Chronicles of Faith: Esther is a historical fiction novel for children ages 8-12. The story of Esther is told from a third-person perspective in 12 short chapters. Each chapter has an average of 7 pages. Throughout the story, one page includes writing while the other is illustrated by a line drawing to encourage the child to continue reading. The illustrations break up the monotony of page after page of words. This makes the Chronicles of Faith series a good transition for children progressing from picture books to novels. The story of Esther is familiar to many church-going children and will make reading the whole 224-page book less intimidating.

In a homeschool setting, this book can be used either as a read-aloud during history or as independent reading for the child's reading list. Children in grades 2-4 should be able to read this book with ease and enjoy the story.

I enjoyed reading Chronicles of Faith: Esther and was intrigued by how the author related certain details of life. When reading the story in the Bible, a child might easily feel a disconnect from the characters as there isn't an exploration of feelings. The author delves into the feelings of all the characters and sums up the whole tale with a beautiful explanation of the feast of Purim so that children can understand.

This book was a wonderful read for my oldest daughter. I would suggest the child be familiar with the original story in the Bible before reading this. It's always good to get the facts of what actually happened before you read someone's interpretation. My favorite aspect of the Chronicles of Faithseries is that it provides children with enriching and spiritually edifying reading material. I highly recommend the series and this story in particular.

Product review by Lyria Moore, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July 2009