VeggieTales Bible Storybook

From Big Idea Books comes the VeggieTales Bible Storybook. Written by Cindy Kenney with Karen Poth, the book features typical VeggieTales illustrations. Creative and fun characters fill the pages with vivid colors. This book combines 21 Veggie stories we know from their videos and books with the Bible stories that inspired them. It is organized in the similar order as one would find them in Scripture. The table of contents even divides them into the Old and New Testaments.

Each chapter begins with a "countertop" introduction. Bob and Larry describe a current problem then lead into the Veggie story. Now we know Goliath was not really a giant pickle, so immediately after the story, the book presents the real Bible story with selections taken directly from New International Reader's Version of Scripture. Bob and Larry return "countertop" to wrap up the application with a memory verse.

Here is a list of the chapter stories and their correlated Bible stories.

• The Ballad of Little Joe --- Joseph, Genesis 37-45


• Babysitter in DeNile --- Miriam (saving baby Moses), Exodus 1-2


• Frog Wars --- Moses (and the Exodus), Exodus 3-14


• Josh and the Big Wall --- Battle of Jericho, Joshua 5-6


• Gideon Tuba Warrior --- Gideon, Judges 6-7


• Dave and the Giant Pickle --- David and Goliath, 1 Samuel 17


• King George and the Ducky --- David's Selfish Sin (with Bathsheba), 2 Samuel 12


• Esther, the Girl who Became Queen --- Esther, Esther 2-8


• Madame Blueberry --- David's Heart (of thankfulness), Psalm 34


• Rack, Shack & Benny --- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel 3


• Daniel and the Lions' Den --- Daniel, Daniel 6-28


• Jonah --- Jonah Runs Away, Jonah 1-4


• The Stable that Bob Built --- Jesus is Born, Luke 2


• Where's God When I'm Scared --- Jesus Walks on Water, Matthew 14


• The Story of Fibber-o-loo --- The Good Samaritan, Luke 10


• Larry's Lagoon --- The Prodigal Son, Luke 15


• An Easter Carol --- Jesus is Risen, Luke 24


• Minnesota Cuke --- Wise Advice, Romans 12


• Lyle the Kindly Viking --- A Cheerful Giver, 2 Corinthians 9-15


• The Gourds Must Be Crazy --- The Conversion of Paul, Acts 9


• LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed --- New Life ... New Ways, Colossians 3

What I Like: The Scriptural parallels. It's great to be able to point back to the actual passages in the Bible. The memory verses are great! My kids love VeggieTales, so this book was an instant favorite in our house. The authors find very creative ways to relay lessons in ways kids can easily understand. Also, collecting all the videos can be quite expensive. This is a great way to get a lot of the stories for one low price.

What I Dislike: Initially, I was disappointed with some of the stories -- outer space, super heroes and Gilligan's Island don't belong in a Bible -- but the more I read it, the more I liked the book! The problem was my expectations. Please note this is not a Bible, but a Bible storybook. My only complaint now is with the "Frog Wars" chapter. VeggieTales did a much better job telling the story of Moses in "Moe and the Big Exit." Unfortunately, that video was released after the publication of this book.

Overall Rating: Very Good.

Age Appeal: 4-8, but my 2 year-old loves it, too!

Publisher Info: ZonderKidz, 2006; ISBN: 0310710081; Hardback; $16.99

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