The Hundred Dresses

3/9/2021

1944, Harcourt Publishers; Newbery Honor Book. For 77 years this book has never been out of print.

""As for the girls," she said, "although just one or two sketches were submitted by most, one girl - and Room 13 should be very proud of her - this one girl actually drew one hundred designs - all different and all beautiful. In the opinion of the judges, any one of her drawings is worthy of winning the prize. I am happy to say that Wanda Petronksi is the winner of the girls' medal. Unfortunately, Wanda has been absent from school for some days and is not here to receive the applause that is due her. Let us hope she will be back tomorrow. Now, class, you may file around the room quietly and look at her exquisite drawings.""

Eleanor Estes

Estes' (1906 - 1988) first career was as a librarian but she began to write children's stories during a bout of tuberculosis. She is a three-time Newbery Honor recipient for The Middle Moffet, Rufus M, and The Hundred Dresses. She received the Newbery Medal for her novel about a puppy-napped dog, Ginger Pye.

Lois Slobodkin

Slobodkin's (1903 - 1975) early job as an elevator operator allowed him time to study the classics by getting his elevator "stuck" between floors. He was a sculptor, writer and illustrator. Slobodkin illustrated his first children's book, The Moffats, for a friend, Eleanor Estes. He went on to write or illustrate more than 90 children's books and received the Caldecott Medal for his work with James Thurber on Many Moons.

Book Synopsis

Wanda is teased and bullied by her classmates because she is different: her name is different, she talks differently, and her clothes are different. But most of all, Wanda is bullied because she is poor, but insists there are one hundred dresses hanging in her closet.

As Estes' daughter notes in a letter to the reader, The Hundred Dresses is based on a true story. Estes wrote about Wanda to "set things right - to reach out to the girl who had stood lonely and silent against the red brick wall of the school."

This book reflects the gender norms of its time, but the themes around bullying are timeless.

Middle chapter books, 81 pages. Wanda Petronski is ridiculed at school for wearing the same faded blue dress everyday. Maddie, who feels terrible that Wanda moved to get away from the bullying, decides she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again."

Learning Options

Family Read Aloud Time
This is a lovely book for reading with your family, particularly with 7 to 10-year-olds. You may want to keep some paper and crayons or colored pencils on hand -- everyone is going to want to draw 100 dresses!

Classroom Resource
The Hundred Dresses is a solid addition to a classroom library. You can find a good lesson on character analysis and inference skills for 3rd - 5th grades at Scholastic. The book is also a good choice for social-emotional skills lessons.

Learning at Home
The three primary characters in the book reflect three socioeconomic levels with Wanda being the poorest of the three girls. But she shows up everyday to school in a clean dress, albeit the same one, while Maddie wears Peggy's hand-me-downs. While The Hundred Dresses is excellent for teaching about respect and bullying, it is also a wonderful piece for unpacking the powerful spirit of imagination.