The Magic of Matilda

The outside reading book that I chose to read this week was Matilda. Goodness I don't know how many times I read this book as a kid, but I can assure you it was a lot. This story is about a little girl named Matilda who was born into a family who doesn't care about her. Her father is a crook who sells phony car parts, her mother is unloving and only cares about herself, and her brother is not much different. When she is finally allowed to go to school, Matilda finds a friend in her sweet teacher Ms. Honey. Ms. Honey is kind and loving toward Matilda, and she encourages her. At school Matilda also meets the horrible Ms. Trunchbull, who brings the element of child abuse to the story. Don't get me wrong, Matilda's parents also represent child abuse, but theirs is verbal, whereas Ms. Trunchbull's abuse is verbal and physical. She really scares me and it is so sad to see how she treats the students at school. It just makes me wonder what do the parents have to say about her? Towards the middle of the book, Matilda notices that whenever her father yells at her, or whenever someone puts her down, she can do magical things. This is why I was always fascinated with the book. I would have loved to have the magic powers Matilda had. I thought it was so cool that she could move things with her mind, such as the chalk she uses to write on the chalkboard. Man it would just be so cool to be able to do that, however it is probably best that I can't because I would get lazy and not want to get up and get things for myself, using my powers to bring them to me instead!