Esther's Royal Move: the friends study the book of Esther

The book of Esther is a Biblical love story told against the backdrop of the Persian Empire palace of Shushan. Although His name is not mentioned in the text, the presence of the hand of God is evident both on the surface and through symbolism, typology, and motif. As revealed in 2 Chronicles, "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."1

Here we read of the fairy-tale selection of a king for his queen as the devotion of the heroine to her God weaves its way through the plot and all along the motif of poetic justice unravels. In addition to relaying the details of the account, it touches a wealth of genres including the literary, historical, geographical, and Biblical lexicon.

As in the study of Job, a study guide is included from which Lottie has derived her lessons. It can serve as a handy reference for adults or children who want to dig deeper into the scriptural text. In deference to the rich literary devices of the book of Esther, I included an array of similes, metaphors, and idioms in the dialogue.

I created multiple settings where Lottie & Friends can be adventuresome as they study the text of Esther. Initially, they travel the "kingdom" of Persia setting the stage from a cart drawn by who else but Yobel, the burro. Events from the palace in Shushan are revealed as they build sandcastles at the seaside where Lottie introduces each character with a puppet made of grass reed. From there the gang demonstrates their reaction to the evil Haman while wearing masks and expressing their disdain for his actions. Finally, a storyboard becomes a visual aid in a discussion of the sovereignty of God.

A separate workbook is available which offers activities that are based on the events of Esther. In addition to color pages of the main characters, there are pages developing map and timeline study skills, literary skills, mind challenges of sequencing, sudoku, crossword, word search, word scramble, a memory game, an origami storyteller, and more.

Although Esther's Royal Move is written for children, the wealth of Biblical allusion and harmony in Esther can be appreciated by adults. Esther's Royal Move expands beyond the boundary of the plot and teaches much more. For those of you who want to delve deeper, I have included a supplement to my foreword below.

It is my profound desire that you and your children learn to love the book of Esther, its lovely literary form, its hidden jewels, and The Lord our God who has placed this story before us for such a time as this to study and learn about His great plan that has been presented, the rebel who has been ousted, and the savior who has come!

Miss Marion