Esther's Story

This is the best attempt I have ever seen at bringing a Jewish story to life. Esther is a real, very believable person. We get an inside view at how the traditional story unfolds with lots of additional, realistic, details. The pictures are gorgeous. If you only want one Purim story book this should be it! Marisol in Maryland

Esther's Uncle Mordecai is the gate keeper.He raised Esther from a baby. My favorite part of the story is when Esther becomes queen of Persia. My favorite part of the story is when he laughed. When he was done laughing, he said "Esther, you are now queen of ersia". I like the book Esther because it is taken from the Bible. The comments are the same as in the Bible. If you really like the Bible story, I insist that you read this book!

I have read dozens of Jewish books to my kids, and this stands out as one of the few that I am going to keep for THEIR kids. The reason? It portrays Esther as a real person that girls can truly identify with, while not straying from the honest Torah understanding of the holiday. Additionally, the combination of realistic text (presented in the form of Esther's diary) and stunning illustrations make this book a literary treat. I wish this author-illustrator team would get together to create stories about all the Biblical heroines!

In late 400 B.C.E. there lived a king and the story of a period of his reign was recorded in the Book of Esther. Because the tale is of the near destruction of the Jews of Persia and neighbouring lands, Jewish people around the world commemorate that time by celebrating Purim. The story has been retold in many different ways. But the story line never fails to excite its audience because it is a tale of deceit and purity, honour and evil, love and piety. In Esther's Story, we have Esther telling her own story he own way. The book is a diary of events beginning with a banquet where Queen Vashti refuses to participate and is then banished. The diary ends with a seventy year old Queen Esther commenting on the Purim festival that is taking place out her window. Telling the story in this way is clever and the writing compliments the tale. There are loads of details, some invented and some taken from rabbinic commentators. Nevertheless, Esther comes alive and her heroism becomes that much more real for the young reader.

This is a wonderful retelling of the Purim story as told in a diary of Esther. Unlike many of the books aimed at this age, it is unusually complete. The illustrations are sumptuous and do a great job of helping the story along