The Hundred Dresses

By: Eleanor Estes

Illustrated By: Louis Slobodkin

"Wanda, tell us.  How many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet?" asked Peggy

"A hundred," said Wanda.  "all lined up."

This is a line from the amazing empowering book written for young girls on the effects of bullying; as well as, not standing up for someone that is being bullied.  This "game," which is really Wanda being bullied, started because one girl wanted to fit in with all of the other girls who had nice clothes and new dresses.  However, the girls never let Wanda live it down and would constantly make fun of her.  However, because Wanda wanted to be apart of the group so badly she would continue to play along.  At the end of the book the girls realize how bad they were making fun of Wanda but it may just be too late for them to fix it. 

The Hundred Dresses

In this book a young girl who is never specifically made fun of Wanda struggles with the idea of stopping Peggy from making fun of Wanda and that is what I love about this book so much.  It really goes into the idea that  not stopping a bully and playing a long can be just as bad and damaging as being the bully.  I think this is a great book that every single person can relate to.  At one point or another someone has been bullied, bullied someone else, watched someone get bullied, or played along in order to fit in and it is so sad that I can say "EVERYONE" and feel confident in my statement.  This just does not have to happen.  If teachers and parents show that it is unacceptable to bully others, no matter what the reasoning behind it then it will decline drastically.  There are just too many incidences with bullying now and how much the students are affected by it.  No one should ever take their life because they have been bullied too much.

How the "game" began!

So teachers or parents, if you are having a bullying problem or just want to bring up the issue to educate your students think of this book!  It is a great book to read that has a great plot, is interesting to read, discuses the issues behind bullying on a wide spectrum, and has awesome illustrations.  The book did have a few stereotypes but the author used them in a way that I felt was acceptable to the purpose of the story.  There were also a lot of excellent vocabulary words for the students reading this book to learn!  Overall, I loved this book and am so glad I read it.  It is on the top seller list for a reason!

I Wish I Had Glasses Like Rosa

 

Written by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook

Illustrated by Bonnie Adamson

This week I read a book that I had a lot of connections with.  As I child I hated my glasses more then anything.  I never wore them and I hated the way they made me look because I felt like I was different.  This story is a little different because it is actually about how a young girl wants to wear glasses and she wants to wear them because her friend Rosa wears them.

There is a young girl, named Abby, who absolutely loves to wear glasses!  Her friend Rosa has glasses and Abby wishes she had glasses like Rosa.  Throughout the book, we are introduced to a creative young girl who finds other types of glasses to wear for very different activities.  This is a wonderful picture book for Children to read or be read to and see what it is like to want to be like someone else, execute individuality, and self esteem through whatever attributes that the children are handed. 

This story is a very easy book to read that has easy sight words and the pictures tell all.  If there were no words in the book the children would mostly likely gain the same story from the pictures.  This makes it great for children of very young ages to read on their own or have them be read to.  The book does have a lot of funny parts so the children would be interested and a lot of great conversation about individuality and self esteem would arise.  What is great about this book is that it shows how everyone is different and even Rosa wants something that she doesn't have that Abby does.  There is also a sequel to this book that would be a great follow up lesson called, "I wish I had freckles like Abby."  It is so important to let children know that it is okay to be happy with themselves and proud of who they are.  They shouldn't want to change to be like someone else but instead embrace who they are!