The Hundred Dresses

By Eleanor Estes

Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin, Caldecott Medalist

The Hundred Dresses is a Junior Fiction, short, 78-page read with black and white illustrations. Some editions have color tinted illustrations. Although it was published in 1944, it is a new, worthy read for those who have not read it.  In 1945 it received a Newberry Honor, and in 2007 the National Education Association listed it as one of the Top 100 Books for Children.

Wanda Petronski was a poor Polish girl who lived with her brother and father in the country. She walked to school and was bullied along the way, as well as in school. Why? Because she had a funny last name, Petronski, unlike Smith or Brown, and because … she wore the same faded blue dress to school everyday.

Maddie and Peggy, her classmates, asked Wanda why she only wore one dress.  She told them she had 100 dresses lined up in her closet. They then ask her how many pairs of shoes she had. Wanda replied with “60 pairs”. They laughed hysterically and continued to tease her just about daily. These two classmates also did not think Wanda was very smart. However, Wanda won an art contest in school but she did not return to school to receive her award, ever.

Read this timeless book about being bullied because one is different. Why did Wanda not return to school?  Where did she go?  Did she really have 100 dresses?  Hint … Wanda did not lie.  Even in spite of being taunted by Maddie and Peggy, Wanda rewarded them with kindness from afar.  Read to find out how.

Enjoy The Hundred Dresses – and – why bully others?  Aren’t we all different?