Queen Esther the Morning Star

by Mordicai Gerstein

Out of all the young women of Persia, Esther shines like a star. King Ahasuerus decides that she will be his new queen. Esther's cousin Mordecai warns her never to reveal that she is a Jew. "There are those at court who hate our people," he tells her. One day the king's prime minister, a schemer named Haman, orders Mordecai to bow down before him. Mordecai refuses, saying he will bow only to God. Furious, Haman convinces the king that all of the Jews in the kingdom should be destroyed.

Mordecai realizes that Queen Esther will have to tell the king the truth and try to change his mind about the Jews. Will Esther and Mordecai be brave and clever enough to triumph over the evil Haman?

With lively storytelling and intricate illustrations that recall ancient Persia, Mordicai Gerstein breathes new life into this dramatic tale about remaining true to oneself and to God. It Is sure to be enjoyed on Purim and all year round.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Jewish, Christian, Holiday

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1997

About the author

Mordicai Gerstein was an American artist, writer, and film director, best known for illustrating and writing children's books. He illustrated the comic mystery fiction series Something Queer is Going On.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I generally quite enjoyed Queen Esther the Morning Star, Mordicai Gerstein's take on the biblical tale of Queen Esther as a general story, this is most definitely a book for older children above the age of eight or even perhaps ten, as the topics presented (abuse of power, vengeance, racial hatred, persecution) are problematic and might (no they really should) require careful discussion and explanation and could also in my humble opinion prove frightening for younger or sensitive children.

But I do think that Queen Esther the Morning Star generally works pretty well describing the Old Testament story of Esther and the origins of the Hebrew holiday of Purim, but yes indeed only if complemented by more in-depth discussions on or about some of the controversial topics mentioned above. For example, one could perhaps discuss the fact that while King Ahasuerus has absolute power (he could choose any woman for his wife and Esther really has no choice whatsoever in the matter), he is also foolish and thus easily manipulated and influenced by clever schemers (such as vile Haman and his equally horrid wife). And yes, another topic for possible discussion with regard to Queen Esther the Morning Star might be that courage, faith and fortitude, even in the face of desperate danger, will often be rewarded in the end. For although warning the king of the plot against him might easily lead Esther's brother Mordecai into danger, and although he, himself, has ample reason to be mistrustful of the monarch, Mordecai warns King Ahasuerus of the plot to poison him, not only saving the king's life, but also being rewarded for this deed by becoming prime minister (while Mordecai's erstwhile adversary and enemy Haman is hung, instead of the Jews he wanted to destroy).

And indeed, Queen Esther, although naturally afraid of going unbidden to her husband, the king, is also brave enough to perchance provoke Ahasuerus' anger and wrath in order to save her people. And while I do not particularly like the vengeance aspect of the Queen Esther story (either in the Old Testament or in Queen Esther the Morning Star), I am also glad that Mordicai Gerstein has decided not to sugar-coat (or remove) this aspect of the biblical account in any way. Such historical (or biblical) details make for interesting and educational discussions, while Mordecai's and Esther's actions show that being brave, doing the courageous, the right and honourable thing, will generally result in more lasting and beneficial rewards than scheming, hatred and prejudice.

And finally, I cannot say that I have particularly enjoyed the accompanying illustrations all that much. I do think that for the most part, they work well enough in conjunction with the story presented in Queen Esther the Morning Star, but I really believe that Haman and his wife are portrayed in a much too creepy and "evil" manner. I know that they are, indeed, evil and scheming, but I kind of think that Haman was likely such a seemingly successful schemer for so long because he was able to convince and control the king. And I somehow doubt that a person looking like some sort of creepy, evil magician would have been able to so completely hoodwink a monarch who seemed to relish and insist on pleasure, beauty and grace. In my opinion, Haman and his wife's evil nature would have been all the more frightening and believable if they had looked fair on the outside, but been rotten to the core on the inside (and I can to a point even understand the negative reactions of some of my friends who saw in the very illustrations of Haman and his wife, his family, the nasty and vile depictions of typical "Semitic" features so horribly, sadly popular in especially Nazi Germany, as Haman looks very similar to the stereotypical "evil Jew" of nasty, vile National Socialist propaganda, which really does make me shake my head for any picture books and Queen Esther the Morning Star illustratively does at times make me cringe).

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not particularly enamored of religious fables & stories, and this is the story of Esther and Mordecai, and Haman (and hamantashen) and the King. It’s a story with which I’m familiar.

But, I read it for the Children's Books group. The Picture Books Club there reads 6 books a month, and April’s theme is royalty, and this is one of the selected books. Yes, it’s about royalty but it’s unlike the other 5 books for the month. It’s definitely a Judaic story.

I’d read this only to children who know the story and enjoy the story. I’m usually not a fan of vengeance stories (especially if there is not humor) and this is one of those and it’s not at all amusing. I do find it to be an entertaining story but, while it has a happy ending, it’s dark. I wouldn’t consider it appropriate for bedtime, or for a soothing read aloud either. Reading it for Purim makes the most sense to me, preferably with some vegan hamantashen to accompany the reading.

This version of the story is engaging. The illustrations are very colorful, with much to look at on most of the pages Though the artistic style is not my favorite, the pictures fit the story well.

I read it for the “Royalty” theme but it happened to be near the time of Purim, just a tad late. I’m a non-religious Jew and actually had to look up when Purim was this year.

This wouldn’t have been my choice as a book to read for one of only six books on the subject of royalty, but I did like it well enough.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mordicai Gerstein - who won the 2004 Caldecott Medal for his picture-book, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers - presents a mostly faithful retelling of the biblical story of Esther and Mordicai in Queen Esther the Morning Star, accompanied by his own gouache illustrations. With the exception of Mordicai's prophetic dream about two warring dragons, there are few surprises here, as the story follows Esther - a beautiful Jewish maiden who is chosen as a bride for the powerful Persian King Ahasuerus, when he rejects his willful first wife, Vashti - and the dangerous course she must navigate, when the king's scheming adviser, Haman, plots the destruction of the Jews.

I'm not sure I would have picked this retelling of the Esther story up, had it not been chosen as one of our April selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "Royalty." I've read a number of Purim picture-books, both tales of the holiday itself, and of the story of Esther, which the holiday commemorates, and wasn't really looking for another one. Also, although I generally have great respect for Gerstein's work, the artwork here did not appeal to me at all, and - in one case - was rather repellent.

I'm referring of course, to the depiction of Haman and his wife, which felt oddly (and disturbingly) racialized to me. Not only do these two figures (and their ten sons) have a different (pasty greenish) skin tone than anyone else in the story, but they also sport beaked/hookish noses (again, unlike the other characters) that reminded me of some ugly antisemitic cartoons I have seen. Given Mr. Gerstein's credentials (not to mention his identity!), I feel that this cannot be intentional - for the record, I showed the artwork to someone whose opinion I trust, making no introductory comments, and asking her what she thought, and discovered that she made no such connection (the Haman family looked like 'witches' to her) - so take that as you will. Unfortunately, once the comparison occurred to me, I simply couldn't avoid thinking of it, and it definitely colored my reading of the book. My advice, to adults screening this for young readers, is to take a look at the art, and decide for yourself. Or, you could pick up Miriam Chaikin's Esther , which tells the same story, and is graced by the beautiful illustrations of Vera Rosenberry.

[Ronyell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading this book for the Goodreads Children’s Book Picture Book Club for the theme of royalty and this was one of the rare occasions where I have read a children’s book that has religion as the theme of the story besides “The Clown of God.” “Queen Esther the Morning Star” is a children’s book by Mordicai Gerstein about how a young woman named Esther is chosen to be King Ahasuerus’ new wife and she and her cousin, Mordecai realizes the evil scheme of the king’s prime minister Haman, who wanted to have all the Jews killed because Mordecai refused to bow down to him. “Queen Esther the Morning Star” is an interesting story to read, but the revenge theme and the death scenes might scare smaller children.

Mordicai Gerstein has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this story about the consequences of getting revenge on other people. What really interests me about this book was how the author Mordicai Gerstein related his family history through this book as he mentioned that “Mordecai” is his family’s name as his grandfather is also named “Mordicai” and it was interesting learning about the Jewish holiday “Purim.” I was also impressed by the interesting plot about Esther trying to save her people with the help of her cousin Mordecai as Esther is shown as a brave and dedicated heroine who would do anything to save her people. I also loved how brave and loyal Mordecai was to his traditions and refused to let anyone tell him what to do and I also loved the relationship between him and Esther as stated in the book, they had a father/daughter relationship with each other and they are truly close to each other and are willing to protect each other, which is an aspect I truly loved. Mordicai Gerstein’s illustrations are colorful and fluent as there is lots of detail being put into each character and the background. I loved the way that Mordicai Gerstein painted the setting of Persia as there are beautiful domes surrounding the city and the inside of the king’s palace looks extremely colorful and rich that I just could not take my eyes of the illustrations. I loved the way that Haman is drawn as he truly looks like a true villain as he has an evil looking face in every image and I was interested in his clothing as he wears a green robe, black boots and has a huge pointed green hat.

Parents should know that this book revolves around revenge and there are several scenes where characters are killed off throughout the book. Now, the idea of people being killed sounds pretty frightening to a small child, so parents might want to watch out for the death scenes. I also thought that the ending of this book was pretty harsh, given that someone dies (I will not tell you who) and everyone celebrates like nothing happened. Also, the revenge theme of this book, where Haman wanted to kill all the Jews because Mordecai would not do what he said, is a little unsettling as innocent people are about to die because of Haman’s revenge against Mordecai and also Esther seems to be thrown into the middle of all this as she has to be the one to fix this situation.

Overall, “Queen Esther the Morning Star” is an interesting book about the importance of family and loyalty, but the whole revenge theme might be upsetting for some children and adults. I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since this book is a bit too intense for smaller children to handle.

[Crystal Marcos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book would have scared me if I read it as a young child. I would say the age range should be 9-12. But definitely not the age recommendation of 5-10. I appreciated the interesting author's note a the beginning of the story explaining how Mordecai was his name sake, his grandfather's, and maybe even great grandfathers. And how Purim, the Jewish holiday held special meaning to him. The illustrations were colorful and interesting. Haman and his wife looked a bit like evil witches.

Esther is taken as the King's new queen because he had cast out the last queen for disobeying an order. Esther is a Jew and Mordecai is her cousin who upsets Haman to the point of Haman telling the King he should kill all Jews. Esther has to make a decision to help save her people, whether or not to tell the King she is a Jew and risk her life to save the lives of others.

Some of the content that may not be suitable for young children include, murder, vengeance, racism, and hatred.

I liked learning about how hamantashen, a pastry came about.

I learned of this book through the Picture Book Club monthly reads. This month's theme is Royalty.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an illustrated children's version of the biblical story of Esther. While I agree that it has some very serious and scary parts, with Haman hung from the gallows he had intended for Mordecai and a murderous cook and butler who are poisoned by their own soup, it is all part of the story. I would recommend it for older children who can handle the violence. Our girls had seen a PG version of this tale in the Veggie Tales movie, "Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen ", so they were familiar with the basics of the story and they did not seem too affected by the more gruesome parts. I think it helped that the violence was more cartoonish and not gratuitous.

This book was selected as one of the April 2011 Royalty themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Book group here at Goodreads.

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

With all due respect to the esteemed Mordicai Gerstein, this is something I’m putting in the Epic Fail pile.

Why, why, why, why does the poster child for Anti-Semitic Villain look like he himself stepped out of the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ? The red beard, the long nose, the evil chuckles and scheming and gleeful hand rubbing – it all looks disturbing like the stereotypical Evil Jew that used to pop up in fiction so often until about circa 1948.

And then there is the plot. I appreciate that Gerstein is trying to take a very weighty, complex story and distill it down to a picture book level, but he insists on keeping ALL of the plot points, but without ANY of the context, which is really hard to get your head around – it’s like walking into a British comedy at the beginning of Act II and trying to figure out why the bishop is holding a duck, the duke is hiding in a trunk, the carriage horses have been painted pink, and the scullery maid is wearing the duchess’s ball gown.

So we hit every point in the story including all the odd bits about the feasts and scepters and lots and poles and poisons without any of the social / political / historical / religious context that explains a few things.

I’m not asking for a graduate thesis on the Persian Empire – but a picture book can still convey quite a lot of history with just a few well written sentences that explain a few key bits of background. That can make all the difference between a solid story and a few loosely strung together events.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many children's books that tell the story of Queen Esther. This one is darker than most. While a picture book, this story doesn't shy away from death and the gallows. Best for older children wanting to know the origins of Purim, might be a bit dark for younger kids.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting adaptation, with stylized gouache illustrations.

[Shoshanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to like about this book but I have a few complaints. I always love the story of Esther and it always gets me very emotional. Now it is the beginning of Adar 5786 and it is a time where we are supposed to be growing the joy in our neshamas. It is very hard for me to do so because of all the scary things going on in this country right now. Where are our Mordechai and Esther???

This picture book has an illustration style that I really really like a lot. I really appreciate that the story borrows a lot from the actual text, instead of dumbing down the language and making it more kidsy safe. I recognized a lot of the language, though obvi it's borrowing from translation. My main issue is two omissions.

1) The story hides some of the gory details, such as that all of Haman's sons were also hanged. Most importantly it does not mention that the edict could not be rescinded so instead a new edict was put out to say that Jews could fight back and later went on to exact revenge. It was not the righteous gentile king who saved them, but the swords and shields of the Jews.

2) The most important line is missing, when Mordechai spells out to Esther what will happen to the Jews, that hiding will not protect her, and that maybe this is the reason she is in the palace (I'm tearing up as I write it).

It was a Jewish woman and the fighting spirit of the Jews that saved us!

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thrilling telling of the Esther story of the Bible. Pictures were neat as was setting the context for certain traditions that are celebrated in remembrance of these events.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this telling of how Queen Esther saved her people. My kids enjoyed it too.

[Sarah Roberts Lundy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Scared my children. Went back to the Bible for queen Esther.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent recounting or the Story of Esther. The illustrations are detailed and beautiful. It is fairly accurate and rather lengthy. It is not appropriate for very young children but is a great book for older childrenwishing to read the story that inspires the Purim holiday.

[Lisa Rathbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a lovely retelling of the Old Testament story. There are a couple minor parts to the story that differ from the book of Esther in the Bible such as Mordecai's dragon dream and WHEN Mordecai actually saved the king's life. I have always loved this story! Hamaan is such a petulant bully - "He won't bow down to me!" - and he has the ability to have all the Jews killed! And then lovely Esther bravely intercedes for her people. So powerful!

The illustrations are softly colorful and enhance the legendary feel of the tale. The one of Esther and Mordecai embracing is especially poignant.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great presentation of the story of Esther. I wasn't terribly familiar with it, but loved how this was geared towards kids and was beautifully illustrated.

I say it's Christian, in that it's from the Old Testament, but it's a Jewish story. I think it's important to understand our shared heritage.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esther's clever.

[Alison Whiteman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was invited to a Purim celebration many years ago. What a joyous event.