Matilda Wormwood facts for kids

Matilda Wormwood, also known as Matilda Honey after being adopted, is the main character of the popular 1988 children's book Matilda by Roald Dahl. She is a super smart six-and-a-half-year-old girl who loves to read books. Her parents don't see how intelligent she is and don't pay much attention to her. Her father, who sells used cars, is especially mean to her.

Later, Matilda is adopted by Miss Honey, her kind teacher at school. Miss Honey truly sees how smart Matilda is. Matilda also finds out she has psychokinetic powers, which means she can move things with her mind! She uses these powers to help herself and others. In the BBC Radio 4 radio show, Lauren Mote played Matilda. In the 1996 movie Matilda, American actress Mara Wilson played her.

What is Matilda like?

Matilda Wormwood is a brave and confident young girl. She has the special power of telekinesis, which lets her move objects just by looking at them. She is very smart and taught herself many things by reading. Sadly, her family doesn't support her or understand how brilliant she is.

Matilda's Story

Matilda is a very smart girl from a young age. She learned to walk and talk much earlier than most kids. But her parents don't care about her amazing skills. They want her to watch TV instead of reading. Because her parents ignore her, Matilda plays tricks on them, especially her father. For example, she once swapped his hair tonic with her mother's hair dye. Another time, she glued his favorite hat to his head!

When Matilda starts school, her kind teacher, Miss Honey, quickly notices how sweet and smart Matilda is. Miss Honey is surprised that Matilda's parents don't care about her. The school's mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, is very strict and uses harsh ways to punish students. Miss Trunchbull is also Miss Honey's aunt and has made Miss Honey's life difficult.

Matilda learns about Miss Honey's sad past. This makes Matilda want to use her new powers against Miss Trunchbull. Miss Trunchbull often blames Matilda for every small problem, hoping to get her kicked out of school. One time, Miss Trunchbull even locks Matilda in a dangerous room. But Miss Honey saves her, showing she cares a lot about Matilda.

When Miss Trunchbull is about to punish Matilda, Matilda uses her powers. She makes chalk write on the blackboard, pretending to be the ghost of Miss Honey's father, Magnus. Magnus had a sudden death, and it's hinted that Miss Trunchbull was involved. In the movie, Matilda also protects other children from Miss Trunchbull's anger. She even uses her telekinesis to throw food at her from lunchboxes! Miss Trunchbull gets very scared and leaves. She gives Miss Honey her rightful family money and then disappears.

Matilda's own parents run away because her father's dishonest car business is found out. After this, Miss Honey adopts Matilda. Miss Honey then becomes the new headmistress of the school, while still teaching.

Books Matilda Read

Matilda read many books, especially when she was four years old. In just six months, she read a lot! Here are some of the books she read:

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling
• The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley
• Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
• The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
• Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
• The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• Ramona Quimby by Beverly Cleary

Matilda's Early Skills

Matilda showed amazing skills very early in life:

• At one and a half years old, she spoke like an adult. Her parents called her a "noisy chatterbox" and told her to be quiet.
• By three years old, she started reading newspapers.
• At four years old, she could read as well as an adult.

Matilda's Special Abilities

Matilda's incredible intelligence gave her psychokinetic powers. She first discovered this power in class. She accidentally tipped over a glass of water with a newt in it onto Miss Trunchbull, using her mind. Later that day, she confirmed her powers by tipping over another glass with her mind, which surprised both her and Miss Honey. Matilda then practiced at home by making a cigar float.

As she got better at her powers, Matilda learned about Miss Honey's very difficult childhood. Miss Honey's aunt, Miss Trunchbull, had been very mean to her after her father Magnus passed away. Feeling sorry for Miss Honey, Matilda planned to get revenge on Miss Trunchbull. One day in class, while Miss Trunchbull was bothering the students, Matilda made a piece of chalk float to the blackboard. She pretended to be Magnus's spirit, threatening Miss Trunchbull to give his money to his daughter. Miss Trunchbull was terrified and disappeared, leaving her house and everything to Miss Honey. No one knows where Miss Trunchbull went.

After a new headmaster took over, Matilda moved to the year six classroom. Miss Trunchbull had kept her from moving up because she disliked young children and doubted Matilda's intelligence. One day, Matilda found she couldn't use her psychokinesis anymore. Miss Honey thought that because Matilda was using all her brainpower in the harder year six class, she no longer needed her special gift. (However, in the movie, Matilda still uses her powers sometimes, even though she uses them less often. In the book, she seems to lose them completely.) Besides her powers, Matilda is also great at reading and multiplication. She had an amazing vocabulary and intelligence from when she was a baby, but her parents never noticed.

Who Played Matilda?

Many talented actresses have played Matilda in movies and on stage.

In the 1996 film, Mara Wilson played Matilda. Younger versions of Matilda were played by several sets of twins and young actresses.

In Matilda the Musical, many young actresses have shared the role. For the first production in Stratford, Adrianna Bertola, Josie Griffiths, and Kerry Ingram played Matilda. When the show moved to West End, Kerry Ingram continued, and Cleo Demetriou, Sophia Kiely, and Eleanor Worthington Cox joined her. Over the years, many other girls have taken on the role in London, including Lucy-Mae Beacock, Hayley Canham, Chloe Hawthorn, Lara Wollington, Elise Blake, Cristina Fray, Lollie Mckenzie, Georgia Pemberton, Tasha Chapple, Car Jenkins, Lottie Sicilia, Matilda Shapland, Violet Tucker, Anna-Louise Knight, Lara McDonnell, Evie Hone, Lizzie Wells, Clara Read, Emily-May Stephenson, Zaris-Angel Hator, Sara Sheen, Abbie Vena, Lilian Hardy, Emma Moore, Éva-Marie Saffrey, Lily-Mae Evans, Savannah Read, Kitty Peterkin, Olivia Wells, Sara Munday, Isobel Hubble, Francesca McKeown, Hannah Selk, Zoe Simon, Tilly-Raye Bayer, Olivia Juno Cleverley, and Alex Munden.

When Matilda the Musical went to Broadway in New York, Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon, and Milly Shapiro were the first to play Matilda. Since then, many other actresses have played the role on Broadway, such as Paige Brady, Gabriella Pizzolo, Ripley Sobo, Ava Ulloa, Tori Feinstein, Eliza Holland Madore, Brooklyn Shuck, Fina Strazza, Mattea Conforti, Mimi Ryder, Alexandra Vlachos, Rileigh McDonald, Ava Briglia, Willow McCarthy, and Aviva Winick.