Mrs. Phelps was even more surprised, but she was too sensible to show it. ‘What sort of book would you like to read next?’ she asked.
‘A really good one,’ said Matilda. ‘A famous one.’
So Mrs. Phelps gave her Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a very famous English writer. For the next few
Afternoons she watched Matilda in the corner with the book on her knees.
During the next six months, Matilda read fourteen ‘famous books’ by different writers, and Mrs. Phelps watched with surprise and excitement.
‘You can borrow books from libraries and take them home, Matilda,’ she said one day. ‘Did you know?’
‘Can I?’ said Matilda. And after that, she visited the library once every week to borrow new books and to return the old ones. And every afternoon she read. The books took her to Africa with Ernest Hemingway,* to India with Rudyard Kipling, and to many other wonderful places.