Los cien vestidos

by Eleanor Estes

Because of her name and poverty, Wanda is the object of two schoolgirls' cruel teasing.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Middle Grade, Picture Books, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult

80 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Eleanor Ruth Rosenfeld (Estes)was an American children's author. She was born in West Haven, Connecticut as Eleanor Ruth Rosenfield. Originally a librarian, Estes' writing career began following a case of tuberculosis. Bedridden while recovering, Estes began writing down some of her childhood memories, which would later turn into full-length children's books.

Estes's book Ginger Pye (1951) won the Newbery Medal, and three of her other books (The Middle Moffat, Rufus M., and The Hundred Dresses) were chosen as Newbery Honor books. She also received the Certificate of Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Literature and was nominated for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. By the time of her death at age 82, Estes had written 19 children's books and one novel for adults.

Reviews

[Mischenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hundred Dresses is a book about a girl named Wanda Petronski who’s bullied at school because she’s different. Wanda is polish and the other students in class (particularly a girl named Peggy) make fun of her name and harass her outside of school whenever possible.

Dresses seem important to the school girls and it’s always an interest when a girl comes to school wearing a new one. Wanda attempts to fit in (as the girls all admire a student’s new dress) by speaking up and telling the girls she has a hundred dresses at home.

“A hundred of them. All lined up in my closet.”

The other kids don’t believe her and just make fun of her even more. After all, she shows up to school wearing the same faded blue dress day after day. Not long after, Wanda doesn’t show up to school anymore and everyone wonders where she is.

Even though Peggy never thought twice about making fun of Wanda, her friend Maddie felt bad about it. It niggles her every night, especially now that Wanda’s been absent from school for so long. Is she coming back? All Maddie can do now is reflect on the fact that she never had the guts to stand up to Peggy for fear of being the next victim.

The day arrives when the school art contest winners will be announced. Everyone is excited when they walk into the room and see at least a hundred different sketches hanging up. They’re speechless and can’t believe the beauty of the art pieces. Who made all of them? The same day, all the children learn what happened to Wanda through a letter from her father. The question is: Will the class ever get to see or speak to Wanda again?

This is such a lovely book. Our copy is a paperback from 1973 and in really good shape for it’s age. I believe this was originally written in 1944. It does have some illustrations, but not much color. I purchased this at a garage sale for only ten cents. This book is just one example of why I can’t stay away from book sales!

With themes of bullying, racial discrimination, and forgiveness, this is such an important book for children. What I loved most about the book is Wanda’s forgiveness, especially when the students didn’t even ask for it. What I didn’t like, was that it’s unclear whether or not Peggy or the other bullying students truly learned their lesson. I don’t remember reading this when I was in elementary school, but I’m glad to have read it with my kids now.

Grade Level: 4 – 6
Paperback: 79 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; 1st edition (January 30, 1973)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0590062190
ISBN-13: 978-0590062190

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving story with an important message and absolutely beautiful illustrations.

Wanda is looked down upon at school, she only has one dress and her surname is seen as 'funny' by the rest of the children. She lives in a poor part of town with her dad and her brother.

Wanda is bullied and the girls who bully her feel justified in their actions because they believe Wanda is lying and feel that by doing this she is inviting ridicule. The book gives an important message - even though Maddie didn't join in with the bullying, she was still guilty by not standing up for Wanda and telling her friends to stop. I think this is valuable message for children that not only should you be kind to others but you should also speak out when you know something you see happening is wrong.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can see the appeal of this classic childhood read, and I can’t help but sympathize with Wanda on many levels. To be teased over things beyond your control is especially uncalled for, and unfortunately many of us can relate all too well. I didn’t find her name that unusual or difficult; I grew up in an area of strong Polish heritage, and have seen and heard more unusual last names that are much more difficult to spell and pronounce. And honestly, I think every ethnicity has some unique names that are only unique to those of us who didn’t grow up with them. But that is much of what we bully and tease over, that which is unfamiliar and unknown to us.

I liked the lessons gained from reading this relatively short book. There is the strong message against bullying, in favor of choosing our friends based on their inner qualities and character rather than their outer, often unchangeable, features. But I most appreciated the more subtle lesson of not judging before knowing all the facts. Our assumptions are based on our own perceptions of context, meaning, and setting, but when we open our eyes to a new perspective, we see that what we perceive as another’s falsehood is absolutely true in its own right.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, but I somehow lost touch with it over the years. I was delighted to find a copy, in its sixtieth printing, no less, on the shelf at my local library. I was stunned to see the book was originally published in 1944 - I had assumed it was written during the sixties when I first read it. It does have a rather timeless appeal, and with all the furor these last few years about bullying, its theme is as relevant as ever.

In a school full of children with last names like Allen, Thomas, or Smith, Wanda Petronski stood out. She sat in the back row of the classroom, with the rough boys who did not make good marks on their report cards. She didn't sit there because she was rough and noisy, but because she lived in Boggins Heights, and her feet were usually caked with dry mud that she picked up coming down the country roads. Poor friendless Wanda came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn't hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly. This fact may or may not have been enough to get her picked on, but Wanda didn't help matters when she opened her mouth and told the other girls that she had "A hundred dresses. All lined up in my closet."



It turns out, she really did have a hundred dresses, but by the time that fact was discovered, Wanda was gone, off to live in the big city where others had names like hers. "No more hollar Polack. No more ask why funny name." her father explained in a note to the teacher, a sentiment that leads the reader to wonder if perhaps Wanda was not the only Petronski family member to be bullied.

Although I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I did when I was younger, it's still a fine read that I hope will always stay in print for young girls to adore, and maybe even benefit from reading.

[Duane Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1944 and this book is just as relevant today as it was 72 years ago. The timeless story of young Wanda Petronski, and what it was like at school to be a poor girl with a strange name, with one faded blue dress that she wore everyday. Shaming is just as bad as bullying, maybe worse. This story will make your heart ache, because when we were in school we were "Wanda", or we knew a "Wanda". Yes this book should be required reading and it is in some schools. The National Education Association puts this book on it's list of 100 best children's books. Beautifully written, just a remarkable story.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has remained in my memory because it speaks to many of the issues that children deal with today. The main character wears the same outfit everyday, and yet claims to have a hundred. Due to her claim of having a hundred dresses, the students ridcule her. Sadly, the students merely see the physical,where as the main character sees beyond the physical. Though in the physical she was not attired with the hundred dresses,in her imagination and drawings she was and that was sufficient for her. One needs to look beyond the physical when the physical IS empty; for in the imagination there is a wealth of things.

[Astraea · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب مصور «صد دست لباس» نوشته‌ی «الینور استیس» با تصویرگری «لوییز اسلوبودکین» است. این کتاب برای کودکان نوشته شده. هلنا استیس
دختر نویسنده‌ی کتاب در مقدمه آورده است: «سال‌ها پیش از مادرم پرسیدم که چرا این داستان را نوشت. او به من گفت که در دبستان یک همکلاسی داشته که چون هر روز با همان یک دست لباس به مدرسه می‌آمد، مورد تمسخر و آزار قرار می‌گرفت؛ علاوه بر این که نام لهستانی‌اش خاص و غیرعادی بود و تلفظ آن برای خیلی‌ها دشوار... همکلاسی او هر روز همان یک دست لباس را می‌پوشید و به مدرسه می‌رفت؛ چون او فقط همان یک دست لباس را داشت.»

من فکر میکنم این کتاب برای کودکان نیست...درسته خیلی خیلی روان و سطحی نوشته شده ولی مضمونی داره که متاسفانه تا زمانی دنیا دنیاست انسان از خودش به دور نخواهد کرد
خشونت ، تمسخر و ریش خند کردن، رد اشخاص جدید، بیرحمی، بزدلی
و البته در سمت دیگه ویژگیهای والایی مثل زیبایی هنر، داشتن مناعت طبع و بلند نظری و قلب پاک و از دست ندادن امید و آرزو در اوج فقر و بی کسی....

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hundred Dresses is Eleanor Estes' 1945 Newberry Award Winning classic geared toward middle grade readers. The book is still relevant these 70 years later because it touches on important concepts like bullying, peer pressure, and racial discrimination. In a letter to readers at the beginning of the book, Estes' daughter tells us that the book had been based on events in her mother's own life.
Wanda Petronski is a Polish immigrant who lives in a one room house in the poor section of town with her father and brother. The rest of the children are WASP whose families have seemed to have lived in the town for years. When Wanda shows up one day in her shoddy yet clean blue dress, the class queen Peggy and sidekick Maggie start teasing her. Oh this girl has one hundred different dresses all lined up in her closet, oh really. Peggy is the instigator while Maggie stands quietly by and allows the taunting to occur. Internally, however, Maggie does not condone this behavior because she wears handmedown clothes and does not want to be the next kid taunted should Peggy stop focusing on Wanda.
Later the class at school has a drawing contest. Wanda wins- she has drawn all one hundred dresses and her artwork reveals her inner voice. Immediately the rest of the class feels horrible that they ever teased her in the first place. Yet Wanda's father decided to move to the big city where there were many immigrants so his children would no longer be singled out and ridiculed by their classmates. Peggy and Maggie want to apologize to Wanda, but how, now that she has moved away?
Although 70 years old, this book is timeless. Last year it was one of the monthly reads for kids at our public library. I feel like all middle grade (2-5) classes should read this in class and then have a poignant class discussion about peer pressure, teasing, etc. A 4.5 star wonderful read with sparkling illustrations to accompany the poignant text. Highly recommended.

[Mahdi Lotfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب «صد دست لباس» داستان دختر نوجوانی به نام «واندا پترونسکی» است که با خانواده لهستا��ی‌تبار خود در یکی از شهرهای امریکا زندگی می‌کند. هم‌کلاسی‌های واندا در مدرسه او را مسخره می‌کنند... .
نویسنده که در واقع خود یکی از هم‌کلاسی‌های واندا بوده سعی کرده است با نوشتن این داستان، اشتباه خود را جبران کند. گناه او «بی‌تفاوتی» نسبت به آزار واندا بود.
این داستان در سال ۱۹۴۵ جایزه «نشان نیوبری» را اخذ کرد و در سال ۲۰۰۷ یکی از صد کتاب منتخب معلمان «انجمن آموزش ملی» امریکا گردید.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featured in a set of lovely sessions reading with grandkids.

Eleanor Estes' story weaving, combined with the artwork of Louis Slobodkin, spun the tale of Maddie, a girl with big regrets. I first heard it in a kindergarten class, sitting criss-cross-applesauce amongst my fellows. The teacher I worshipped but cannot remember her name would make generous low passes with the book and its beautiful artwork. It made a lasting mark on youthful self on many levels. Of course this would be one of the books to read with my grandkids - who are growing up even faster than their parents - they are 11 and 9, and that window is narrowing quickly so my perusal of books we've read and the ones we haven't digs a little deeper, with a distinct consideration of "message." The Hundred Dresses checks all the boxes. . .so read we do.

Despite the fact that this book was written when their great-grandmother (my mother) was 4 years old, and that these 2 particular children have never been in public school, this story - which takes place primarily in school grounds, or during the arrivals and departures of elementary age students - my readers eagerly tumbled into the tale upon the turn of the first page. And honestly, who wouldn't?

Wanda Petronski backed up against the brick wall, waiting for someone, anyone to acknowledge her and say one, just one nice thing. . .and brave enough to still try and open a gate to her peers whose main use for her is an object of ridicule, a stage for self-aggrandizement is the opening opportunity for a tense gasp, and moue with wrinkled brow.

(The little "o's" of their mouths made me remember my own dismay, instantly recognizing the moment one realizes they are being mocked. What's worse is the laughter rises out of those from whom one hopes for friendship, approval, or at least congeniality.)

By the very end my two were so pleased with Maddie (caught in society's cross-hairs), and even with Peggy (the stubborn and beautiful bully) who find room to turn themselves around, but mostly they loved Wanda, the Hero, who with the generous strokes of her paintbrush and inkpen rises above all and shows us all - characters & readers, alike - what forgiveness really looks like.

If you don't have children about, don't let that stop you. Find the book, and give it a read. Its inspiring, and reminds us to get over ourselves, gird our loins and fight for others. We'll be much better for it.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book won the 1945 Newberry Award. It is of its time and place. Yet, my recent experience reading it with my soon-to-be-six year old made me see its current value. In general, I agree with my GR friend, Julie, when she basically says that the individual parts or this book may be wanting but the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This is a story that may have its greatest impact for girls age ten and under. It deals with how easy it is to become complicit in prejudice, shaming, and needing to feel part of a group.

When we started this, I sensed less interest than with other recent books. We set it aside and I thought we would come back to it in a year or so. I was gobsmacked when, out of the blue, she asked (weeks later) if we could continue. I am still not sure what was the reason, since school has be “out” for several months.

Hope to delicately explore this when the opportunity presents itself

[The Dusty Jacket · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did it all start? Maddie wasn’t quite sure, but then she remembers. It started with a girl, Wanda Petronski, who lives on Boggins Heights with her dad and brother. Wanda comes to school every day in the same faded blue dress that doesn’t seem to hang right. She’s quiet and sits in the far corner of the classroom. Nobody seems to pay her much mind, except that her last name is silly and hard to pronounce. She’s practically invisible until that one day when Wanda wanted so desperately to be a part of the group. So hungry for companionship and inclusion. That one day when the other girls were talking about dresses and Wanda said, “I got a hundred dresses at home.” Who knew that that one single sentence would have such an effect…not just on Wanda, but on so many more.

Oftentimes, a book or story acts as a balm—more for the author than the reader. It is a last-ditch effort of making things right…of righting a wrong. R.J. Palacio accomplished this through her wonderful and poignant book "The Wonder", a novel about a boy with Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS) where bones and facial tissues develop abnormally. She says that the inspiration for her book came after a chance encounter with a little girl in an ice cream store. In “A Letter to Readers”, Estes’s daughter, Helena, says that her mother’s inspiration came from a classmate who was much like Wanda. An immigrant shunned by her peers and longing to fit in and be liked. Her mother, like Maddie, realized too late that complacency is just as bad as participation and that popularity should never be achieved at the expense of another.

"The Hundred Dresses" won a Newberry Honor in 1945 and has never been out of print since. There is a very good reason for this. Although it is a mere 80 pages, Eleanor Estes makes every sentence reverberate within our very heart and soul and Louis Slobodkin’s beautiful illustrations give this heartfelt story a vibrant beauty and grace. This is a story that should be shared and discussed with readers of all ages. It reminds us of the power of words and the heart’s amazing capacity to find and offer forgiveness. Children find it difficult to remove the target from someone else’s back for they know all too well that there is a very good chance that the target will find a new home upon their own. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up for what is right. Only later in life do we realize that sometimes the only thing worse than living with shame, is living with regret. In this age of bullying and intolerance, the lessons learned from "The Hundred Dresses" are still as relevant and important today as they were in 1944. Gratefully, we have Wanda and Maddie who remind us that it is never too late to say, “I’m sorry” and more importantly, “I forgive you."

[enola · Rating 2 out of 5]

confusion confusion and more confusion🧍‍♀️but we got through
also the gr picture for this book is cracking me up😭

[Amina · Rating 4 out of 5]

✰ 3.75 stars ✰

“Yes, that was the way it had all begun, the game of the hundred dresses. It all happened so suddenly and unexpectedly, with everybody falling right in, that even if you felt uncomfortable as Maddie had there wasn’t anything you could do about it.”

I still remember the day when my third grade teacher was handing out the fresh copies of The Hundred Dresses for our Reading lessons. I remember sitting at my desk, opening the paperback and hearing that satisfying crinkle of a paper opening - a sound that emits when it's never been used, but the paper is so fine and fresh - that it's almost hungry to be read. And I do remember reading it - I remember ah'ing over the gorgeous pencil illustrations - I remember how bright the white of the cover was - the colors of those stunning designs that graced. Memories can be like that sometimes - and even the memory of a good book tends to stay no matter how much time has passed since you last read it. I hadn't read it since 1997, but reading it over the weekend reminded me why certain books tend to stay in the recesses of our mind, and others simply fade away. ❤️‍🩹

“If only Peggy would decide of her own accord to stop having fun with Wanda. Oh, well!

Maddie ran her hand through her short blonde hair as though to push the uncomfortable thoughts away.

What difference did it make?”

Wanda Petronski is that girl in class who always wears the same dress to school; it's never drawn to attention, but it is painfully obvious. So, the day she softly states that she actually owns a hundred dresses, all neatly lined in her closet, it's no surprise that it's going to earn her a few raised eyebrows and plenty of cheeky laughs and taunts at her expense. Mainly from the girls she'd always admired from afar - Maddie and Peggy - especially from Peggy, for in Maddie's eyes, 'Peggy seemed to think a day was lost if she had not had some fun with Wanda, winning the approving laughter of the girls.' 😢 And it is Maddie who then weaves the narrative - torn between siding with Peggy in the the jest because she is too afraid that the unkindness can be turned towards her and instead, and her inner conscience firmly reminding her that she is treating Peggy horribly - that this unkindness is not only unjust, it's cruel. But, just as it is possible to be mean without reason, so can it be possible to learn empathy with reason, as well.

For Maddie does change - she is the girl who first brushes the uncomfortable guilty thoughts aside, but then seeing the true extent of how far their bullying treatment led Peggy's family to make a drastic decision, she too, is the girl who learns from her mistakes. She feels regret and remorse for her behavior, she wishes she had never started that game, especially when she had stood by and said nothing, but Wanda had been nice to her anyway.' 🥺 I felt Maddie's growth, her guilty thoughts over her actions echoed sentiments that I believe many children will find that they can relate to if they are ever caught in this situations, and then learn from it, as well. The mystery of the hundred dresses was explained in an almost heart-breaking way, but one befitting of the time and Wanda's life. If you are lucky enough to read the paperback version, if I recall correctly, all hundred dresses are featured at the end of the novel. Wanda's talents and Wanda's kind-hearted gestures are something everyone should learn to appreciate. 🤍

'She had no way of making things right with Wanda, but from now on she would never make anybody else so unhappy again.'

It may have seemed selfish that only when the extreme took place was the moment Maddie and Peggy expressed any ounce of remorse, but even before then, seeing how conflicted Maddie was over how Wanda was being treated, was an honest and believable take for me. I appreciated that once they learned how harmful their actions were they did try to fix it; realistically, it probably never could have been possible, but even the slightest hint of showing the change in their behavior shows that one can still learn to care. 'But she had done just as much as Peggy to make life miserable for Wanda by simply standing by and saying nothing.' But, it's also never too late to change - she's ' never going to stand by and say nothing again.”. And Maddie's attempts to right the wrong that they had both done shows that even with the smallest gesture of kindness, kindness can be rewarded in return. 🫂

When I read on the copyrights page, that this story is targeted for ages 6 and up, I let out a laugh; truly, the publishers have understood how aptly fitting 'and up' can mean. 😀 For no matter what age you are, I don't think you could find a gentler story of teaching such vital values in life. Eleanor Estes' simple, yet over-powering voice gently cautions the readers how important it is to be empathetic of others feelings. It is this simple yet impactful story that reminds its readers how being silent in the face of cruelty makes you as culpable as the one responsible for the bullying. But, it also teaches that you can also take a look at the other side of the fence, and learn that no one deserves to be undermined or mistreated simply because they're an easy target for you. It may have been a quick short elementary level read, but the message is as far-reaching as it is an enduring one. 👍🏻

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way to introduce children to the concept of empathy, and it’s an interesting story too. I first read it in elementary school and it’s really stuck with me.

[Julie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little chapter book was originally published in 1944. To be honest, I found both the writing style and the illustrations uninspired. However, for girls in the lower grades, this book should be required reading. The overall message is that it is important to be kind to other girls, even if they are "different" from you and are not your best friends or part of your "group."

[Myra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this is a powerful book that really impacted my life. Read it in high-school and will have to reread because I was left with many questions. It is about a poor child that wears the same thing to school everyday. I don't remember if she took a lunch to school or if she was clean. I am now 50 so my memories may not be correct but I remember smelling a light stench of unclean bodies while reading this book (Yes, I completely lose myself in my books. I feel their pain, feel their anger, fear, and joy, and even smell their smells). Either way, she is bullied by the other students. She tell others that she has many dresses in her closet but yet wears the same dirty one every day. Even though her other classmates constantly ask her about her wardrobe as a way of mocking her, she continues to discuss her massive dresses and always maintains a positive outlook on life, her home life, and her schooling. At the end of the book, she is pulled from the school (possible due to homelife), and one of her classmates goes to her house to find out what happened and takes a peek into her closet and finds 500 hand drawn pictures of beautiful dress wallpapering the closet.

Got to reread this book as an adult in order to really comprehend what is occurring in this book.

[Fatma Al Zahraa Yehia · Rating 4 out of 5]

gradually, memories started to come alive in my mind. I saw myself as a first-grader, brutally-then -in my mind, judging the class' misfits who were not doing their homework, or were looking unclean, or even peeing on themselves. yes, it was that sad.

Maddie thought it was ok for other girls to make fun of Wanda because she is telling lies. I think Maddie was very fortunate enough to realize later that we sometimes tell lies because we don't have much to say, and what we really have, is not very pleasant to be heard.

I loved the part when Maddie was questioning what is right or wrong, and how her constant inner monologue eventually awakened her conscience. The author brilliantly showed us how the child values his peer's acts and opinions more than anything else.

That is a very sweet story that waited long on my to-read list, and I regret keeping it all that long. I'm waiting to recommend it to my students.

[Jeana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is heartbreaking. The Hundred Dresses is a really short, mid-grade book about a girl Wanda who tells some other girls in her class that she has 100 beautiful dresses at home, "all lined up in her closet," even though she wears the same, faded blue dress to school every day. One girl Peggy relentlessly teases her about her 100 dresses, while her best friend Maggie stands by and lets it happen. I cried through the end. Maybe it's because I have a similar story from my childhood that still gnaws away at my heart. Maybe it's because my daughter came home and told me about something similar that's happening in her class and she doesn't know what to do about it. Bianca and I both read it and then we discussed what the best way to handle a similar situation. I want Bianca to learn to handle it the right way because I don't want something like this to gnaw at her heart when she's 35.

[Haleigh DeRocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this aloud to my five- and three-year-old. Sweet little story depicting the consequences of bullying and the beauty of forgiveness.

[Jenn Custer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute little book

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lonely and quiet Wanda Petronski was being bullied at school. She lived in a shabby area, wore a faded blue dress, and often tracked mud into the classroom from the country roads on her walk to school. Wanda claimed she had 100 dresses in her closet when questioned and teased by the girls. One day Wanda did not show up at school, and Peggy and Maddie felt remorseful about their behavior. Maddie realized that she had the power to change her behavior and to appreciate the value of those who are different and what they say may be real. A valuable lesson for all children.

I did not recall at first that I had read this previously, but I am not surprised as I realized that the author wrote The Moffats, which I enjoyed a couple of the series and Ginger Pye as a child.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Eleanor Estes as child, but had never read this one. I read it aloud to my 5-year-old and she enjoyed it, but I think the undertones of regret and reconciliation will be more fully understood in a couple of years. We'll look forward to reading this one together again, and getting more out of it with every reading.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really hard story for this reader to read having been ridiculed and bullied throughout grammar and high school. Unlike the story where Maddie and Peggy realize that they weren’t being nice to Wanda, in my own story, I wasn’t as lucky.

[Ardyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not understand why this book is still on all the must-read lists for elementary kids.

It started out quite well, until the whole construct of separate drawing competitions in a co-ed elementary classrom (dresses for girls, motorboats for boys). That's... dated. Not a shock, given the publication date of 1944, and at first I thought I'd just skip that sentence. Unfortunately, it turns out the whole story hinges on this plot point. So, that's not great for a 21st century family. I have enough trouble working against society's misogyny-at-large, I don't need an anti-bullying book to encourage those ideas.

But it gets much worse. The story culminates with an off-page epistolary olive branch (though the text states outright that no *apology* is included in said letter -- they just write as if they were always pals). The note is never confirmed to be delivered, the non-apology never directly accepted but immediately assumed accepted by the lead bully and her co-bully BFF (our protag). And, finally, the victim assures her old teacher and classroom (of bullies) how great they all are.

The co-bully protag tells herself she'll change her behavior, but we never actually see her change. Rather the opposite, actually -- when the lead bully handwaves and makes excuses for how they treated the victim, the co-bully quietly goes along with that narrative rather than say even "I don't know... I'm not so sure."

So. What is the main idea children will take away from this story? That regrets and a non-apology are plenty good enough after hurting someone repeatedly. That intentions vastly outweigh impact.

They aren't and they don't, though. Co-bully feels sad... so what? Standing up to bullies is hard, I get it, but making a resolution isn't the same as keeping one. The idea they are equivalent is the worst kind of tripe.

It's wonderful that the victim chose (once removed from the situation by a responsible adult) to turn the other cheek and move forward with her life off-page. Very laudable. This book is not about the victim, though, it's about the co-bully. We spend eighty pages seeing things from the co-bully's heart, and in the end are left with a story in which the victim makes an effort to ease the co-bully's guilt, while the co-bully does not demonstrate change or growth.

That last part is what children really need to see.

One star for Estes' writing style. Another for the artwork -- the illustrations were great, beautifully vague like a memory or a dream. Best part of the book, by far.

But, really, let's let this book go gently into that good night...

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book every young girl should read.

(6/2022). Another reading on a road trip coming back from Montana.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story written in the early 1940's, has a very timeless message. The illustrations added dimension to the written word.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older book that holds up quite well about going along with the crowd in making fun of someone. I was on the verge of tears throughout.

[Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was a child. I just read it yesterday to my girls (9 and 6), and they enjoyed it too.

I do wonder if the reasons grown-ups love it is different from how it falls on young ears. I loved it when I was young because I loved the idea of having so many beautiful clothes in an imaginative way. Until I reread it yesterday, I didn't even remember that it was supposed to be "about" bullying/being exclusionary. It takes a long time within the story for the author/Maddie to explain that what the girls are doing is bullying. In fact the first chapter talks about the girls "having fun with Wanda" in a way that is meant to lead the reader into taking it in a very face-value way. What could be wrong with having fun with a classmate?

As an adult, I understand that the author is trying to take the reader along with Maddie's emotional development, but I don't think it really lands for a young reader. What I took from it as a girl was "It's too bad Wanda moved away before the class got to know her." I don't think it made sense to me at the time that an adult (Wanda's father) would relocate his family based on the kind of behavior displayed by Maddie and Peggy, and I certainly didn't understand that the girls' behavior was a relatively minor outbreak of the whole community's xenophobia and prejudice, as he touches on in his letter.

It's still good to have this kind of thoughtful book running in the background of a child's head, even if she/he doesn't grasp the full picture. I think "Be nice to people because everyone has a rich inner life of her/his own" is pretty hard to miss even if the larger societal issues are less clear.

Or maybe it was just me who didn't get it because I'm actually a Peggy. That's a thought.

[Tatevik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet story from the times when kids were not mean in a way they are today or at least what I gather from books. It seems they were innocent then.
However, the writing was not inviting and a little dull. I wonder if her other books are similar to this one.
No matter what, I am very comfortable with Newbery award books.