Author/illustrator Katy Keck Arnsteen retells the Biblical story of Esther in this lovely little picture-book. Chosen by the Persian king as his queen, Esther is advised by her cousin and guardian Mordicai to hide her Jewish identity. But when the evil Haman plots against the Jews, working to have them all killed, Esther must use her influence to save her people...

Published in 1997 by the Boston-based Catholic press, Pauline Books & Media, Queen Esther was one of eight titles in the Kid Scripts series, which presents Bible stories (all from the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible), and pairing them with illustrations in the style of a medieval manuscript. This is the first title from that series that I have read, although it is the fifth picture-book retelling of the Esther story that I have encountered, following upon those done by Eric A. Kimmel, Tomie dePaola, Mordicai Gerstein and Miriam Chaikin. On the whole I found this presentation appealing, enjoying both narrative and artwork. The latter was particularly lovely. I was surprised to see that the name used for the Persian king here was Xerxes, as most other retellings use the biblical Ahasuerus. Scholars do believe that these are one and the same, but it was still odd to see a retelling of a biblical story not using the biblical name. Leaving that oddity aside, this is one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for retellings of the Esther story. For my own part, I would not be at all opposed to reading others in this series, if I can track them down, or to seeing other books from Arnsteen. ( )