The Bridge THE BRIDGE-HELPFUL READING LITERACY STRATEGIES | Page 70

a p p r e c i a t i o n – f o r l e a r n e r s a g e d 1 3 t o 1 7
'Matilda' summary based on the summary at:
(http://www.shmoop.com/matilda-dahl/summary.html)
THE SUMMARY:
Matilda lives with her mean parents. They ignore her. She teaches herself to read, and heads
to the local library, where Mrs. Phelps sets her up with a very advanced reading list.
She's a clever girl, so she decides to play tricks on her parents whenever they behave badly.
She plays three pranks, gluing her dad's hat to his head, disguising a neighbor's parrot as a
ghost, and dying her dad's hair blonde.
Matilda starts going to school. On day one, her teacher Miss Honey quickly realizes how
smart Matilda is. Miss Honey even visits the headmistress, the Trunchbull, to ask for help
with Matilda.
Lavender decides to prank the Trunchbull on a class visit. She captures a newt and puts it
into the Trunchbull's water glass. The Trunchbull blames Matilda for the newt, which makes
our girl so mad she pushes the Trunchbull's water glass over with her mind. After class, she
Meanwhile, Matilda and her friend Lavender meet Hortensia, who tells them all about how
horrible the Trunchbull is.
70