Owlegories

My kiddos like getting curricula and books in the mail as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, but they get really excited when we get something like a DVD to review. It seems more like fun than work, and, of course, they never get tired of hearing, "We need to watch this video for school today." So, as you can imagine, they were pleased when a package from FishFlix.com arrived at our door. They were even happier when they opened the package and found a video about the things of God. My oldest son had watched the trailer with me on YouTube before the DVD came and was excited to tell his siblings about Owlegories: The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly.

Owlegories is an animated series in which owls teach kids about God through the use of allegories. (Did you catch the play on words in the title? Cute!) The episodes teach about God's nature and truths found in His Word by using elements found in nature. The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly is the second DVD of the series.

 

In each episode, the Professor sends the owl students (Joey, Nora, Violet, Gus, and Twitch) on an adventure. Along the way, they learn important truths, have fun, and are attempted to be foiled by the "bad guy" Devlin and his sidekick Fink. At the beginning of class, the students quote the owl pledge:

 

We love to learn about creation.

It helps us become wise. 

God's nature is all around us,

If we look through heaven's eyes.

The Ant
In this episode, the owl students go to a maple syrup farm. (This was so exciting to my kids as this month we were able to tap trees to make our own maple syrup too!) A colony of ants teach them 3 ways in which followers of Christ should be like ants based on Proverbs 6:6:

1. They work together.
2. They are hard workers.
3. They plan for the future.

My kids favorite part about this one was Gus's silly song about how God made everything.

The Fruit
Galatians 5:22-23 is the key verse for this episode. The students head to an apple orchard where they learn about the Fruits of the Spirit and are introduced to some bad fruits, too. My kids laughed at the impersonations that Twitch did of the other characters. It was even one of his impersonations that saved their apples from being stolen by Devlin to make the perfect pie!


The Butterfly
The students learn in this episode that creepy crawly bugs are not all bad. They observe the change of caterpillars as they morph into chrysalises and then transform into butterflies. They learn from II Corinthians 5:17 how Christians are like the butterflies:

1. God looks at our heart. It does not matter what we look like on the outside.
2. A caterpillar changes into a butterfly just as we are changed through salvation.
3. Just as the caterpillar is free when it becomes a butterfly, we find true freedom when we accept Christ as our Savior.

My kids loved when Devlin got "eaten" by a big fish!

At the end of each episode, there's a recap about the truths we can learn from God's Word. Then, there's a follow-up portion with known Christians (authors, pastors, etc.) where the truth is expounded on.

The entire video is about a half hour long and kept my kiddos entertained. More than that though, it taught my kids about God on their level. Because the episodes and lessons are short to keep the attention of little ones, there are aspects that get skipped, like the need to boil the maple sap to turn it into syrup or the actual time frame of metamorphosis. These things are not necessarily a big deal, but open up another teaching moment with the kids. Also, Owlegories does not use the King James Bible for their verses, so that was another detail that my kids pointed out.

All in all, my little ones love this video. They laugh at Gus, walk around singing the songs, and ask to watch it often. We've even downloaded the app and watched another episode that way. I see more Owlegories finding their way into our house in the future.  

FishFlix.com is an online store offering thousand of high-quality Christian movies. Their business philosophy is based on the following verses: Colossians 3:17 and Colossians 3:23-24, meaning that whatever they do, they're doing it for God. They offer low prices on their DVDs along with free shipping. If you're looking to add some quality entertainment to your life, FishFlix.com will have what you need.

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The John Wesley Story

My kids like getting curricula and books in the mail as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, but they get really excited when we get something like a DVD to review. It seems more like fun than work, and, of course, they never get tired of hearing, "We need to watch this video for school today." So, as you can imagine, they were pleased when a package from FishFlix.com arrived at our door. They were even happier when they opened the package and found a video about the things of God.

Torchlighters: The John Wesley Story is a 30-minute video that briefly touches on the life of the great preacher. It starts in 1708, when his home is engulfed in flames. The majority of the family escapes, but young John gets trapped inside. As the flames and smoke begin to overtake him, he is rescued. His mother tells him that he is a "brand plucked from the fire" (Zechariah 3:2) and that God must have something special planned for him.  

John spent the next many years involved in the things of God. He even traveled to America to preach about God, but returned to England after a year and half with no converts and feeling like a failure.   

Once home, he visited his brother Charles. It was then that he saw a vast difference in his brother. Charles told him that he had been saved and explained the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. John rejected the difference. How could he, a clergyman, not know God? He reluctantly attended a Bible study, and there accepted the truth of the Gospel.

He determined that God saved him from that fire as a child so he could preach to sinners in need of a Saviour. He and Charles began preaching in churches all over, and each time, the people rejected, throwing them out of the church. In the midst of discouragement, he received an invitation from George Whitfield to "preach in an open field."

He immediately began preaching not in the churches, but to the poor on the streets. The miners in their filthy rags understood about needing a Saviour. People were receptive and many trusted Christ. Not everyone was pleased though. The story goes on to show a little orphan boy who falls and breaks his leg. With no money for medical care, the would be left to suffer. A man offers to pay for the needed help if another man, the boy's friend George, leads a mob to kill John.

In the end, it wasn't only the boy who needed help, but George, as well. He accepts Christ and takes the boy to the Wesleys and their friends to get the help he needs.

In conclusion, the video sums up John's life by mentioning how he and Charles started soup kitchens, schools, and orphanages and provided children with medical care and education. They preached about needing your sins forgiven. In turn, they began the Methodist movement.

As soon as the end credits began to play, my 9-year-old asked, "It's over already?" He had enjoyed the storyline so much that he was disappointed that it ended so quickly. The video (part of the Torchlighters series) was easy to follow and the cartoon characters kept my kids attention. They would have happily sat and watched a full-length movie about the life of John Wesley. When I mentioned that I was getting ready to write my review, my 7-year-old daughter replied, "I'll tell you what I think about it. I just love it. I love it because it's about God." And what more do you need than that?

 

"Do all the good you can,

In all the ways you can,

To all the souls you can,

In every place you can,

With all the zeal you can,

As long as ever you can."

~ John Wesley ~

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You can read more reviews of this title or one of the others offered from FishFlix on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.