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50 free Matilda trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
41 free Matilda trivia questions with answers. Matilda has been through four lives: a 1988 novel, a 1996 film, a Royal Shakespeare Company musical, and a 2022 screen version of that musical. This quiz covers all four, plus the man who started it. The book questions go past the famous bits: what she was reading at four, which county the village sits in, where the story placed in the BBC's Big Read, and the exact wording her mother used about clever girls. The film round covers the cast, the budget it barely made back, and the school's name. The musical round covers Tim Minchin, the seven Olivier Awards, and the four young actresses who shared a single Best Actress trophy. Every answer is written against a sourced account with the sentence that establishes it attached, so a family argument about the Chokey can be settled properly. Difficulty runs from easy to expert.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year was the novel published?
1988
Jonathan Cape published it, two years before the author's death.
Q 02Which publisher brought out the original book?
Jonathan Cape
Its author had been with the same London house for most of his children's titles.
Q 03What is the heroine's surname?
Wormwood
Her parents are a crooked used-car salesman and a woman who thinks cleverness is unattractive in a girl.
Q 04At what age could the heroine read, according to the book?
Three and a half
By four and a quarter she had cleared the children's shelves at the library and moved on to Dickens and Steinbeck.
Q 05Which two grown-up classics does she read as a small child?
Animal Farm and The Grapes of Wrath
She works through the entire children's section first, then starts on the adult shelves.
Q 06What is the kindly teacher called?
Miss Jennifer Honey
She tries to have the child moved up a class and is blocked by the headmistress.
Q 07What is the tyrannical headmistress's first name?
Agatha
Her surname, Trunchbull, is one of the most quoted villain names in British children's fiction.
Q 08What is the nail-lined punishment cupboard called?
The Chokey
Its punishments are deliberately over the top so that no parent will believe a child who describes them.
Q 09Why does the headmistress hurl Amanda Thripp over the playground fence?
For wearing pigtails
She dislikes long hair throughout the book, and the throw is described as a hammer throw.
Q 10What is Bruce Bogtrotter forced to do in front of the school?
Eat an enormous cake
He manages it, so the headmistress smashes the platter over his head, which he barely notices.
Q 11What does Lavender put in the headmistress's water jug?
A newt
The heroine is blamed for it, and that injustice is what first triggers her telekinesis.
Q 12Which power does the heroine discover she has?
Telekinesis
She first uses it to tip a glass of water, complete with amphibian, over her tormentor.
Q 13In which English county is the village of the novel set?
Buckinghamshire
It is described as forty minutes by bus from Reading and eight miles from Aylesbury.
Q 14What is the father's trade?
Q 21What is the school called in the 1996 film?
Crunchem Hall
The headmistress buys her way into a deal with the father over a faulty car.
Q 22Which studio label released the 1996 film?
TriStar Pictures
It came out on 2 August 1996 through Sony Pictures Releasing.
Q 23Who wrote the music and lyrics for the stage musical?
Tim Minchin
Dennis Kelly wrote the book, and the Royal Shakespeare Company staged it first.
Q 24Which theatre organisation first staged the musical?
Selling used cars
He finds a great many ways to cheat his customers, and eventually the police catch up with him.
Q 15Where did the novel place in the BBC's 2003 Big Read poll?
Number 74
School Library Journal later ranked it 30th among all-time best children's novels.
Q 16What honour did the heroine receive from the Royal Mail in 2012?
A commemorative stamp
Time magazine also put the book on its list of the 100 best young-adult books of all time.
Q 17Who directed the 1996 film?
Danny DeVito
He also produced it and appeared in it, opposite Rhea Perlman as the mother.
Q 18Which child actress played the lead in that film?
Mara Wilson
Pam Ferris played the headmistress and Embeth Davidtz the gentle teacher.
Q 19Which actress played Miss Trunchbull in 1996?
Pam Ferris
Rhea Perlman, meanwhile, played the mother opposite her real-life husband.
Q 20What did the 1996 film take at the box office, against a $36m budget?
$47 million
It only became a genuine favourite later, through television and home video.
The Royal Shakespeare Company
It announced the plan in December 2009 and opened the show in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Q 25How many Olivier Awards did the musical win in 2012?
Seven
That was, at the time, the most ever won by a single show.
Q 26How was the 2012 Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical awarded?
Shared between four young actresses
Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Sophia Kiely all took a share.
Q 27Which London venue hosted the musical's West End debut in 2011?
The Cambridge Theatre
Building work delayed previews from 18 to 25 October, and opening night from 22 to 24 November.
Q 28Who directed the stage musical and the 2022 film of it?
Matthew Warchus
Dennis Kelly wrote both, and Tim Minchin came back to write new songs for the screen.
Q 29Who played the title role in the 2022 musical film?
Alisha Weir
It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October that year.
Q 30On which streaming service did the 2022 film land in the United States?
Netflix
It arrived there on Christmas Day, after a limited cinema run on 9 December.