The first of the two books, Helpers Are Heroes!, is a board book that teaches young kids that they can be heroes, even when they do the “little things in life,” such as cleaning up messes, doing the dishes, or giving a balloon to a friend. This simple tale, illustrated by Tod Carter and Robert Vann, features the three heroes from the new Pirates movie—George, Elliot, and Sedgewick, better known to VeggieTales fans worldwide as Pa Grape, Larry the Cucumber, and Mr. Lunt.

The second book—a re-telling of the movie in picture-book form—comes with a free Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything telescope. The 30-page story, based on a script by VeggieTales founder Phil Vischer, is illustrated by Greg Hardin and Robert Vann.

Both books are published by Thomas Nelson publishers.

Posted: January 2008

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The Secret Agent Worms, characters created by Doug, now have their own website at www.secretagentworms.org. The site, designed by illustrator Brian Cook and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provides animated games that teach youth everything they ever wanted to know about soil, water and worms.

This colorful and zany University of Illinois website jumps out at you from the get-go with a dramatic, animated opening complete with the worms’ very own theme song. The site then splits into two halves, one for teachers and the other for kids.

On the kids side of the website, youth can play the interactive game, “Rocket and Roll,” in which they must answer seven science questions correctly to free Jane Blonde (Agent 009) from the clutches of M.U.D. (Mean and Unfriendly Doofuses). Get four questions wrong and Jane is blasted off into space, strapped to the side of a rocket.

Youth can also visit Crunch the Robot to get an answer to several earth-shattering questions, including this classic puzzler: Which weighs more—14 typical Sumo wrestlers or the amount of soil eroded by water on a single acre of farmland in a year?

The teachers’ side of the site features the entire Secret Agent Worm curricula, which includes teacher’s guides, science kits, and two full-color books, The Disappearing Earth and Beneath the City of Ooze. It also includes the Secret Vault, which is packed with loads of information and photos on stormwater, lakes and rivers, soil erosion, soil health, and worms.

The Secret Agent Worms are Napoleon Soil (Agent 001) and Jane Blonde (Agent 009), who both work for E.A.R.T.H., or Espionage Agents with Really Terrific Hair.

Posted: June 2007

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Big Idea, the company that brings you VeggieTales, published one of Doug’s stories, The Good, the Bad, and the Silly, in pillow form. It’s the ideal gift for bedtime stories. The front of the pillow features the cover to the book, and then the story unfolds on large, cloth pages, held securely in place by Velcro.

In The Good, the Bad, and the Silly, Cowboy Larry is tempted to cheat on his cattle-driving test, which he is taking alongside two villains, Botch Scallion and the Sunburn Kid. The theme is “making good choices,” as Cowboy Larry eventually learns to follow God, not follow the herd.

The Good, the Bad, and the Silly was illustrated by Tom Bancroft and Rob Corley.

Posted: April 2007

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Under the pen name of Quinn Alexander, Doug wrote five of the 12 books in Scholastic’s “Time Flies” series. In each tale, a magical bird named Wordsworth leads Marco and Abby back in time to the turn of the 20th Century when their town, Cloverhill, was just taking shape. They inevitably influence the future in a positive way.

The Time Flies books are part of Scholastic’s Word Advantage program, in which each story highlights 20 essential vocabulary words. By putting these words in the context of a story, they become easier to learn and retain.

Doug wrote In the Nick of Time (Book 3 in the series), A Diamond in the Rough (Book 5), Raining Cats and Dogs (Book 7), Put Your Best Foot Forward (Book 9) and The Third Time’s a Charm (Book 11). In these adventures, Marco and Abby help solve a robbery, rescue a man in a flood, sound a fire alarm, and do so much more (as if that isn’t enough).

The Time Flies series, aimed at ages 5 to 10, is one of Scholastic’s many Direct-to-Home Book Clubs, in which members receive a book each month, plus other goodies.

Posted: January 2007

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Actually, Doug contributed 17 books to the club’s lineup, but two of them were already existing stories (The Slobfather and A Knight to Remember), so they weren’t part of this flurry of activity.

Members of the Values to Grow By Book Club receive two VeggieTales books per month, plus other treats. The books that Doug wrote fell into several categories—superheroes, detectives, pirates, cowboys, knights, and Vikings. Here are the titles (and the lessons they teach):

The Slobfather (telling the truth)
A Knight to Remember (kindness)
The Good, the Bad, and the Silly (making good choices)
Three Pirates and a Duck (sharing)
Larryboy and the Golden Gum Balls (being humble)
The Case of the Lost Temper (self-control)
The Fastest Dodge Ball in the West (doing good deeds)
The Giant Thank You (being thankful)
The Pod Squad (using nice words)
The Surprising Knight (loving others)
The Clumsiest Cowboy (showing compassion)
The Chicken Noodle Souper Bowl (being patient)
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Mop? (handling fear)
The Spaghetti Western (showing mercy)
Larryboy versus Spud the Dud (being responsible)
The Halfhearted Viking (doing your best)
Larry and Friends Puzzle Book (friendship)

Posted: November 2006

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