Module 2: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Genre:
Classic Children's Literature

Book Summary:
Wanda is a girl from a poor family in Connecticut. In addition to being poor, her family is Polish, and her classmates are not always kind to her. When Wanda claims to have a hundred dresses at home in her closet, the girls in her class tease and torment her. Eventually, Wanda's family decides to move away and guilt riddles some of the girls who teased Wanda most. They discover, at the end, that things are not always what they seem.

Estes, E. (1944). The hundred dresses. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

Impressions:
Despite being written so long ago, The Hundred Dresses is still relevant today. While many books for younger readers focus on the feelings of a victim being bullied, this story allows us to see into the thoughts of the by-stander and the bully. The story is not one where there is a problem and then everything turns out perfectly at the end; there are some complications to that happy ending, but the author allowing consequences to play out makes the story more true to life and relatable for readers.

Professional Review:

Classic titles return in time for the gift-giving season. For a new generation of readers, Eleanor Estes's long-treasured title, The Hundred Dresses (1944), illus. by Louis Slobodkin, appears in its 60th anniversary finery with newly "restored color" in the artwork. Wanda faces mockery at school, both because of her "funny" last name (Petron-ski) and her claims that she has 100 dresses at home even though she wears the same one to school each day. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly (2004). [Review for the book The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes]. Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-205260-7

Library Uses:
There is an obvious theme of bullying and how it feels from all roles, but for older elementary students, this would also be a good book to open discussion into immigration and culture as it relates to the United States. By taking into account events that happened in the past and seeing how they relate to things happening today, students might begin to appreciate each other on a different level, understanding differences that often become the entry point for bullying before those things happen. Students could research and share about their own family history as a way to get to know and appreciate each others differences.

Readalikes:
Molly' s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
The Night the Bells Rang by Natalie Kinnsey-Warnock

Comments

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