A long time ago, in a place called Persia (also known as Babylon), there was a king named Ahasuerus, and he had a queen named Vashti. King Ahasuerus wanted to show off how pretty his wife was, so he asked her to come to a party he was having. But she said no, and that made the king really mad.

To make things worse, a not-so-nice man named Haman was one of the king's helpers. Haman told the king that if Vashti didn't listen, then other wives might not listen to their husbands either. So, the king listened to Haman and decided to get rid of Vashti.

The king needed a new queen, so he sent people to look for a beautiful girl. They found a lovely girl named Esther, and the king married her.

Esther was actually from a group of people called Jews, who had left their home and were living in Persia. Her uncle Mordecai was a leader among the Jews. Mordecai told Esther to keep her faith a secret, and she did.

Haman became really important in the kingdom and thought everyone should bow down to him. But Mordecai, Esther's uncle, wouldn't bow. Haman got very angry and convinced the king to make a law to hurt all the Jews.

Haman picked a day when he wanted to hurt the Jews, and he made a plan to get rid of them. But Mordecai told Esther about this bad plan, and he asked her to talk to the king to help her people.

Esther was scared because she hadn't seen the king in a while. But she decided to be brave. She talked to the king and told him about Haman's plan. The king listened to Esther and stopped Haman's bad plan.

Esther also told the king that she was Jewish, and she asked him to save her people. The king was really angry at Haman and punished him by making him go on the same gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai.

In the end, Esther's bravery saved her people, and Haman's mean plan was stopped.

The story of Esther teaches us about courage, unity, and standing up against injustice to protect others.