A Telling Time [Hardcover]

Irene Watts (Author), Kathryn Shoemaker (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: 2 and up

This tale is told in three time-frames. On the eve of the Festival of Purim, a grandmother tells her granddaughter how, as a little girl, she heard the story of Queen Esther from her family rabbi. This was in 1939, in Nazi-occupied Vienna, on the eve of WWII. Soon after the rabbi begins the story of the brave queen, soldiers come to arrest him. The young girl begs for the rabbi to finish his story, and the soldiers allow him to do so. When the tale is over, the soldiers permit him to send the children home. But when the children turn to wave goodbye, the rabbi had vanished in the snowflakes, safe from harm, saved by the miracle of a story from long ago. The illustrations by Kathryn Shoemaker perfectly highlight the story's message of hope.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6–A modern-day grandmother shares with her granddaughter the remembrance of a childhood Purim in Nazi-occupied Austria. On the snowy eve of the holiday, a rabbi begins to tell the story of Queen Esther's rescue of the Jews of Persia to a group of children when he is interrupted by soldiers who have come to the take him for questioning. Pleading for a few more minutes to finish the tale, the rabbi is given 15 minutes to continue and, at the conclusion, leads the children out on a snow-covered street and symbolically disappears, wrapped in his white prayer shawl, within the frosty blizzard night. The two miracles of salvation are paralleled as one story is told within the other. Overtones and shadows of the Holocaust are blended with the scenes of the Purim retelling highlighting the main characters of Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus, Mordecai, and the villainous Haman. Dark paintings in muted hues of maroon, black, and gray of a Persian kingdom with Nazi imagery of yellow stars, Gestapo police, and barbed-wire fencing are a backdrop for text that alternates in type style to distinguish the two stories. The juxtaposition of the different times of Jewish persecution in the world's history is subtle and effective. This holiday book can also serve as a good discussion starter about racism and anti-Semitism.–Rita Soltan, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
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About the Author

Kathryn Shoemaker is an established illustrator who has illustrated over 20 books for children, including My Animal Friends and Floyd the Flamingo and his Flock of Friends, both for Tradewind Books. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Tradewind Books (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896580394
• ISBN-13: 978-1896580395
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,665,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)