瑪蒂達是個三歲就會自己看書的天才兒童，但她的爸爸卻是個靠欺騙手法賣二手車的大老粗，而媽媽則是個不做家事的賭徒。他們認為小孩子應該多看電視少讀書；還好，瑪蒂達自己會到圖書館看書，心靈暫時得到慰藉。
上學後，她遇到了好老師哈妮小姐，但校長卻是個會把學生當鍊球丟的暴力份子。瑪蒂達在校長誤會她之後，非常生氣，卻也在這時發現自己有神祕的超能力……她利用超能力把暴力的校長整得七葷八素，也替被欺負的哈妮小姐討回公道，最後也為自己找到理想的新家庭。
“The Trunchbull” is no match for Matilda! Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!
Roald Dahl為了娛樂他的4位小孩，在1960開始致力於兒童故事的寫作，為孩子們創作了十九部暢銷全球的兒童文學作品。其中以《女巫》(The Witches)，榮獲英國兒童文學「惠特比獎」及賣座電影《巧克力冒險工廠》也來自於他的作品Charlie and the Chocolate Factory，其他名作如Matilda, The BFG, The Magic Finger...等等，加上名插畫家Quentin Blake的巧手，讓人在閱讀的過程中，充滿了趣味。
Roald Dahl 羅爾德‧達爾（1916~1990）享譽文壇的英國兒童文學大師，其經典暢銷著作《巧克力冒險工廠》曾二度被翻拍為電影，至今仍廣受歡迎。
"I'm probably more pleased with my children's than with my adult short stories. Childern's books are harder to write It's tougher to keep a child interested because a child doesn't have the concentration of an adult. The child knows the television is in the next room. It's tough to hold a child, but it's a lovely thing to try to do." ------Roald Dahl
Books by Roald Dahl
The BFG
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Danny the Champion of the World
Dirty Beasts
The Enormous Crocodile
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr. Fox
George’s Marvelous Medicine
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Going Solo
James and the Giant Peach
The Magic Finger
Matilda
The Minpins
Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes
The Twits
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
The Witches
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More
Roald Dahl