The Hundred Dresses

I like this book, because it teaches you a good lesson. The lesson of this story is do not tease people because its hurtful. This book is like the Chalk Box Kid.

The lesson to be learned from this book is wonderful, poignant, marvelously expressed, and fascinating in the package. Though it was written long ago, it is timeless. The characters are just right for the theme, and the idea of 100 dresses fits the plot beautifully. Our Relief Society (worldwide women's organization) in Albuquerque, NM is collecting 100 dresses with the hope of lifting the hearts of 100 gals of a wide variety of ages and circumstances. This neat story was the inspiration, of course. It ranks right in there with the classics, Ginger Pye and Pinkie Pye, two other treasures.

The Hundred Dresses

I read The Hundred Dresses while I was growing up. Over the years I have often thought of poor Wanda, who wore the same shabby dress, every day to school.

Wanda claimed to have a hundred dresses, all beautiful and all lined up in her closet. Peggy would wait each morning to see Wanda coming from the poor-side-of-town. She would taunt her, "Wanda, tell us about your one hundred dresses. Maddie felt bad going along with Wanda, but she was poor herself and wearing Peggy's hand-me-downs. Maddie was afraid that if she said anything, the teasing would turn to her.

Wanda proudly described her one hundred dresses, the red one, the green one and the blue one. Each of the children wondered why Wanda wore the same dress each day, when she had so many beautiful dresses.

As a young girl from a large family, I wore hand-me-down clothing from others in my school or church. I could relate to Maddie, who didn't like the teasing, but was afraid to speak up.

For a church activity, the church women were given a copy of the book The Hundred Dresses. After reading the book, we would pass on our copy to the next person on the list. One month later, we had an activity where we brought in new or gently used dresses to donate to a women's shelter. The dresses were folded neatly, placed in large, sealed bags and marked with the size. These dresses will be donated to women, so they can look their best while job hunting.

We discussed this book, and how important it is to fit in. We also discussed the importance of acceptance.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood
author: Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)
Stowaway: The San Francisco Adventures of Sara, the Pineapple Cat

This was a great book with a perfect lesson about bullying. I read it with my daughters aged 5, 7 and 9. They really got the lesson.

This book has a lot of build up surrounding the dresses... are they real, imaginary, did she make them, buy them, or inherit them? Teasing from the main character's peers made me as the reader wait in suspense to find out what the dresses really were and to look forward to the girl standing up for herself. When we finally find out about the dresses, however, I found it to be a bit anticlimactic with very little resolution to the issues of bullying, teasing, gossiping, and stereotyping. Not impressed by this apparent "classic."