Once upon a time there was a King named Achashverosh. King Achashverosh lived in a country called Persia. His palace was in the city of Shushan, the capital of Persia. King Achashverosh loved to have parties and he loved to drink lots and lots of wine. One year he partied for six months. Each month the party had a different theme. He then partied for seven days. On the seventh day he called his guards and told them to go and call Queen Vashti to come with her beautiful crown and dance in front of everyone at his party. Queen Vashti was a kind and caring queen but she was also too shy and too scared to dance in front of everyone. Queen Vashti refused to dance.

The guards returned and told King Achashverosh that Queen Vashti would not be coming to dance in front of everyone. King Achashverosh in his drunken state asked his advisers what he should do. They responded by telling King Achashverosh that he should send Queen Vashti far far away. He ordered Queen Vashti to be sent far away. When King Achashverosh woke up the next day he asked for his Queen but Queen Vashti was no longer there. King Achashverosh realized what he had done and he was very sad. He now had no queen. He needed to look for a new queen. King Achasherosh called for his guards and told them to put the word out that he was looking for a new queen. All the single girls in the country must come to his palace to meet him.

A man named Mordechai heard the King's news that he was looking for a new wife. Mordechai was looking after his cousin Hadassah who was not married. She was beautiful and kind. Morderchai went to tell Hadassah that she had to go and meet the King. Before Mordechai sent Hadassah to meet the king he told her not to tell the King that she was Jewish. He changed her name from Hadassah to Esther. Esther stayed in the palace for a whole year. She had seven maids who looked after her. She had a maid for each day of the week so she knew when it was Shabbat. She stayed in the palace for a few months and eventually King Achashverosh wanted to see her. When he saw her, it was love at first sight. He married her straight away. Esther was now known as Queen Esther.

Mordechai liked to sit at the gates of the palace to hear what was being planned. One day while Mordechai was sitting by the gates he heard two palace guards talking. They were planning to kill the King. Mordechai went to tell the King of the guards plan. The King was very grateful. He thanked Mordechai for saving his life. He sent the guards far away. He placed Mordechai's name in a very special book so he would not forget him.

Mordechai enjoyed visiting Queen Esther at the Palace. One day when he was walking in the court yard he bumped into Haman. Haman was made prime minister by King Achashverosh. He wore an idol around his neck. He was a very wicked and evil man. When he saw Mordechai he told Mordechai to bow down to him. Mordechai refused. Mordechai said "Hashem is the only one I pray too and I do not bow down to idols." Haman did not like how the Jew, Mordechai behaved. He hated the Jewish people. Haman decided that he wanted to kill the all the Jewish people in Persia but he needed the King's permission. He made up a story about the Jewish people which was a lie. He told King Achashverosh that there was a group of people who were very wicked, who hated him and who thought bad things about him. King Achashverosh said I don't know who these people are but we must get rid of them. Haman told the King that he would carry out his order. Haman needed to decide the day and the month he would kill the Jewish people. He decided to draw lots. The lots landed on the 13 of Adar. That was the day he was planning to kill the Jewish people. He wrote a letter to all the heads of 127 countries to tell them that they must kill the Jewish people on the 13 of Adar, which is a year from that date of the decree.

Mordechai was in the court yard of the palace and he overheard what Haman was planning to do. He was very upset and angry. He went to tell Queen Esther what Haman was planning to do. He told her that she must go and tell the King in order to save the Jewish people. Queen Esther was very scared. She asked all the Jewish people to pray. She also asked them to fast for three days with her so she could overcome this challenge.

After fasting for three days,Queen Esther went to the King and asked him if she could have a party with him and Haman. The King agreed.

King Achashverosh went to sleep that night and whilst sleeping dreamed that Mordechai saved his life. When he woke up he asked his guards to bring him his special book. King Achashverosh turned to the page where he had written Mordechai's name and remembered how Mordechai really did save his life. King Achashverosh called for Haman. The King asked Haman what he would do if someone saved his life. Haman, thinking it was him, said he would dress him in royal clothes and place him on a horse and one of his guards would lead him around the town to show everyone that he saved the king's life. King Achashverosh thought this was a brilliant idea. He told Haman that he must call Mordechai and do exactly what he had said, dress him in royal clothes and ride him around Shushan on a horse Everyone must know Mordechai saved my life. Haman was very surprised and shocked. Haman thought that the King would send him on the horse. Haman hated Mordechai even more. That night the King, Queen and Haman all had a party together. They enjoyed the food and drinks. Queen Esther then announced that there would be another special party the next night because she had something to reveal. The following night arrived and the King, Queen and Haman came together again. This time Queen Esther revealed to King Achashverosh that Haman was planning to kill the Jewish people. She then told the King that she was Jewish. The King was very upset with what Queen Esther had told him. He confrontrd Haman and asked him if he was planning to kill the Jewish people. Haman said "yes". The King then ordered Haman to be put in jail for wanting to kill the Jewish people on the 13 of Adar. He then called Mordechai and told him that he would replace Haman and he would be prime minister as a reward for saving his life. Mordechai then asked the King if he could write a letter to all the countries to tell them not to hurt the Jewish people. King Achashverosh agreed. The Jewish people were finally saved. They celebrated by having a big party on the 14 and 15 of Adar.