The Queen Who Saved Her People

by Tilda Balsley, Ilene Richard (Illustrator)

Overview

The Purim story has never been more fun! This lavishly rhyming tale is a wonderful read-aloud book, and its color-coded dialogue is perfect for Reader's Theater performances.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761350934
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tilda Balsley has written many books for Kar-Ben, bringing her stories to life with rhyme, rhythm, and humor. Tilda lives with her husband and their rescue Shih Tzu in Reidsville, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

"This book is an imaginative take on the tried and true Purim story. King Ahashuerus is looking for a queen. His loyal followers find Esther, a young and beautiful Jewish girl, who the king selects to be his wife. She lives with her cousin Mordechai, who persuades her to hide her Jewish heritage in order to protect herself.

However, things do not stay peaceful for long. Mordechai offends one of the king’s advisors, Haman, by refusing to bow to him. So Haman decides to punish all the Jews in the kingdom. He tells the king that none of the Jews follow his orders. The king grants Haman permission to kill all Jews, young and old, on the 13th day of Adar.

Mordechai steps into action, convincing his sister that maybe her role in becoming queen was to save the Jews from this awful plight. So she fasts for three days, and convinces all the Jews to do the same.

She invites the king and Haman to join her for dinner. She tells the king about Haman’s awful plot against the Jews, and the king is so mad that he decides Haman should be hung on the gallows.

This fun, rhyming story can be read or performed in a theater script format with five different parts. It is color coded and easy to follow. It is beautifully illustrated with imaginative pictures that will engage children ages four and up." --Jewish Journal

From the Publisher

This is a rollicking, rhythmical poem that tells the story of Esther. The twist is in the presentation: it's a play, and each character's speech is printed in a different color. The narration is all in black, so that a class who presents this as a play can have a group of narrators. It all sounds like a lot of fun. The cartoon-like illustrations are fine, except for the one that was chosen for the cover, where Esther looks pretty awful—but in the rest of the book she is pretty and meek, pious and good. At least it is not difficult to interpret the drawings in that way. It's a terrific introduction to drama. Reviewer: Judy Silverman

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman