“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.” ― Roald Dahl, Matilda
Growing up, my parents surrounded us with stories. They would read to us, tell us fantastic tales on long car trips where my sister and I were the heroines, and take us to the library over the summers to participate in summer reading programs. I fell in love with stories. I fell in love with being transported to other worlds, going on adventures, and meeting new and exciting people.
One of my favorite books (and movies, for that matter) was, and still is, Matilda by Roald Dahl. While I have been blessed with a wonderful family, being a shy child myself, I still identified strongly with Matilda and her love of reading. Books are some of the easiest friends you will ever make. It took me until high school to really find my own nerdy quirky tribe, and until I did, I sustained myself with books.
Looking back at Roald Dahl’s work and Matilda, in particular, one of the things that drew me was that he never spoke down to his audience. Even though he was dealing with tough subjects like child neglect and abuse, he did it in a way that is understandable without being overwhelming. He challenged us to seek help both through adults like Miss Honey, and through our inner strength.
At the start of this post is one of my favorite quotes from the book, but another one that I love is “She sat there in a blaze of silence.” To me this evokes so much emotion with such a simple line. You can picture Matilda almost glowing in perfect contentment, and all from so few words.
My love of Matilda is one of the reasons I want to write my own stories. They may never “nurture young minds” but they may entertain, and if I’m very lucky, maybe they will grow someone else’s love for books and tales.
