3 ЧАСТЬ choose a famous grown-up book for a four-year-old girl? Her firstthought was to pick a young teenager's romance of the kind that iswritten for fifteen-year-old schoolgirls, but for some reason she walkedpast that particular shelf.more than one if you wish.”bedroom now became her reading room and there she sat reading mostUNIT 6"Try this, ” she said at last. “It's very famous and very good. Ifit is too long for you, just let me know and I'll find something short-er and a bit easier.""Great Expectations, ” Matilda read, “by Charles Dickens. I'd loveOver the next few afternoons Matilda sat reading in the big arm-chair at the far end of the room with a book on her lap. She wastotally absorbed in the wonderful adventures of Pip and old MissHavisham in her house and the spell of magic that Dickens the greatstoryteller had created with his words. CoWithin a week, Matilda had finished Great Expectations which inthat edition contained four hundred and eleven pages. “I loved it, "she said to Mrs Phelps.“Has Mr Dickens written any others?”"A great number, ” said Mrs Phelps. "Shall I choose you another?”Over the next six months under Mrs Phelps's watchful eye, Matildaread the following books: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, OliverTwist by Charles Dickens, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Pride andPrejudice by Jane Austen, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Kim by Rudyard Kipling, The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, TheOld Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, The Good Companionsby J. B. Priestley, Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, Animal Farmby George Orwell.It was an impressive list. Once Mrs Phelps said, “Did you knowthat public libraries like this allow you to borrow books and takethem home?”"I didn't know that, ” Matilda said. "Could I do it?”"Of course, ” Mrs Phelps said."When you have chosen the book you want, bring it to me so Ican make a note of it and it's yours for two weeks. You can takeFrom then on, Matilda would visit the library only once a week inorder to take out new books and return the old ones.​