Review: Skeeter and the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure
You might remember that I’m on the list of Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers. It has been an interesting chance to take a look at some of the items published by this Christian company – some cross the line for me into discomfort, and others are open enough in their world view to intrigue me.
This month I requested a dvd for the kids – Max Lucado’s Hermie & Friends: Skeeter and the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure. My kids love Veggie Tales videos and I’ve found those to be not-preachy enough to pass my comfort test. Sure, they’re telling Bible stories and they occasionally talk about God, but they are not trying to convert the kids or to say that their way is the only way. (You need to keep in mind that my son has decided that the “real” God is Amun-Ra, and that there are many, many other Gods as well! Being Unitarian Universalists, we like to learn about all kinds of religious ideas and keep what works for us. We can embrace Christian traditions, stories or videos as long as they are not overtly close-minded.)
I was pleased with this Hermie & Friends dvd. As the box says, “It’s About… Being Unique.” In the story, Skeeter the mosquito is sad because his stinger has been crooked since birth, and he has no sense of direction. His famous brother Sinclair comes to visit – Sinclair, the famous explorer, with a great sense of direction and perfectly straight stinger. The story deals with Skeeter’s bad feelings about himself and his belief that their father always loved Sinclair best, but in the end, of course, a lesson is learned. The “perfect” Sinclair can’t fly and always thought his father preferred Skeeter. Skeeter, it turns out, has an amazing sense of smell and finds the Lost Mosquito Treasure by sniffing raspberries.
There was a little talk of God, of course, but the only time it felt over the top was when Skeeter asked God why he was born with a crooked stinger… and the booming male voice from the clouds answered him. “I don’t make mistakes, Skeeter.” But my son didn’t have a problem with that – and, now that I think about it, he might actually love the idea of a God talking to the bugs, since he’s a fan of the Greek gods who routinely meddled in the affairs of… well, humans and mosquitoes!
My kids liked the dvd, the story was sweet and the basic moral was good. I’m grateful to Thomas Nelson for letting us review it.
