Rare Earth Book Description: Marc Royce stares out of the helicopter, a sense of foreboding rising with the volcanic cloud. Below, the Rift Valley slashes across Africa like a scar. Decades of conflicts, droughts, and natural disasters have left their mark. Dispatched to audit a relief organization, Royce is thrust into the squalor and chaos of Kenyan refugee camps. But his true mission focuses on the area’s reserves of once-obscure minerals now indispensable to high-tech industries. These strategic elements – called rare earths – have inflamed tensions on the world’s statge and stoked tribal rivalries. As Royce prepares to report back to…
Sweet Sara Crewe has everything a little girl could ever want – a loving family, lots of friends and a closet full of frilly dresses! But when life takes a turn and Sara goes from riches to rags, will she realize that her true worth lies not in what she has, but what’s in her heart? Find out in this inspiring new story from VeggieTales, based on the beloved classic novel “A Little Princesss,” that reminds kids who they are in God’s eyes.
Dvd Features:
Widescreen and Standard Screen versions of featured show, English & Spanish subtitles, 5.1 Surround Sound
Behind the Scenes
My Teddy Bear’s from Where?
A True Princess – Discussion Guide
Tour of London
Singalong Songs
Previews
Our Thoughts:
The Penniless Princess is a nice story about how a young girl keeps her spirits up and encourages others even when life takes a horrible turn for the worst. She knows that no matter what may be going on in her life that she is still a princess in the Lord’s eyes, and that He will always be there for her. Throughout the story, we see how the Lord provides for her in little ways, and she, in turn, reaches out and helps others.
As a military family, we are sensitive to certain topics within books, movies, shows… so I do want to point something out. Sara’s dad is in the military, and he drops her off at a new boarding school when he heads off to war. Her dad reminds her that she will always be taken care of even when he’s not there because she’s a child of the King. Sara’s dad loves to spoil his sweet girl, but she doesn’t act like a spoiled brat. (There is no mention of a mom in the story, so we can only assume that the mom is no longer around.) Unfortunately, because Sara has always been given much, others see her as spoiled.
Later in the story, some military members show up to make the notification that Sara’s dad has died while fighting. While the entire conversation is not shown, Sara is told point blank by the school mistress that her dad is dead. From that point forward, Sara becomes a servant and is treated poorly because of it. The does not break Sara’s spirit, but the mistress is always trying to make her unhappy. The story does have a happy ending, but some kids may have difficulty with situations that are covered in this story even with the happy ending. Each parent will need to decide if their kids can handle the story line. (If mommy or daddy is deployed, you may want to hold off on the story if you’re kids are really sensitive to what’s going on with that.)
We enjoyed the way the story was put together and thought VeggieTales did a nice job showing that true worth comes from within, from the Lord and not outward things/possessions.
The Silly Song included in this episode – Best Friends Forever – was way too funny as it revolves around two friends text messaging each other. Of course, they are using all the texting abbreviations (letters) when they’re singing, so you need to watch the screen to see what everything means if you’re not familiar with text chat. We were just cracking up through the entire Silly Song. I think most kids (and parents) will get a kick out of it.
VeggieTales The Penniless Princess was just released today, Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at retailers nationwide. I’m happy to be able to offer one copy of the dvd to one of my readers. The giveaway ends August 31, 2012 and is open to those in the US.
Crossing Values Book Description: For years, Amber traipsed around the Northwest avoiding the skeletons in her closet. Job-hopping every few weeks, she refused to let anyone get close to her as she slowly made her way east. As winter plants itself firmly across the Rockies, she decides to take a chance on a job at a logging company with a family different from any she’s ever known before. Watching the family interact creates more questions than answers for Amber. Feeling like she’s entered the happily-ever-after written at the end of fairytales, she watches for cracks in the facade. Surely as…
TITL Apparel is not just a business for owner Stephanie Osborn; it’s also her ministry. TITL, Trust in the Lord, Apparel is a platform for ministry, for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Because of this, a significant portion of the profits are given to ministries who seek to save the lost. On the TITL blog, Stephanie shares brief announcements as well as information about TITL Apparel, but most of blog posts are messages of encouragement. Browsing around the website took a little getting use to as it wasn’t a platform that I was accustomed to using. I personally…
Economics for Everybody is a new series put out by Compass Cinema. You may be familiar with their Visual Latinseries. I know that series brought Latin to life for Munchkin, and she’s loved Latin ever since. Knowing this, I was excited when I saw that they were putting out an economics series. The teacher in this series is Dr. RC Sproul, Jr. who is a professor and lecturer at Ligonier Academy. His passion for Christ and economics shines through in each of his lessons. One of the unique aspects of this program is that it starts with God and his creation.…
