The Hundred Dresses

Wanda wears the same faded blue dress to school every day -- yet she says she has one hundred beautiful dresses at home, "all lined up." The other girls don't believe it, and when Peggy starts a daily game of teasing Wanda about the hundred dresses, everyone joins in. Maddie, Peggy's best friend, goes along with the game, but she secretly wonders whether she can find the courage to speak up in Wanda's defense. It's not until Wanda fails to come to school one day that her classmates learn the truth about the hundred dresses -- and Maddie and Peggy learn the meaning of kindness and generosity of spirit. Eleanor Estes's heartfelt story, a Newbery Honor Book and a beloved classic for more than sixty years, offers readers of all ages a timeless message of compassion and understanding. Book jacket.

ELEANOR ESTES (1906-1988), a children's librarian for many years, launched her writing career with the publication of The Moffats in 1941. Two of her books about the Moffats are Newbery Honor Books, as is The Hundred Dresses. She won the Newbery Medal for Ginger Pye in 1952.

LOUIS SLOBODKIN (1903-1975) illustrated more than ninety books for children, many of which he also wrote. Among his most enduring illustrations are those for the Moffats series by Eleanor Estes, and those for James Thurber's Many Moons, for which Slobodkin received the 1944 Caldecott Medal.

HELENA ESTES, the daughter of the author, is a children's librarian and a former bookseller. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut.