"It's Not Trash It's a Library Book!"

My favorite book of all time is Matilda by Roald Dahl. Many of my childhood favorites were by Roald Dahl. I secretly stayed up late at night and reread Matilda so many times that the cover is now taped together and is a treasured possession. I also thought that I could be just like Matilda- a girl who read so much that she was extra smart with special powers.

Lucky for me and a generation of kids who grew up with this story- TriStar Pictures made it into a film in 1996 with Danny DeVito, Rhea Pearlman and Mara Wilson. Matilda is presented pretty close to the book, a couple glaring differences but what book isn't changed when the screen play is written? Am I right? It is still an enjoyable couple hours of cinema. For those of you who have not read the book, here is a brief summary. Matilda is an extremely gifted little girl. She teaches herself to read before she can walk and buries herself in the adventures found in book pages to escape her dull, dim witted and just plain mean family. She was desperate to go to school and learn even more things, but she happens to be enrolled in to Crunchem Hall which is run by the Trunchbull- an evil headmistress that Matlida is determined to outwit much like she outsmarts her parents. 

I am currently challenging my teenage cousin to a #52in52 challenge. That means that we are both trying to read 52 books in 52 weeks for 2014. I feel so fortunate to have so many books like Matilda on my bookshelf to reread and feel like a kid again. Watching the film inspired me to read the book again and then get to my public library to read other Roald Dahl books that I fondly remember. I am not sure if I am going to get 52 books in this year but I am making a solid effort. Especially if I can count 100 page young adult books :) Reading is reading people. It is also helpful that my internet was on the fritz for a while and that I do not have TV to watch.

There are plenty of complaints and Pinterest pins that talk about the books that have been turned into movies. Of course the book is better- your imagination will always be able to trump what Hollywood can come  up with, but a book does not require millions of dollars to make and investors to then please. But is nice to see a Hollywood take on your favorite literary characters sometimes and Matilda does not disappoint in this area. 

There are a couple different ways to look at programming around this movie. First of all you could start your own #16for16 challenge with a movie like this- kick off the challenge to read 16 books in a 16 week semester on campus and maybe encourage your residents to make those books they enjoyed as kids. They tend to be easier reads and also uplifting in some way. This would be a wonderful stress relief for college students. You could also program about brain power. Matilda is able to do great things with her mind because she was not challenged enough by her classwork. By encouraging your residents to exercise their brain so that they have the maximum power to focus on schoolwork- they could realize greater potential. Whether it is through timed brain tests like sodoku or word puzzles, or though brain food like crunchy things and blueberries that increase brain function, or even the importance of water in brain health- you can take the program a few different directions.