'Lettuce Love One Another' — A VeggieTales DVD for Valentine's Day

Beloved Bob and Larry from VeggieTales are off and running with a new DVD just in time for Valentine's Day, VeggieTales Lettuce Love One Another.

For this love-filled collection, the rotund tomato and perky cucumber characters share three favorite VeggieTales episodes plus five brand-new "Bible Bits."

VeggieTales episodes in the collection, presented by Bob the Tomato, include:

• Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River

• Abe & The Amazing Promise

• King George & the Ducky

And Larry the Cucumber shares the five Bible Bits, each a lesson in and example of forgiving, helping, giving, praying, or sharing.

Bonus fun: Three silly songs, two story book tales, instructions on how to draw Abe and King George, and more.

Take a look:

VeggieTales offers up some fun printables to go along with Lettuce Love One Another. The Service Coupons make perfect last-minute Valentine's Day gifts for kids to give and get, and the Kindness Chart keeps kindness front of mind on a daily basis. And, of course, there's a VeggieTales Valentine's Day card for printing on cardstock, too. Click on the graphics thumbnails below for the full-sized printable pages (if you have trouble printing from the page, right-click the full-size image to save to your computer, then print from that).

Lettuce Love One Another Service Coupons

Lettuce Love One Another Kindness Chart

Lettuce Love One Another Valentine

VeggieTales Lettuce Love One Another, released Jan. 15, is available at all major retail outlets for SRP $12.99.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the DVD for review. Opinions are my own.

Overcoming fear, VeggieTales style: The League of Incredible Vegetables

The world can be a scary place, and not just for grown ups. Unfortunately that applies more than ever to little ones, too, considering the inexplicable tragedies of 2012 and the virtually unavoidable 24/7 news on those events.

Teaching kids how to keep their fears—real or imagined—in check can be tough, but there's a new tool parents, grandparents and other caregivers may want to consider. It's one of the latest DVDs from VeggieTales, called The League of Incredible Vegetables: A Lesson in Handling Fear. In the wacky ways typical of all VeggieTales tales that came before, Larry, Bob, and the rest of the gang address important issues with understanding, empathy, and, most importantly, humor.

Super heroes are super cool with kids, and this is the fourth title in a series of DVD releases starring the popular “LarryBoy” super hero. This time around though, when the dastardly Dr. Flurry plans to freeze an entire city with fear, LarryBoy must call for backup. He turns to league of incredible vegetables, four new super heroes with super silly powers: Bob the Tomato, Petunia Rhubarb, Junior Asparagus and Mr. Lunt. Their tagline: "They came. They thawed. They conquered."

Take a look:

It's a normal day in Bumblyburg . . . until Dr. Flurry comes to town with an army of penguins! Sounds like a job for Larry-Boy, but he gets frozen by his enemy's superior tactics.

In addition to the fun—tinged with comforting and helpful lessons on handling fear—are several bonus features, as is always the case with the VeggieTales DVDs. There's a requisite silly song (always my favorite part of VeggieTales shows!) called "Supper Hero" by LarryBoy, a League of Incredible Vegetables music video and singalong, behind-the-scenes features and more. Plus, The League of Incredible Vegetables features the new theme song and music video from Newsboys.

VeggieTales The League of Incredible Vegetables: A Lesson in Handling Fear DVD is available at all major retail outlets for SRP $14.97. Visit the VeggieTales website for more fun and products. And be sure to submit your own incredible story of an everyday hero in your life on the VeggieTales - Incredible Heroes Facebook page.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the DVD for review. Opinions are my own.

Veggie Tales' Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too: A review and giveaway

I have two grandsons, ages four and one. They're brothers. Which means the youngest is forever wanting to get involved in what the oldest is doing. It can be frustrating for both boys at times, and the idea that little ones can do big things, too, is the underlying theme of many conversations in their household.

That's also the theme of the most recent VeggieTales release, titled appropriately, Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too. The DVD is a collection of stories—so far easier for little ones to follow than one full-length movie—about the big things performed by little ones. Most of the stories are biblical retellings, VeggieTale style, but the collection also includes a lesson in listening to your parents that's based on Pinocchio, only instead of Pinocchio and Gepetto, Pistachio and Gelatto are the stars. (See? VeggieTale style!)

Here's a peek at the fun—and important messages—featured in VeggieTales' Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too:

What I loved most about Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too: VeggieTales stories never fail to make me chuckle, thanks to the sprinkle of irreverency and subtle humor meant for adults in the midst of the fun and messages directed at children. I was happy to see the pea characters having a larger role than usual in each story (they are indeed such sweet peas), often reminding me of the chorus in Greek tragedies and tales.

My favorite part of every VeggieTales DVD is the interviews with the Veggie Kids, as I love their nasally, rambling musings on important matters. This DVD took that feature one step further, courtesy a Behind the Scenes extra that shows the real kids as they answer the questions that were then made part of the animated feature. So cute. I always wondered if they were real kids, and that they are.

VeggieTales' Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too is available for $12.99 from the VeggieTales website as well as other retailers, online and off.

But wait...you can win your very own DVD of VeggieTales' Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too. Here are the details:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this DVD for review, as well as an offer of one as a giveaway prize. All opinions are my own.

Review: VeggieTales: Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men (DVD)

My daughters were well into junior high by the time VeggieTales became popular among the preschool set, so I didn't have much exposure to the animated series—featuring anthropomorphic veggies such as Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and Archibald the Asparagus—as a mom. As a grandma, it's a totally different story. Bubby loves VeggieTales, and together we've shared many a tale.

The most recent offering showcasing the songs, silliness, and stories with a moral from the faith-based characters is VeggieTales: Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men (approx. 50 minutes, $14.99, Big Idea Entertainment). I received a free copy of the DVD for review and was pleased to find that Larry the Cucumber—Bubby's favorite VeggieTale character because he's Bubby's favorite color—once again had a significant role in the show.

The story goes that in the long-ago and faraway town of Bethlingham, Robin Good and his band of merry men helped the poor through fundraising (called "funraising" in the show). Then along comes a greedy, ham-hoarding prince who causes donations to dive and coerces Robin Good's friends over to the dark side. All that, of course, hurts Robin Good's feelings. Thankfully things take a turn for the better, Robin Good overcomes his hurt feelings, and little ones watching the show learn that there's no hurt too big for God.

It's a sweet story, and some of the corniest parts (pun intended) come from the fun-raising efforts to get everyone to lend a ham. The DVD also includes a bonus short called Lenny & the Lost Birthday, "Silly Songs with Larry featuring Bubble Rap," and other faith-based goodies.

What I loved about the DVD: This is the DVD that clinched my love for Larry the Cucumber. Not because he's green, though, which is why Bubby loves him, but because of his silly songs. And they are indeed silly...and catchy. Also, for kids who are a little bit older, the DVD has a pretty good explanation of leap year as part of the Lenny & the Lost Birthday short.

For more information on this particular DVD, click on the image above (not an affiliate link). For more info on VeggieTales in general, visit www.VeggieTales.com.