she disappeared. While record numbers of applications were received for the school’s teaching positions, the school itself surprisingly went bankrupt within its first year and was forced to close. There is an old lady in Arkham Asylum that constantly mutters about chalk but no one knows who she is.

The Heroes

Mrs Phelps went on to inspire countless young minds to adore reading. A number of her patrons became well known authors and you’ll find her name in the dedications and acknowledgement sections of several bestsellers. Mrs Phelps has since retired and now travels the world, Kindle in hand. She spends each Christmas with Matilda and Miss Honey.

Miss Honey found her relatives in Australia and has visited them a few times during school holidays. She adopted Matilda but only because she needed offical paperwork to prove what they already knew; they were family. Miss Honey went on to become many students’ favourite teacher and won numerous awards for her pioneering method of using music in her classroom. Her home is full of books. She loves nothing more than pottering around in the garden at The Red House and lives a peaceful, quiet life.

Matilda has led a full life. She couldn’t decide which university course to study so she completed them all and was able to study for free because of the scholarships she was awarded. She has travelled extensively, following in the footsteps of the characters in the books of her childhood. She has worked as a librarian, lovingly sharing her passion for books with a new generation. She has also published a number of books, both fiction and nonfiction. She gets excited when she finds a book she hasn’t read. After consulting with Matilda behind the scenes many leaders have implemented her ideas to solve worldwide problems. Matilda is a wonderful mother and a loving partner, and Miss Honey remains one of her favourite people. Above all, Matilda is happy.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, for the excuse to read this book yet again. As soon as I saw the 30th anniversary edition on NetGalley I got so excited about Quentin Blake’s amazing covers I had to see them immediately!