The Hundred Dresses
Written by Eleanor Estes
Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
Reviewed by Jenna B (age 10)
Maddie and Peggy walk to the oak tree near the school and wait for Wanda. When Wanda gets there, they all gather around her. Maddie and Peggy tease her about how many dresses she has. When asked how many dresses she has, she always says a hundred dresses. The girls don't believe her because she always wears the same one. At school they are having a coloring contest. Wanda entered the contest with her drawings of a hundred dresses. Then Wanda never came to school. She wasn't missed until her Dad wrote a letter to the school. She had left the school without her medal for winning the contest. Maddie and Peggy write her a letter to tell her she won the coloring contest. Wanda wrote back and said Maddie and Peggy could keep the special pictures. Read the story to find out which pictures they could keep and if Maddi and Peggy change the way they treat others.
I think this book teaches a good lesson. Even if you are a different nationality, rich or poor, we're all the same and should be treated with respect. I thought Peggy was a lot like me. There are times I will tease kids. I do not mean to hurt their feelings. This book helps me to think of other's feelings.
The illustrations in the book are pencil drawings. They are gray, white and pink. I think the drawings are very unique and help tell the story. I felt sad for Wanda because her classmates never left her alone. She always got picked on. I was happy when she won the contest.
I recommend this book to 2nd to 5th graders. The book is easy to read and the message is good for all to hear. I think 2nd graders could read the book. I think they would really like the book.