Amazon.com: The Hundred Dresses: Eleanor Estes, Louis Slobodkin: Books

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Wanda Petronski lives way up in shabby Boggins Heights, and she doesn't have any friends. Every day she wears a faded blue dress, which wouldn't be too much of a problem if she didn't tell her schoolmates that she had a hundred dresses at home--all silk, all colors, and velvet, too. This lie--albeit understandable in light of her dress-obsessed circle--precipitates peals of laughter from her peers, and she never hears the end of it. One day, after Wanda has been absent from school for a few days, the teacher receives a note from Wanda's father, a Polish immigrant: "Dear teacher: My Wanda will not come to your school any more. Jake also. Now we move away to big city. No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in the big city. Yours truly, Jan Petronski."

Maddie, a girl who had stood by while Wanda was taunted about her dresses, feels sick inside: "True, she had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet, but she had said nothing.... She was a coward.... She had helped to make someone so unhappy that she had had to move away from town." Repentant, Maddie and her friend Peggy head up to Boggins Heights to see if the Petronskis are still there. When they discover the house is empty, Maddie despairs: "Nothing would ever seem good to her again, because just when she was about to enjoy something--like going for a hike with Peggy to look for bayberries or sliding down Barley Hill--she'd bump right smack into the thought that she had made Wanda Petronski move away." Ouch. This gentle Newbery Honor Book convincingly captures the deeply felt moral dilemmas of childhood, equally poignant for the teased or the tormentor. Louis Slobodkin, illustrator of the 1944 Caldecott Medalist Many Moons, brings his wispy, evocative, color-washed sketches to Eleanor Estes's time-proven classic about kindness, compassion, and standing up for what's right. (Ages 6 and older) --Karin Snelson

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-Friendship, peer pressure, regret, and courage are all issues that are integral to this Newbery Honor book by Eleanor Estes (Harcourt, 1944). Wanda Petronski tells classmates she has a hundred dresses of all varieties in her closet at home. So why does she always wear the same old worn dress to school? The teasing that follows seems harmless, but it's not. This book explores the hurt that comes from thoughtless words, and offers a painful, but heart-warming lesson in forgiveness. Christina Moore reads the unabridged story with warmth and expression. The author's carefully chosen words stand on their own without the distraction of sound effects or music. This is a well-done production of an exceptional book that has earned its place as a childhood classic.
Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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The Hundred Dresses (Hardcover)

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