Book Reviews
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes; illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
Reading level: Grades 3–6
Although she wears the same faded blue dress to school every day, Wanda Petronski has a hundred dresses lined up in her closet at home, all different colors, all silk and velvet. Or so she claims to the gaggle of popular, better-dressed girls who gather on the playground to tease her.
For one reason or another, Wanda doesn't fit in. She's poor, but so are lots of the other children. She's shy, but whether that's cause or effect of her treatment at school is hard to say. She may or may not be smart; she never speaks up in the classroom.
Wanda Petronski's family is from Poland and most of the other children "didn't have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith, or Allen." So when Wanda begins talking about her fabulous wardrobe at home, the girls just can't resist turning it into a game, at her expense of course.
Popular Peggy is the ringleader. Her best friend Maddie is not entirely comfortable with the teasing, especially since she herself wears hand-me-downs. But when she thinks about speaking up to Peggy, she pictures herself as the new target in the school yard, with the girls asking her where she got her dresses. "Oh well," Maddie thinks, pushing her uncomfortable thoughts away. "What difference did it make?…Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she thought."
Bystander Bullying
Although it was written over 60 years ago, Eleanor Estes' Newbery Honor Book, The Hundred Dresses, speaks so vividly to the complex issue of bystander bullying, this classic could have been written today.
The insidious and unplanned way the teasing begins is an extremely familiar scenario for many children. Maddie's desire to keep a low profile while keeping up with the "in" crowd is also common. A thoughtful teacher's response to Wanda's unexpected departure helps Maddie and her classmates think harder about their actions, covert and overt. Maddie's self-examination is cringe-worthy in its painful, sharp honesty:
"She had stood by silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had done. Worse. She was a coward. At least Peggy hadn't considered they were being mean, but she, Maddie, had thought they were doing wrong. She had thought, supposing she was the one being made fun of. She could put herself in Wanda's shoes. But she had done just as much as Peggy to make life miserable for Wanda by simply standing by and saying nothing. She had helped to make someone so unhappy that she had to move away from town."
Social and Emotional Lessons in The Hundred Dresses
More than anything, The Hundred Dresses will serve as a jumping-off point for discussions about bullying.
- Could Wanda have asked for help? How about Maddie?
- Did Maddie have a responsibility to try to stand up for Wanda?
- Is there a way she could have convinced Peggy and the others to leave Wanda alone without losing her status among her friends?
- What happens when Maddie tries to "put herself in Wanda's shoes"?
The teasing doesn't seem shockingly cruel, but it takes its toll. Readers may see their stance on the deceptively blameless sidelines in a whole new light next time.
Emilie Coulter
Book Reviewer
Committee for Children
