Wells The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Red Pony by John Steinbeck The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Special abilities Matilda's intellect has given her telekinetic abilities, which she discovered in class one day after inadvertently tipping over a glass of water containing a live newt on Miss Trunchbull. Matilda decides to exercise this ability at home by levitating a cigar. She continues to refine her talent, and learns of Miss Honey's traumatic childhood at the hands of her aunt and guardian, Miss Trunchbull, after her father Magnus' unexpected death. Matilda develops a scheme in revenge against Miss Trunchbull, and in class one day she levitates a piece of chalk to the blackboard while Miss Trunchbull is visiting the room and tormenting the students, posing as the spirit of Magnus and threatening to punish Miss Trunchbull by name if she does not leave her inheritance to his daughter. Horrified, she completely vanishes from existence following the events of Matilda's practical joke, leaving her house and worldly possessions to her niece, without any information established relating to her current whereabouts. After the position of headmaster is taken by a different teacher, Matilda is moved to the year six classroom, but finds herself unable to summon her telekinetic one day. Miss Honey suggests that her previously unused potential was fuelling her telekinetic, but now she is being suitably challenged she has no potential left to spare on her talent. Portrayals In the 1996 film Matilda was portrayed by American child actress Mara Wilson. Newborn Matilda was portrayed by two sets of twins: Alissa and Amanda Graham and Trevor and James Gallagher; nine-month-old Matilda was portrayed by Kayla and Kelsey Fredericks; toddler Matilda by Amanda and Caitlin Fein and four year by Sara Magdalin. In the musical Stratford production Matilda was portrayed by three young actresses Adrianna Bertola; Josie Griffiths and Kerry Ingram. When the production moved to the West End Ingram was the only one who transferred and three new actresses were brought in: Cleo Demetriou; Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington Cox. Since then, Matilda has been portrayed by over 100 different actresses. In the 2022 film she is played