Rating: 
Summary: Missing the Point
Review: (...)
An incredibly ugly depiction of a little Polish girl and her classmates making fun of her. Promotes the stereotypical "Dumb Pollack" without showing any betterment of the little girl's situation. I found this book very offensive. I had ordered it as a gift for a little girl, but this book is wildy inappropriate in that there is no moral resolution at the end. The tormenters get away with their harassment, and there is only suffering for the Polish girl. The only thing it would teach a child is that you can get away with being bigoted and rude to others. Too bad Amazon doesn't allow for a zero rating because this because deserves it. "(...) Of course it is an ugly story; it is also realistic. Children do treat one another that way; adults do too. As another reviewer pointed out, although the little Polish girl is not stated explicitly to be Jewish, it is very much a Holocaust story; although she is definately not African-American, it is a Civil Rights story; although she is (probably) not a Lesbian, it is a gay-bashing story. It is the story of anyone who is put upon because she/he is or is percieved as 'different', and how this sort of thing can only go on when good people stand by and do nothing. Of the two other little girls in the story, the one who makes fun of the poor Polish girl and the other who stands by and doesn't want to defend her (although she knows she should)--how do you think they feel at the end of the story? Will they do it again? And, what if later 'the shoe is on the other foot', and they find themselves victims? Every child will be able to identify with each of the children in the story, and the story can be a starting point for discussions of prejudice, bullying, and many other important moral topics. The book doesn't give pat answers, nor does it tell us what to think--but it gives us an opportunity to think about these things.
Rating:
Summary: Missing the Point
Review: (...)
An incredibly ugly depiction of a little Polish girl and her classmates making fun of her. Promotes the stereotypical "Dumb Pollack" without showing any betterment of the little girl's situation. I found this book very offensive. I had ordered it as a gift for a little girl, but this book is wildy inappropriate in that there is no moral resolution at the end. The tormenters get away with their harassment, and there is only suffering for the Polish girl. The only thing it would teach a child is that you can get away with being bigoted and rude to others. Too bad Amazon doesn't allow for a zero rating because this because deserves it. " (...) Of course it is an ugly story; it is also realistic. Children do treat one another that way; adults do too. As another reviewer pointed out, although the little Polish girl is not stated explicitly to be Jewish, it is very much a Holocaust story; although she is definately not African-American, it is a Civil Rights story; although she is (probably) not a Lesbian, it is a gay-bashing story. It is the story of anyone who is put upon because she/he is or is percieved as 'different', and how this sort of thing can only go on when good people stand by and do nothing. Of the two other little girls in the story, the one who makes fun of the poor Polish girl and the other who stands by and doesn't want to defend her (although she knows she should)--how do you think they feel at the end of the story? Will they do it again? And, what if later 'the shoe is on the other foot', and they find themselves victims? Every child will be able to identify with each of the children in the story, and the story can be a starting point for discussions of prejudice, bullying, and many other important moral topics. The book doesn't give pat answers, nor does it tell us what to think--but it gives us an opportunity to think about these things.
Rating:
Summary: A book for all time
Review: Every kid who has ever stood by and watched another kid be teased, or been a victim of a bully, or been a bully, and every one else in between should read this book. Wanda Petronski, a poor Polish kid who lives in the poor part of the neighborhood, and wears the same old faded dress each day, announces to her classmates one morning that she has a hundred dresses and matching shoes all lined up in her closet. This starts the dresses games, where Peggy, each chance she gets, mockingly asks Wanda questions about her dresses, as Maddie stands by and watches uncomfortably. Maddie feels guilty for not stopping the teasing, but she is afraid that she will lose Peggy's friendship, or worse, that Peggy will start to tease her, as she is also poor. One day, Peggy and Maddie notice that Wanda is not in school. Then their teacher reads a letter from Wanda's father that says that the Petronskis have moved to the city where they will not be made fun of for being Polish or having a funny name. The girls feel even worse when their teacher announces that the winner of a class contest is none other than Wanda Petronski, and they set out to find Wanda and apologize to her. The best part of the book is when it describes Maddie's feelings: on the one hand, she feels guilty for standing by and letting Peggy pick on a girl who has never harmed anyone, and on the other hand, she is afraid to say anything to Peggy for fear of being teased herself. At the end of the book, Maddie decides that she will never again stand by and watch someone get teased.
Rating:
Summary: A Lesson in Friendship
Review: My daughter's fourth grade teacher gave this book to a group of girls in her class who were struggling with adolescent friendship issues. I read it in about half an hour and felt the lesson come through loudly and clearly. The well-written story, sweet and innocent, focuses on two girls who mistreat another girl, Wanda, because she is different.
Wanda is a poor girl with a funny last name and she wears the same ill-fitting (yet clean) dress to school each day. One girl, Peggy, is the most popular girl in school, and doesn't seem to realize she's being unthoughtful towards Wanda. The other girl, Maddie, knows she's unthoughtful, primarily by not speaking up to defend Wanda. She realizes she acts out of fear, because she too is not wealthy or well-dressed and she's afraid the tide of insult and ridicule could turn her way at any time. Ultimately, both girls realize their mistaken attitude toward Wanda and try to make amends, hoping against hope that it is not too late.
These are very real feelings for nine and ten year old girls and this book tells a helpful/valuable story. Highly recommend.
From the author of I'm Living Your Dream Life and The Things I Wish I'd Said, McKenna Publishing Group.
Rating:
Summary: Every child should read this book
Review: My eight-year old son was given 'The Hundred Dresses' as a vacation book report assignment. Wanda Petronski was laughed at at school for her name, for her faded blue dress that didn't hang right and for offsetting her poverty by tales of her hundred dresses at home. But her dress was always clean, washed daily herself because she had no mother and often it would not be dry by next morning. There was a drawing competition and Wanda submitted 100 drawings of her dresses and she won the girls' prize. But by the time of the announcement of the winners Wanda had been moved to the city because of the teasing. Some deep soul searching was triggered in a concerned classmate whose life was changed for ever as she realized that her passive role had contributed to Wanda's fate. Every child should write a report on this book and its deeper meaning.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: My teacher read this book to our class in the third grade. I remember trying to check it out at the library and it was always checked out. I've always remembered this book and will purchase it to read again because I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: You've got to read this book!
Review: The Hundred Dresses by Elenor Estes is a fiction story with a not very happy protagonist. The protagonist of this story is a girl named Wanda Petronski. She has a brother named Jake and a father. Some girls that tease Wanda are Peggy and Maddie. They always ask Wanda how many dresses or hats she has. She says that she has a hundred dresses all lined up in her closet all different colors. Peggy never belives that Wanda has a hundred dresses because Wanda never wears any of them. I would recommend this book to young reader because it is very interesting to see how a girl would be picked on. Also I would recommend this book to a young reader because it is a very interesting book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: It was a very, very good book.
Review: The Hundred Dresses is about three kids named Wanda, Peggy and Maddie. Wanda is more of the quiet type. Peggy is popular with the kids. Maddie is very nice to her friends. One day Wanda said, "I have a hundred dresses." Kids thought it was fun to stop Wanda on the way to school and say, "Hey Wanda, how many dresses do you have?" She would always answer with, "One hundred dresses." Then Wanda's dad wrote a letter to Room 13 saying she would not be coming back. If you like dresses or a good story, you would like this book. I would recommend this book for kids because the thrill of this book is amazingly good. I wouldn't recommend it for kids under age 8 because it has some hard words to read. Daniel Gurin, age 11
Rating:
Summary: A sad but positive story
Review: The story The Hundred Dresses is about a little Polish girl named Wanda Petronski. She is considered different from all the rest. There are two girls named Peggy and Maddie who started a teasing game with Wanda one day when Wanda mentioned that she had a hundred dresses and Peggy and Maddie did not believe her. And that's how this story by Eleanor Estes begins. I like this story because it was very sad and at the same time very happy. The reason it was sad was because Wanda was always teased by Peggy and Maddie. But I also thought that it was happy because it had a positive ending. I recommend this story for all ages including adults. Even though it is very predictable it is still a wonderful story. But let me warn you folks, if you don't like to cry, don't read this book!!!
Rating:
Summary: A book that has stayed with me for 15 years
Review: This book was assigned to me in third grade by the most wonderful teacher and I loved it then. Now, 15 years later, my 9 year old cousin started asking about good books to read--and this book immediately popped into my mind. She's currently at school asking her school librarian when she can check it out and read it.
I thoroughly reccommend it to anyone looking for a book for their daughter or son to read in elementary school. I hope the parent reads it too!!
| 
