100 Dresses

I was falling asleep last night thinking about a book that was read to me when I was in grammar school back in the 60’s. It was a story that I never forgot. I think about it every so often. It is a book that meant a lot to a little girl, who was poor by society’s standards but she didn’t know it. Her name was Anna Christina, me. I always had nice clothes. I remember wearing several different dresses that my mom would send me to school in clean and ironed. My mom was big on Sears layaway plans.

This story touched my heart because I felt the main character’s pain, not that I was teased but for those who were. I don’t remember teasing anyone as a child. I remember some girls when I was young teasing a little girl named Trina. She always smelled like “pee”. She was very lonely. How sad. Girls can be so mean and I guess I was mean too because I wasn’t her friend either.

Anyways, back to the book. It truly isn’t about girls being mean. It is about a girl making the most out of her situation. She is celebrated for her creativity, her artistry and her imagination. It is a book you may want to purchase for your own little girl or someone special in your life.

Here’s a brief summary of the story which includes the surprise ending:

Wanda Petronski wears a faded blue, un-ironed dress daily to school. A classmate comes to school wearing a pretty, new dress that every one admires. Wanda announces that she has 100 dresses at home. Her playmates, Peggy and Maddie start a game with Wanda which I would say is teasing. They think it’s funny to ask Wanda every day “So how many dresses do you have Wanda?” Wanda would reply with the same 100 dresses.

(I don’t remember the whole story in between and I am purchasing the book from Amazon.com so I can read it. I seem to remember some serious stuff in the middle but I’m not sure.)

In the end, apparently (from my faulty memory) an art contest or art exercise displays Wanda’s consistent artwork. When on display, it becomes very apparent that Wanda did have 100 dresses…in her artistic mind. There are 100 pictures of different beautiful dresses. How awesome!

Girlfriends, this stirred my thoughts up. We have dreams and imaginations of things we want or desire, some good and spiritual, and some worldly and wild. We may never realize them and we may consider ourselves blessed that we don’t. However, do we stop believing? Stop hoping? Stop praying? Maybe we need to look for “dreams come true” in a different way…a format we don’t necessarily see outright. Maybe we should look deeper at the motives of our dreams, and wants… Jealousy? Competition? Image? If our dreams and wants are wholesome, then let’s take creative, artistic steps to make them come true. Wanda did.

I say go check out the book or buy it. Read it. Love it. Embrace the innocence. I am. If you have a children's book that touched your heart. Please share it. I love children's books.

Have a great day. It’s cloudy here. Could be a good day to read!

Book Info: The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes, original copyright 1944 and renewed in 1972.