I was recently tasked with buying books for my niece at Christmas, and while that is theoretically right in my wheelhouse, I found myself on less certain ground when it came to children’s books, especially for young girls. As someone who enjoyed the movie, and the musical, and the movie musical, I thought about Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Seeing that the recommended age was a little older than my niece, I thought maybe I would check it out for myself. It turns out that it’s a […]

Matilda Wormwood is a precocious five year old, a word wonder who is reading everything she can get her hands on at an early age. Her parents don’t appreciate any of this and see her as an annoyance. During her first days of school she is introduced to Miss Trunchbull, the awful headmistress at Crunchem Hall. Miss Trunchbull was a hammer thrower in her younger years and a terrifying figure to all the kids at school. She despises children and thinks nothing of launching them […]