The Collected Tales Nurse Matilda

After watching Nanny McPhee, I was curious about Nurse Matilda, whom the title character in Nanny McPhee based on. Months ago, I saw the Bloomsbury edition of Nurse Matilda The Collected Tales by Christianna Brand in a bookstore and liked the appearance. Apart from the hardcover and the kind of paper used ("natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests"), I thought the black and white illustrations by Edward Ardizzone, Brand's cousin, were cute. The book was consist of 3 stories: Nurse Matilda, Nurse Matilda Goes To Town, and Nurse Matilda Goes To Hospital.

I wished I read it sooner because I think now I am too old for it. The synopsis is as follows: Mr and Mrs Brown have so many children that in the book only several of them are named. They are all naughty that nurses, nannies and governesses all cannot work there long. Then come Nurse Matilda with her magic stick who will punish the children in magical ways, and in the end they learn how to behave. The naughtiness in the book is repeated again and again, so is the way Nurse Matilda handles them, that it becomes rather boring for me. Evangeline, who in Nanny McPhee is played by lovely actress Kelly MacDonald, is depicted as an annoying fat girl whom the Brown children dislike, and of course she doesn't end up marrying Mr Brown like in the movie.