Review Detail

“Max’s Mask: A Purim Story” by Havvah Deevon, illustrations by Itay Bekin, follows a young child named Max who is starting at a new preschool. He has some apprehension about being in a new place with a new teacher and new classmates, so he often dresses as a superhero to mask the way he feels and make him feel like he is more powerful. When another little boy, David, isn’t always so kind to him, he copes with it the best he can, but he isn’t sure quite how to handle the situation.

When his new teacher, Miss Tzipi, tells her students the story of the holiday of Purim and the bravery of Queen Esther that kept the Jews safe at that time, all of the kids think about what costume they want to wear to celebrate the holiday. While at school for Purim, all of the kids see plenty of costumes, including a number of Queen Esthers, as well as an artist, firefighters, police officers, and even someone dressed as Albert Einstein.

Max finds himself playing after most everyone has gone home when one of the astronauts comes to play with him. Underneath the costume he finds David, and they begin to find mutual interests as they start to play together and enjoy each other’s company.

The story of Purim is one of strength and truth. Max worked throughout this story to find his own strength and truth. He did what was right for him and found things worked out better than he expected they would. Remaining strong in the face of adversity, in this case in the form of bullying, allowed him to grow into a better, stronger child.