A BRAVE JEWISH GIRL WHO SAVED HER PEOPLE...

The Jewish festival of Purim starts tonight at sundown and ends tomorrow at sundown. Whether or not you are familiar with the observance of this celebration, many of you may recognize its heroine, a brave Jewish girl named Esther.  Her story has always been special to me - (Click Here to read my post from last year).

Queen Esther Story Puppets - source here

Then Esther the queen answered and said, "If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:  For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.”

This year I want to highlight a recorded version of her story, expertly told by Jim Weiss in Tales From the Old Testament.

Included on the cd are the Biblical stories of:

• Abraham and the Idols
• The Story of Ruth
• Noah and the Ark
• Queen Esther
• David and Goliath
• David's Dance
• Wise King Solomon

Available through Greathall Productions, Inc. - found HERE.
To see my list of picture books about Queen Esther, go to my post HERE.

THE BOOK THAT WON THE VERY FIRST CALDECOTT MEDAL...

'Way back in 1938!  ANIMALS OF THE BIBLE, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop.  (From the King James version, text chosen by Helen Dean Fish) ages 9-12.

Also illustrated by Lathrop:
DOWN-ADOWN-DERRY: A BOOK OF FAIRY POEMS  by Walter de la Mare.  It is part of public domain and you can view it online HERE.

To see a list of all the books illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop, go to THIS WEBSITE.