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Penguin Readers Factsheets

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T e a c h e r’s n o t e s 1

Matilda
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5
by Roald Dahl
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PRE-INTERMEDIATE
S U M M A R Y
atilda is a gloriously funny children’s book, written In 1953, Dahl married the actress Patricia Neal and the
M by Roald Dahl, the most successful children’s couple moved to England the next year. They had four
writer in the English language. The book was made children, the oldest of whom died at the age of seven,
into a highly successful film in 1996. sending her father into deep grief. The couple divorced in
Matilda is about a very clever little girl called Matilda. 1983 and the author remarried.
She can speak perfectly at the age of one and a half, and In 1960, Dahl started writing stories to amuse his
read adult books when she is aged four. But Matilda has children. Many of his books became international
a problem. Her parents are horrible. Her father is a bestsellers and children from all over the world wrote to
dishonest car dealer and neither he nor his wife are at all him. In addition, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The
interested in their daughter. All they want to do is watch Witches, and James and the Giant Peach, Danny the
TV, and that’s all they want Matilda to do, too. But Matilda Champion of the World, and The BFG all became

MATILDA
has other ideas. She wants to teach her nasty parents a successful films.
lesson. She glues her father’s hat to his head and tricks Roald Dahl died in 1990, at the age of 74.
her parents into believing that there is a ghost in the sitting
room.
When Matilda is five years old, her parents send her to
BACKGROUND AND THEMES
the local village school. There she finds a friend in her kind Roald Dahl often said that the key to his success as a
but poor class teacher, Miss Honey. Miss Honey realizes children’s writer was to conspire with children against
that Matilda is a genius and tries to help her. It is difficult adults. ‘It’s the path to their affections,’ he said, in an
for her, however, because the headmistress, Mrs interview with a British newspaper in 1990. ‘It may be
Trunchbull, is a terrible bully and does not like Matilda. simplistic, but it is the way. Parents and schoolteachers
Everyone is terrified of Mrs Trunchbull - except Matilda. are the enemy. The adult is the enemy of the child
One day, Matilda realizes that she has ‘special powers’. because of the awful process of civilizing this thing that
She uses these powers to defeat Mrs Trunchbull and help when it is born is an animal with no manners, no moral
Miss Honey . . . sense at all.’
Matilda is a very good example of Dahl’s philosophy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Matilda’s parents and her headmistress are monsters who
are in positions of power. They are adults seen from the
Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in South Wales, Britain, the child’s point of view; they want to threaten and hurt the
son of Norwegian immigrants. He trained as a fighter pilot children in their care. Dahl’s children’s books often put
and during the Second World War he flew bomber planes good against evil, - bad, bad adults against innocent,
in Libya, Greece and Spain. In 1940, Dahl’s plane crash- clever children who always win in the end.
landed in the Libyan desert and Dahl suffered serious
injuries. Dahl’s stories are very funny and children love them for
this reason. The bad adults are outrageously, comically
In 1942, Dahl began working at the British Embassy in bad, satirizing real life in a way that children recognize and
Washington D.C., USA. There he met the writer C.S. find highly amusing. The author turns normal behaviour
Forester who suggested that Dahl should write about upside down. Parents normally complain that their
being shot down in the desert. Dahl immediately wrote his children watch too much television. Matilda’s father,
first short story; ten days later it was accepted for however, insists that she watch it. ‘“And what’s wrong
publication. This was the beginning of Dahl’s literary with watching the TV?” her father said. His voice was
career. He soon became a highly successful short story suddenly soft and dangerous.’ Things in Dahl’s stories are
writer - his most famous short story collection is entitled exaggerated. Matilda’s teacher, Miss Honey, is so poor
Kiss Kiss, published in 1959. that her tiny sitting room has no real furniture, only three

© Pearson Education Limited 1999

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Penguin Readers Factsheets 3
T e a c h e r’s n o t e s
boxes. Miss Trunchbull, her aunt, has stolen Miss Honey’s they describe Mr Wormwood from the point of view of
house and forced her to work for £1 a week. Children (a) Matilda (b) his wife.
recognize both the humour and absurdity of the situation Chapters 4-6
and the injustice of it. Children, who are in the power of 1 Put students into small groups and ask them to answer
others, are deeply responsive to any kind of injustice, and the following questions.
it is this injustice that Dahl constantly plays on in his (a) Who do you think is worse, Mr Wormwood or
stories. Miss Trunchbull? Explain your reasons.
(b) Do you think there really are teachers like Miss
Dahl’s stories echo children’s deepest fantasies. Trunchbull?
Impossible things happen in the most ordinary situations. (c) Do you think there really are parents like the
Miss Trunchbull picks a child up by the hair in the school Wormwoods?
playground, whirls her round above her head and throws (d) What makes Matilda a funny book?
her into a neighbouring field. Then the five-year-old 2 Put students into small groups. They write a
Matilda suddenly acquires magical powers which enable description of ‘The best teacher in the world’. Then
her to defeat her terrifying headmistress and rescue Miss they read their descriptions out to the class. Some of
Honey from her poverty. The child has become the these could be quite funny!
heroine. Chapters 7-9
The world of a child is a magical one, not yet limited by Put students into pairs. Ask them to agree on four words
reality. Did we not dream that we could fly when we were to describe each of these people:
children? In Dahl’s stories, children do fly - they overcome (a) Matilda (b) Mr Wormwood (c) Miss Trunchbull
the limits of their world, defeat the wicked, and rescue (d) Miss Honey
innocent victims. Dahl originally wrote his stories for his
own children. His daughter Ophelia writes, ‘The most ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK
important quality about my father was his ability to make 1 Put students into small groups. Ask them to write a
everything seem like an adventure...’ quiz on the book - 10 questions in all. Then each group
gives its quiz to another group. The winner is the group
MATILDA

Dahl’s stories convert easily to films. All of the films that answers its questions the fastest.
based on Dahl’s stories, including Matilda, have been very
2 Put students into small groups. Ask them to decide on
popular with children all over the world. an animal that each of the four main characters
(Matilda, Mr Wormwood, Miss Trunchbull, Miss Honey)
are similar to. They must give reasons for their choice.
Each group then reads out their choices to the class.
Communicative activities Write the animals’ names on the board under the
character headings.
The following teacher-led activities cover the same
sections of text as the exercises at the back of the reader,
and supplement those exercises. Supplementary exercises
covering shorter sections of the book can be found on the Glossary
photocopiable Student’s Activities pages of this Factsheet.
These are primarily for use with class readers but, with the It will be useful for your students to know the following words. They
are practised in the Before You Read sections of the exercises at the
exception of discussion and pair/groupwork questions, back of the book. (Definitions are based on those in the Longman
can also be used by students working in a self-access Active Study Dictionary.)
centre. Chapters 1-3
backwards (adv) moving in the opposite way to the usual way
ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK drill (n) a machine that is used for making holes in something hard
gearbox (n) the part of a car that has gears in it (gears make the car
Photocopy the illustrations on pages 3, 5, 6, 11, 14, 22,
move)
and 34, and cut off the captions. Put students into small ghost (n) if a person dies, he/she may come back to earth as a ghost.
groups. Give each group a set of photocopied People are frightened of ghosts
illustrations. Students must match the pictures with the glue (n) this is sticky and joins things together
chapter headings on the Contents page. They must also parrot (n) a coloured bird that can speak
give the reason why they have done this. For example, sawdust (n) very, very small pieces of wood
they might say, ‘This picture shows a fat boy eating Chapters 4-6
chocolate cake and Chapter 3 is called ‘The Chocolate argue (v) to disagree with someone and shout angrily
Cake’. (Note: tell students that two of the chapter believe (v) to think that something is true or someone is speaking the
headings do not have illustrations.) truth
multiply (v) 2 x 2 = 4: two multiplied by two is four
newt (n) a small animal that has a long body, four legs and a tail, and
ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION lives in water
Chapters 1 - 3 spell (v) to form a word by putting the right letters in the right order
1 Put students into small groups. They choose another Chapters 7-9
title for each chapter. Each title must be an actual blackboard (n) a large, black, smooth piece of wood that teachers
sentence from the chapter. The group must also give write on
the reasons why they chose the sentences. blow up (v) to break into small pieces
chalk (n) teachers write on a blackboard with this
2 Put students into pairs. Students describe Matilda from will (n) an important letter which says who will receive your money
the point of view of (a) her father (b) Miss Phelps. Then after you die

Published and distributed by Pearson Education

Factsheet written by Mary Tomalin
© Pearson Education Limited 1999 Factsheet series developed by Louise James
 level
Penguin Readers Factsheets
E

Student’s activities 1

2
Matilda 3

Photocopiable 4
Students can do these exercises alone or with one or
more other students. 5

Activities before reading the book 6

1 Read the Introduction in your book, then answer (b) In your opinion, is there anything wrong with
these questions: watching TV? Give reasons for your answer. PRE-INTERMEDIATE
(a) Something ‘strange’ happens to Matilda. ‘After (c) The last line of this chapter is: ‘Now it was time
that, Matilda was not frightened of anybody - not to do something.’ What do you think Matilda
even the terrible Miss Trunchbull.’ What do you could do?
think happens to Matilda? Why isn’t she 3 What is unusual about Matilda’s parents and her life
frightened of anybody any more? at home? Is your home like this?

(b) We learn that Miss Trunchbull is ‘frightening.’ In Chapter 3

what way do you think she is frightening?
1 What do you know about these things?
(a) Why can’t Mr Wormwood take his hat off?
(b) What does Mr Wormwood do to Matilda’s library
Activities while reading the book book?
(c) Why do Mr and Mrs Wormwood run out of the
CHAPTERS 1 - 3 dining room?
Chapter 1

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(d) In this chapter Matilda shows her father that she
1 Answer these questions. is very clever. How does she do this?
(a) Who are these people? 2 There is a picture on page 6. It shows Matilda with
her father’s hat. Think of another good picture for this
Matilda, Mr Wormwood, Michael, Mrs Phelps chapter. Draw the picture and describe it to a friend.
(b) What can Matilda do at these ages: 11/2; 3; 4
(c) Why does Mrs Phelps watch Matilda with CHAPTERS 4 - 6
surprise and excitement?
Chapter 4
(d) Matilda’s father doesn’t want her to read books.
1 Matilda surprises Miss Honey a lot. Why?
Why not? Do you think he is a good father?
Why/why not? 2 Answer these questions. The answers are all
2 Which do you prefer, watching television or reading? numbers.
Why? Ask your class. How many people prefer (a) How old is Matilda when she goes to school for
reading and how many prefer watching TV? Make a the first time?
list of names: (b) How many children are there in Matilda’s group?
These students prefer reading
(c) How old is Miss Honey?
These students prefer watching TV
(d) What is fourteen multiplied by nineteen?
Chapter 2 (e) How many children in the group can spell ’cat’?
1 Are these sentences right or wrong? 3 ’Never argue with her. If you make her angry she will . . .’
(a) Matilda’s father buys and sells cars. (a) Who says this?
(b) Matilda’s father is an honest man. (b) Who is she talking about?
(c) Matilda’s father puts sawdust in the gearboxes of (c) Complete the sentence ‘If you make her angry
cars. she will. . .
(d) Matilda’s father drives cars backwards for (d) Now write five more endings for the sentence.
thousands of miles. For example: If you make her angry she will eat
you for breakfast.
(e) Matilda is angry with her father because he is not
honest. Chapter 5
(f) Matilda wants to watch TV with her family. 1 Answer these questions.
2 Discuss these questions. (a) Why does Miss Honey go to see Miss
Trunchbull?
(a) ‘“And what’s wrong with watching TV?” her
father said. His voice was suddenly soft and (b) Why does Miss Trunchbull like Mr Wormwood?
dangerous.’ Do you think these sentences are (c) Miss Trunchbull hasn’t met Matilda. Why does
funny? Why/why not? she think she is a ‘bad girl’?

© Pearson Education Limited 1999

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Penguin Readers Factsheets 3
Student’s activities

(d) Why does Miss Honey go to see Matilda’s 2 Answer these questions.
parents? (a) At the end of the chapter, Matilda says, ‘I want to
(e) Why doesn’t Mr Wormwood want to see Miss go home and think about this.’
Honey? What does Matilda mean when she says ‘this’?
(f) MIss Honey tells Matilda’s parents that she is
(b) Matilda then says, ‘I’ve got a bit of an idea,
reading books by Dickens. Why aren’t they
and . . . ’ What do you think Matilda means?
excited?
2 In groups of three, act the conversation between Miss (c) What do you think Matilda’s idea could be?
Honey and Mr and Mrs Wormwood. (d) How do you think the story will end?
3 Mr and Mrs Wormwood are bad parents. Write down
five things that bad parents do. Then write down five Chapter 9
things that good parents do.
1 Answer these questions.
Chapter 6 (a) When Miss Trunchbull falls on the floor, Matilda
1 Put these sentences in the right order. thinks, ‘I did it.’ What did she do?
(a) Bruce Bogtrotter eats a large chocolate cake in (b) Why does Miss Trunchbull leave the school and
front of all the children in the school. the village?
(b) Lavender puts a newt in a glass of water. (c) What ‘suddenly arrives’ at an office? Who do you
think sent it?
(c) Bruce Bogtrotter goes into the school kitchen
and steals Miss Trunchbull’s special chocolate (d) Where are Mr and Mrs Wormwood going? Why
cake. isn’t Miss Honey surprised?
(d) Miss Trunchbull throws Amanda Thripp into the (e) What happens to Matilda?
sky.
2 How do you feel when:
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(e) Miss Trunchbull crashes a plate down on Bruce

(a) Miss Trunchbull catches Wilfred’s feet in her
Bogtrotter’s head.
hands?
(f) Lavender goes down to the river at the bottom of
her garden. (b) The chalk starts moving across the blackboard?
2 Which do you think is the funniest part of this (c) Miss Trunchbull falls to the floor?
chapter? Why? Which person in the chapter do you (d) Nigel pours cold water over Miss Trunchbull?
like best? Why?
(e) Miss Honey gets her house back?
CHAPTERS 7 - 9 (f) Mr and Mrs Wormwood say they will leave
without Matilda?
Chapter 7
1 Answer these questions. (g) Matilda stays with Miss Honey?
(a) What question does Miss Trunchbull ask Rupert? 3 Look at these names: Wormwood, Trunchbull, Honey.
Look up worm, bull and honey in your dictionary. Why
(b) What does she ask Eric to do? do you think Roald Dahl chose these names? Choose
(c) What two questions does she ask Matilda? new names for these people. Then compare with your
(d) What question does Miss Truchbull ask the class, friends. Which are your favourite new names?
after the glass breaks?
2 Work with another student. One of you is Miss
Trunchbull, the other is Rupert, Eric and Matilda. Act Activities after reading the book
out the scene in the classroom.
Chapter 8 1 Which parts of the book do you like the best? Explain
1 Answer these questions. why.
(a) What does Matilda show Miss Honey that she 2 Impossible things happen in Matilda. What are they?
can do? Write them down. Do you think they are funny? Do
(b) How did Miss Honey’s father die? What do you you think they make the story better or not?
think really happened to him? Why do you think 3 Perhaps you have seen the film ‘Matilda’. How is the
this? story in the film different from the story in this book?
(c) What bad things did Miss Trunchbull do to Miss
4 Write the conversation that Matilda and Miss Honey
Honey? could have when they go to Miss Honey’s house at
(d) Miss Honey’s father made a will. Why is it the end of the story.
important to find this will?
(e) Who do you think wrote the letter about the
house? Why do you think this?

Published and distributed by Pearson Education

Factsheet written by Mary Tomalin
© Pearson Education Limited 1999 Factsheet series developed by Louise James