Three favorite VeggieTales stories from 2011 have been brought together in a three-in-one compilation book by author Karen Poth, Bubblegum, Maps, and Missing Patience (Zonderkidz). The volume includes LarryBoy Meets the Bubblegum Bandit; Bob and Larry’s Creation Vacation, and Bob and Larry in the Case of the Missing Patience into one colorful new book, using the I Can Read! simple text for emergent readers.
In LarryBoy Meets the Bubblegum Bandit, Mayor Blueberry becomes suspicious when the entire town starts acting lazy: the school’s janitor lounges around and the swim team hasn’t prepared for its meet. The Mayor calls LarryBoy, the local superhero, but he also seems uncharacteristically sluggish, spending his time reading comic books and eating donuts. Will LarryBoy be able to get out of his funk in order to uncover what’s making the town so shiftless?
Bob and Larry take off on an adventure across God’s beautiful world in Bob and Larry’s Creation Vacation. While on the trip, the two experience God’s great creations—the gorgeous beaches, blue seas, and the more than 28,000 types of fish. In just seven days, Bob and Larry follow God’s path and marvel at what He was able to accomplish in just one week. They even rest on the seventh day, just as God did.
Case of the Missing Patience reunites Mess Detectives Bob and Larry in a case of the Masked Door Slammer. A group of peas known as the Pod Squad threatens to ruin their investigation. Bob and Larry have no patience for the group’s fun-loving nature when they have real police work to do. But the Pod Squad is determined to learn from the best. Ultimately, Bob and Larry learn that having patience to teach
others yields the best teamwork.
In Poth’s brand new VeggieTales I Can Read! book, Junior Comes Clean (Zonderkidz), the crew teaches a lesson in telling the truth when Mess Detectives Bob and Larry are called to investigate Junior Asparagus’ messy room. While Junior blames the disarray on a group of menacing Brussels sprouts, his guilt gets the best of him. With the help of Bob and Larry, Junior realizes that lying is never the answer.
Another VeggieTales I Can Read! tale, The Case of the Couch Potato Caper (Zonderkidz) inspires children to be active. Mess Detectives Bob and Larry are called to solve the mystery of Laura Carrot’s peculiar lazy behavior. Spending way too much time in
front of the television with the Couch Potatoes, “the laziest potatoes in town,” Laura refuses to do her chores, clean her room, and has even
lost her homework. But through a successful intervention, Bob and Larry help Laura see that God wants her to work hard.