On Purim

by Cathy Goldberg Fishman, Melanie W. Hall (Illustrator)

As her family sits down to make masks, a young girl knows it's time for Purim, the holiday that celebrates how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people. It's time for making "hamantashen," pastries filled with poppy seeds and honey. Time to place these pastries in homemade paper gift baskets with candy and fruit. Time for the Purim carnival, for playing games and watching the Purim parade. And, of course, time to put on their new costumes and masks. But this year the girl can't help but wonder "why" they wear masks on Purim. As her family acts out the Purim story, she discovers not only the story behind the masks, but the place of God in their lives.

Cathy Goldberg Fishman's gentle text, illuminated by Melanie W. Hall's warm, colorful paintings, evokes the mysteries and joys of the Purim holiday.

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

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2000

Reviews

[Camille Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Purim was a great book, it allowed me to learn information about a holiday I did not know about. On Purim could fall under the mystery fiction book because it Purim is a holiday where Jewish families make masks, enjoy the Purim carnival and watching the Purim Parade. The little girl in the story begins to question the tradition of making masks for the Purim Parade, with the help of her family she begins to learn about why they create masks and also the place of God in their lives. The plot was very thick and allowed the readers to want to read more. The story not only benefit the Jewish culture but also the other cultures reading the book. However, I had a hard time pronouncing the name of the some of the characters and some of the items used for the parade. The illustrations were great. The pictures went right along with the text and allowed the reader to get an understanding of what is being discussed.

[Shoshanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another story of a family celebrating Purim. It is 100% a three star book. There may be ones better and ones worse but this one is fine. It is starting to get to me that these books gloss over the end. I don't know if we need all the details, but a book I read recently said "punished Haman." They killed Haman and his sons. Just say that. And he couldn't stop the people from attacking the Jews. Just say that the Jews were officially allowed to fight back! That would help bolster the ideas that Jews can be strong and protect themselves!

Just thoughts!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute kids book about the holiday of Purim. Good for Jewish kids. Not so sure it'd be great for other audiences because there isn't any help pronouncing the names of the characters in the Book of Esther, and thus I see it as requiring at least a passing familiarity with the story already. I'm not in the target audience, so again, I don't think I can judge this book fairly past 3 stars, but I did enjoy it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, simple introduction to Purim traditions for a child.