Matilda Wormwood is a remarkable 5 year old, but nobody seems to notice. Not least her family, who are far more interested in what’s on the television. Her father is a dodgy rogue trader dealing in second-hand cars, and her mother is unhealthily obsessed with the tarantella. Matilda can’t help but feel slightly short-changed.

At her new school, Matilda and the other pupils live in fear of the terrifying Miss Agatha Trunchbull. This horrid headmistress rules with an iron fist and a rotten programme of phys-ed. Only Matilda’s favourite teacher, Miss Honey, provides any relief from the Trunchbull’s petrifying patrols of Crunchem Hall.

When Matilda discovers her abilities are a little more magical than most, she sets out to start a revolting revolution of her own!