fbpx

KidsKonnect

Matilda Facts & Worksheets

British author Roald Dahl wrote the children’s story Matilda in 1988. The plot revolves around Matilda Wormwood, a precocious youngster with an inattentive mother and father, and her time at school under the despotic Headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /English Language Arts /Matilda Facts & Worksheets

Premium
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

British author Roald Dahl wrote the children’s story Matilda in 1988. The plot revolves around Matilda Wormwood, a precocious youngster with an inattentive mother and father, and her time at school under the despotic Headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. Matilda has been ranked number 30 among all-time best children’s novels and made Time magazine’s list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time.

See the fact file below for more information about the Literature Study, Matilda, or you can download our 25-page Matilda worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  • A British novelist, Roald Dahl wrote 19 children’s novels during his decades-long career. He married actress Patricia Neal in 1953, the same year he published the best-selling story collection Someone Like You. In 1961, he published the popular book James and the Giant Peach. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was another hugely successful novel published in 1964 and eventually adapted into two films.
  • Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales, on September 13, 1916. Dahl’s parents were Norwegian. As a child, he spent his summers with his grandparents in Oslo. When Dahl was four years old, his father died. 
  • Dahl had his early education at Llandaff Cathedral School. When the principal punished him severely for playing a practical joke, Dahl’s mother decided to send her lively and naughty boy to St. Peter’s, a British boarding school, as her husband had requested.
  • Dahl eventually transferred to Repton, a prestigious institution known for its academic excellence. He despised the rules at Repton; the energetic and inventive boy was restless and craved adventure.
  • He did not flourish as a student, but his mother offered to pay for his education at Oxford or Cambridge University after he finished.
  • Dahl embarked on a trip to Newfoundland after graduating from Repton in 1932. He then obtained a job with the Shell Oil Company in Tanzania, Africa, where he worked until 1939.
  • Dahl joined the Royal Air Force in 1939, seeking further adventure. After training in Nairobi, Kenya, he became a World War II fighter pilot. Dahl was serving in the Mediterranean when he crashed near Alexandria, Egypt. 
  • The plane crash resulted in significant damage to his skull, spine, and hip. Dahl was relocated to Washington, D.C., to work as an assistant air attaché after recovering from a hip replacement and two spinal surgeries.
  • Dahl’s children’s stories have sparked debate, with reviewers and parents objecting to their depiction of children exacting terrible revenge on adult wrongdoers. Dahl argued that children have a cruder sense of humor than adults and that he only attempted to appeal to his readers.
  • The book Matilda and the concept of Miss Trunchbull were inspired by the domineering matrons and headmasters Dahl encountered while attending school. Dahl’s preoccupation was also motivated by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an eighteenth-century classical composer who began composing music at five. Dahl believed that adults sometimes undervalue children, so he created the bright character Matilda, who taught herself to read at three.

PLOT OF THE STORY

  • Matilda Wormwood is a little girl with extraordinary intelligence. At such a young age, she can mentally solve complicated math problems and read adult novels. 
  • Unfortunately, Matilda has grown up with parents who do not show her the attention and love she deserves. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and their son, Michael, significantly differ from Matilda and prefer watching television rather than reading books. They do not understand her and often treat her poorly.
  • Rather than give up hope, Matilda pranks her family to retaliate for how they treat her, such as replacing her father’s tonic with platinum hair dye and convincing them that their house is haunted. These techniques offer Matilda some agency and keep her parents from mistreating her.
  • Miss Trunchbull will not promote Matilda to the highest level, but Miss Honey keeps her in her class, assigning her advanced literature to read while the rest of the class learns basic lessons. She does her best to develop Matilda’s mind and encourage her to learn new things. 
  • Meanwhile, Matilda quickly befriends the other school pupils and learns how to overcome Miss Trunchbull’s terror. Miss Trunchbull’s terrible pranks climax when she organizes a school-wide assembly and forces a youngster named Bruce Bogtrotter to eat an entire large chocolate cake on his own in front of everyone as punishment for taking a chunk of hers.
  • Miss Honey tells Matilda about her life story: her parents died when she was young, leaving her in the care of her vicious aunt, who has harassed her and forced her to labor ever since. 
  • This horrible aunt steals practically every penny of Miss Honey’s pay, so she cannot afford to live anywhere other than this tiny cottage. Finally, Miss Honey reveals who this aunt is: Miss Trunchbull.
  • Matilda devises a scheme to retaliate against Miss Trunchbull while assisting Miss Honey. She refines her ability until she can move objects in the air at will, and then the next week, when Miss Trunchbull arrives to teach their class, she causes the chalk to move on its own and write an alarming message to Miss Trunchbull.
  • Miss Trunchbull believes the communication is from Magnus, Miss Honey’s deceased father. Panicked, she flees his house and Crunchem Hall.
  • Magnus will magically surface, revealing that his house, as well as his life savings, has always belonged to Miss Honey. She moves in right away, and Matilda is a frequent guest.
  • Matilda is promoted to the highest form under the new head teacher, where she discovers that her mind has been challenged by rigorous study, and she has lost her telekinesis skill. She talks about it with Miss Honey and concludes that she doesn’t mind that it has gone.
  • When she gets home that day, she finds her parents and brother in a frenzy, packing to go to Spain since her father has finally been apprehended for his involvement with criminals who sell stolen vehicles. Miss Honey offers to adopt Matilda so she can stay and live with her, and Matilda’s parents accept the offer.

SYMBOLS AND ALLEGORY IN THE STORY

Books

  • Throughout the story, books represent Matilda’s capacity to escape the challenges of her daily life. When her neglected family and their love for television become too much, she can immerse herself in a novel to escape them in her imagination. Books are significant in Matilda, aligning with the concept that links literacy to intelligence, sound judgment, and kindness.

Cake

  • The chocolate cake Bruce eats and the newt Lavender puts in Miss Trunchbull’s water represents the children’s defiance of their awful headmistress. These artifacts represent their minor victories, the ways in which they can defeat her despite her being more powerful than them.

Water Glass

  • The glass of water on the teacher’s desk represents Matilda’s mental abilities because it is the first object she uses it on.

Crunchem Hall

  • This novel uses Matilda’s school as a symbol. It denotes literature, wisdom, and education—all of which Matilda strives for, and Dahl identifies with virtue. Crunchem Hall is sometimes dark and challenging, demonstrating that the path to knowledge is not always straightforward. Finally, the absence of Trunchbull transforms Crunchem Hall into a welcoming and warm place where all children may enjoy studying and challenging themselves.

Miss Honey’s Cottage

  • Miss Honey’s cottage, however small, represents progress and agency. Renting the cottage was her first step in overcoming her aunt’s dreadful influence and breaking free from the bonds that had held her back since her father’s death. The cottage is meaningful to Miss Honey since it represents her achievement.

THEMES IN THE STORY

The Importance of Love in a Family

  • The Wormwood family is not your typical family in which the parents love and care for their children. The Wormwoods show complete disrespect and even hatred toward one of their children. The interplay between a father who mocks his daughter and an intelligent daughter who exacts revenge on him creates a dysfunctional family system. Matilda’s family is reminiscent of fairy tales, with an evil parent out to defeat the child, only for the youngster to triumph.
  • Miss Honey, Matilda’s sympathetic and wise parent figure, embodies the genuine definition of family. She understands Matilda’s family turmoil because she was once cared for by her vicious aunt, Miss Trunchbull.

Gaining Agency Through Bravery and Resiliency

  • Matilda is a figure that overcomes adversity with bravery and resilience. Matilda gains the courage to confront her father early in her story. Initially, she can do so since she recognizes that her family dynamic is not ideal. 
  • She gained this understanding and wisdom from her numerous readings. However, she is vulnerable to harm since she has nowhere else to go. When Matilda starts school, it is clear that she is not the only strong and resilient youngster. She is surrounded by equally daring peers who are developing their agency.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Matilda Wormwood

  • Despite growing up in difficult circumstances, she is intelligent, resilient, creative, and kind. Her parents mistreat her, but Matilda retreats into the world of books, which elevates her reading level far ahead of the other students in her class, and she gains some magical abilities to overcome Trunchbull. 

Bruce

  • One of Matilda’s classmates. He has the misfortune to be caught after eating Trunchbull’s cake. 

Miss Honey

  • A teacher at Matilda’s school. She is compassionate, generous, and cares deeply about the children despite her precarious situation.

Agatha Trunchbull

  • The most frightening despot. The Headmistress controls the school like a dictator, enforcing arbitrary regulations and devising innovative punishments.

Mr. Wormwood

  • Matilda’s father. He is pompous, unpleasant, and not particularly brilliant, not to mention a liar. Although Mr. Wormwood is not a good person, he is nasty to Matilda. 

Mrs. Wormwood

  • Matilda’s Mother. She dislikes Matilda, as does her husband, and she does not understand why her daughter enjoys reading. Mrs. Wormwood is selfish, concerned with her appearance, and believes everything she sees on television.

ADAPTATIONS

  • The Redgrave Theatre in Farnham staged a musical version in 1990, written by Rony Robinson and including music by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. 
  • It starred Annabelle Lanyon as Matilda and Jonathan Linsley as Miss Trunchbull and received mixed reviews. Matilda the Musical, a second musical adaptation of the story created by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin and commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, opened in November 2010.
  • It premiered on November 24, 2011, at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. It premiered on Broadway on April 11, 2013, at the Shubert Theatre. Since then, the production has toured the United States and premiered in Australia in July 2015.
  • Matilda, a film adaptation of the novel, was released in 1996. It starred Mara Wilson as Matilda and was directed by Danny DeVito, who also played Mr Wormwood and narrated the film. The film changed the story’s setting and the nationality of every character from British to American.
  • Sony Pictures Releasing and Netflix released a cinematic adaptation of the musical in 2022. The film stars Alisha Weir as Matilda and Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull. Matthew Warchus directed the movie.
  • The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States and abroad on December 9, 2022, before being streamed on Netflix on Christmas Day 2022. 
  • The United Kingdom had overseen home media releases for Sony Pictures and Netflix, which began streaming on June 25, 2023.
  • Matilda topped the United Kingdom box office on its first weekend, November 25, 2022, outperforming the previous two weeks’ holder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Matilda Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Literature Study, Matilda across 25 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Matilda. Matilda has been ranked number 30 among all-time best children’s novels and made Time magazine’s list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time.

Matilda worksheets
Matilda worksheets
Matilda worksheets

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Literature: Matilda Facts
  2. Roald Dahl
  3. Summary
  4. Character Profile
  5. Review it!
  6. Symbol Analysis
  7. Providing Meaning
  8. Facing Challenges
  9. My Role Model
  10. Make it a Habit
  11. Character Design

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the author of the novel “Matilda”?

“Matilda” was written by Roald Dahl, a renowned British author known for his children’s books.

What is the main premise of “Matilda”?

“Matilda” tells the story of a young girl with extraordinary intelligence and telekinetic abilities, who uses her gifts to navigate her challenging home life and outsmart the tyrannical adults in her life, particularly her neglectful parents and the cruel headmistress of her school.

What are some key themes explored in “Matilda”?

Some key themes in “Matilda” include the power of intelligence and education, the importance of kindness and empathy, the resilience of children in the face of adversity, and the idea of standing up against injustice.

Can you describe the character of Matilda?

Matilda is portrayed as a highly intelligent and precocious young girl who loves reading and learning. Despite facing neglect and mistreatment from her parents, she remains resilient and resourceful. Matilda is also portrayed as kind-hearted and compassionate, using her intelligence and telekinetic abilities to help those around her.

What makes “Matilda” a beloved classic in children’s literature?

“Matilda” is beloved for its whimsical storytelling, memorable characters, and empowering message. It resonates with readers of all ages due to its themes of empowerment, justice, and the triumph of good over evil. Additionally, Roald Dahl’s signature blend of humor and heartwarming moments captivates readers and has solidified “Matilda” as a timeless classic in children’s literature.

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Matilda Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, March 27, 2024

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources