Friends and Heroes: A New Favorite with My Kids by Sarah Reinhard

I have to admit two things, at the beginning of this review, as a disclaimer. First, I received a review copy of this DVD. Truth be told, I practically begged for it after I checked out the website.

Second, I have not actually watched the DVD all the way through. I have driven quite a few miles with Friends and Heroes: Episodes 1 and 2 playing in the background on the DVD player in my van, though. During at least two hours of driving, I was actually listening to it. (I didn’t go so far as to crawl into the back with the kids, but I was close.) I’m pretty sure some of it is committed to my memory.

There was a point, on about our fifth viewing during a recent long trip that my husband started objecting.

"Girls, can’t we watch something else?"

Yeah. It’s good enough that my kids are taking Friends and Heroes over Cars or The Little Mermaid.

The graphics are great and so are the voices. I’m not an expert movie reviewer, but I come across a fair share of animated items and I know what goes over well with my kids. I get annoyed when the religious educational materials are less than the secular items they’re competing against, and Friends and Heroes is an example of quality that competes and surpasses the high budget movies out there.

The episodes are based on Bible stories, but they’re not the same-old, same-old retelling and rehashing. Instead, we get a new look at life during the First Century and a glimpse into how evangelization took place then.

Friends and Heroes is educational in a whole new way, at least for me. Instead of just retelling the stories, Friends and Heroes follows two friends, Macky and Portia, in their adventures fighting for justice and survival against the Roman Empire. We learn what it was to be Christian when Christian really wasn’t common (or popular). We see Bible stories we might know a little too well in a different light, in a different context.

I highly recommend this series, and not just because we loved the DVD. My five-year-old has recently discovered the Internet, and it delighted both of us to find out that Friends and Heroes has a website for kids. I was equally thrilled to learn that they have a section of their regular website devoted to Bible lessons.

Oh, and did I mention that there were at least 37 other episodes on 17 more DVDs available on their website? If you want to watch trailers and get at taste for what they’re all about, be sure to visit their website.