One of my ‘Book Bingo’ challenges this year is to re-read a childhood favourite, and how could it be anything other than Matilda? I read this book so many times as a child that my copy is falling to pieces (as you can probably tell from the picture), and I’ve watched the film more times than I can count.

What I had forgotten since last time I read this book was how many beautiful illustrations were in it.

As I was reading, my husband said to me ‘Do you think they’ll ever re-print Roald Dahl books without Quentin Blake illustrations?’, and I think the answer is honestly no. His illustrations are so perfect for the story and they evoke very particular emotions as you look at them. And I think this one may have been drawn specifically for me:

In fact, when I was younger, I used to think this book had been written just for me, as I loved to read just as much as Matilda did (although not quite as young as she was).

Reading the book again was a great way to reminisce on my childhood, and relive the story without all the americanisation of the film. Trying to pick a favourite part of the story is really quite hard, but it probably has to be the end.

When Mrs Trunchbull finally gets her come-uppance, Mrs Honey finally gets her life back, and Matilda gets a guardian who truly cares for her.

This book definitely is (and probably always will be) my favourite Roald Dahl book, it’s just perfect.