What Matilda Teaches Us About Being Book Lovers

Let’s talk about Matilda. I’m not talking about Harry Styles’ Matilda from his song (although I have a feeling that she would get along with the Matilda I’m talking about). No, I’m talking about Matilda from Roald Dahl’s book, Matilda (and also our Young Readers Rediscovered Classic). There are so many things we can learn about being book lovers from her story, so gather around and let’s talk about them.  

1. Matilda teaches us that a house without books is a lonely place.

Matilda lives in a home with a single book, a cookbook. She reads it over and over until she learned all the recipes in it by heart. Left alone every day without anything to fill her time, Matilda feels lonely until she stumbles upon all the books in her local library. It might be clichéd, but many book lovers watch Beauty and the Beast not dreaming of finding their prince charming in the form of a beast, but instead dreaming of the library Belle acquires by association. Nothing beats a house full of books. 

I grew up practically living at the library, so while our house wasn’t empty of books, it wasn’t full of books either. But, our weekly library trips for me to pick up a minimum of 15 books (really I stacked them in my arms from waist to chin) kept the adventures coming and filled the house with a rotation of books. Now, with my own space, there are books in every room, ready for people to browse and for reading at any time, and even though I don’t have roommates, it’s far from a lonely place. 

2. Matilda teaches us that we won’t love every book, but that reading widely gives us the opportunity to stumble upon the story of our hearts.  

Matilda talks with Mrs. Phelps, her local librarian, about all the children’s books she’s read, and she talks about how some were poor, and others were lovely, with her personal favorite being The Secret Garden. As book lovers, it’s easy to yell about your favorite books (we can’t help it), but we also have to remember that not every book is for everyone. There’s such a wide variety of stories out in the world because there’s all types of readers but stumbling on a book that becomes a favorite is the best feeling ever.  

I will never forget picking up Legendborn by Tracy Deonn for the first time simply because I had access to an early copy and a bookstagrammer that I know was so excited about the book. I’m not a big fantasy reader, so I had a little bit of apprehension about picking up the book. I started reading with the plan of reading a few chapters with my morning tea, but once I started, I simply couldn’t stop reading and finished it all in one sitting. Now, a few years later, I still can’t stop talking about the book. Which brings me to my next point … 

3. Matilda teaches us that talking to people more knowledgeable about books or who read different books than us helps us discover new books that we might love. 

When Matilda finishes reading every children’s book in the library, she talks to Mrs. Phelps about what other books she should read next. When handed Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, she got excited to try it and ended up loving it. As book lovers, it’s easy to get fixated on a genre or a type of book and never read any further. Talking to other people about good books and books they love gives us the opportunity to find something new, opening us up to even more possibilities. 

Pre-pandemic, I didn’t read a whole lot of adult romance. I was very comfortable sticking to my YA and Middle Grade bubble, but during the height of the pandemic, especially after it dawned on me that it wasn’t going to be over quickly, I just wanted light and fluffy reads that would make me swoon. I paid attention to people that I knew loved adult romance, what they were reading, and what they loved, and I picked up their suggestions. It opened up a whole new genre for me, and I adore it! 

4. Matilda shows us that books are the best entertainment, and once we find an author we love, we return to them over and over again. 

Once Matilda finished Great Expectations, she asks for more books from Charles Dickens, returning to him time and time again. Book lovers know that finding a favorite author is a bit like finding a new friend, feeling a bit like you know them more and more with every book. It’s a special kind of magic that only reading can provide. 

I grew up reading Ally Carter’s books, first stumbling upon her Gallagher Girls series in the library and quickly devouring every other book she wrote. All I needed to see was her name on the cover, and I knew I’d love it. Even as an adult, when she started releasing her middle grade series, Winterborne Home, I picked the books up as soon as they released, feeling a bit like I was returning home to visit a longtime friend.  

5. Matilda shows us that books can transport us.

This is one of my favorite things Matilda shows us. When she’s talking with Mrs. Phelps about Hemingway, she says, “The way he tells it I feel I am right there on the spot watching it all happen.” There’s no better feeling than getting utterly lost in a book. The world fades away, and suddenly you find yourself enveloped in the writing, in the story.  

During the summer of 2020, it was this very thing that got me through the summer. I read and read, spending my days going on walks, listening to podcasts, and reading books, and there are a few books that I vividly remember making me forget how much of a dumpster fire the world felt. The one that I have returned to time and time again from that summer is A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey which not only felt like a warm hug, but it also took me on a summer vacation to Winchester, England. Armchair travel is my favorite type of book transportation, and it delivered on every count.  

6. Matilda reminds us that reading is a window into the lives of others and expands your worldview. 

Matilda’s parents are very close-minded, stuck in their own personal bubble. Matilda gets frustrated by this, particularly because “All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen.” Book lovers and avid readers get to step into the shoes of so many different lives, so essentially, reading is a constant exercise of empathy. This is why it’s so important to be intentional about reading a diverse range of books and characters.  

It’s a common phrase that books are “mirrors and windows,” and that’s why it’s so important that so many different experiences are captured on the page. Books that can be mirrors, reflecting your life and experiences back to you, and windows, giving you a glimpse at the experiences and things that people different than you go through. I’m grateful to see more and more books that capture a wide variety of experiences, and I can’t wait to see that continue to grow and develop as readers discover their own mirrors or windows into the lives of others.  

7. Matilda teaches us that while not everyone will love and respect books the way you do, you shouldn’t ever stop reading because of those around you. 

Matilda’s father doesn’t love the fact that she always has her nose in a book. In fact, he goes so far as snatching the book from her hands and ripping all the pages out of it. And yet, this doesn’t deter Matilda. She keeps reading time and time again, picking up books she loves and showing books the respect she has for them. Book lovers most likely have some people in their lives who don’t necessarily love reading the same way they do, maybe having even been made fun of for being a bookworm and always having their own noses in books. But follow Matilda’s example! Don’t stop reading! 

8. Finally, Matilda reminds us that sometimes kids’ books don’t have any funny bits in them, and that’s okay (although Matilda does think they should anyways).  

When talking about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis with her teacher, Miss Honey, Matilda says that while she liked the book, it did have a failing: there weren’t any funny parts. She says that “Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh” as her reasoning for why all children’s books should have funny parts. Book lovers know that there are all types of books out in the world. There are ones to make us laugh, to make us cry, and to make us feel every emotion there is.  

We all remember the books that made us cry, the ones that are serious, but we also remember the ones that provide some much-needed levity to the heaviness of life. We know it’s unrealistic to only have books that are all happy, but Matilda’s reminder that life isn’t solely serious also reminds us to appreciate the books, especially the kids’ books, that manage to be both. I can’t help but think of books like Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia and Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez. Both books tackle the heavier sides of life (like grief, bullying, and fitting in/being your true self) while also providing lots of giggles and laughter. They’re brilliant stories for kids to enjoy and journey through all the emotions that come along with the roller coaster of life.