The Hundred Dresses
'''The Hundred Dresses (ISBN 9780153329753) is a 1944 children's book by Eleanor Estes, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin.This story is a sensitive account of how a poor young girl is judged by her classmates.Wanda Petronski is a young polish girl who goes to a school with other American children in an American town These other children see Wanda as 'Different' in many Ways.
[edit] Plot
The book centers on Wanda Petronski, a poor and friendless Polish-American girl. Her teacher, outwardly kind, puts her in the worst seat in the classroom and she does not say when her schoolmates tease her. One day, after wanda's classmates are laughing at her funny last name and the faded blue dress she wears to school every day, Wanda claims to own one hundred dresses, all lined up in her closet at her worn down house. This outrageous and obvious lie becomes a game, as the girls in her class corner her every day before school, demanding that she describe for them all of her dresses. She is mocked, and her father, Mr. Petronski decides that she must leave that school.
She enters a drawing contest that the teacher had where the girls draw and design dresses. She submits one hundred beautiful designs. Her classmates are in awe of her talent and realize these were her hundred dresses. Unfortunately, she has already moved away and doesn't realize she won the contest.
The students who teased her feel remorse and want to make her upset, but they aren't sure how. They decide to write her an apology letter, and send it to her old address, hoping the post office can forward it.
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This book can be used in classrooms to discuss bullying and teasing.
