Review: Little Matilda

Little Matilda is a sweet book all about an adorable little kitten who just wants to make a friend!

‘Little Matilda was terribly bored, and its hard to be good when you’re being ignored. Lonely but hopeful, she set out to find, a friend she could play with, a friend who was kind.’

Matilda is bored. She is a little kitten who just wants to play, but can’t find anyone to play with. First she tries with Freda the fish, who rudely blatantly ignores her, then she tries with a guinea pig, a kangaroo and an emu, and even a frog! But everyone is too busy with their own games, and poor Matilda is left feeling very alone.

Matilda is pretty upset, but goes to bed and when she wakes up decides it’s a new day, and she will just have to try again! She looks up in the sky and meets Jack the galah, who is also quite busy, but ultimately he decides, ‘There really is nothing that I’d rather do’ then have a play with little Matilda. And so begins a wonderful friendship with games and climbing and mud pies!

This is a beautiful story about friendship. It has some sad moments that really pull at the heart strings and remind you how tricky it can be to make friends and to deal with rejection. But it shows that it pays off to keep trying and to try different things, and teaches how important resilience is. It is a wholesome story that made me want to cry, but was also sweet and rewarding.

Little Matilda is told in rhyme making it perfect for reading out loud. The illustrators are gorgeous and showcase Australian fauna and flora wonderfully, and the characters are lovely with the pages of the two friends my favourites.