Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber and Junior Asparagus are venerable vegetables stepping out from the backyard garden this summer and into the hearts and minds of Maine kids participating in vacation Bible schools.

As characters in a video, a live touring musical or a soon-to-be-released feature film, they all are part of an animated media garden called “VeggieTales.”

The veggies recently made an appearance at a vacation Bible school at South Levant Baptist Church.

The theme of the weeklong program was the biblical story of Jonah and the whale. The curriculum included everything from skits to crafts to games to snacks as well as a video and small treasure chests in which the more than 30 children who attended kept items they worked on during the week.

Each morning the preschool and elementary school-age children gathered for a skit that told a portion of Jonah’s story. To refresh your memory: The Book of Jonah essentially is a short story that is part of the Bible for Christians as well as Jews. It tells the story of a man whom God calls to travel to the city of Nineveh and preach repentance. Jonah tries to flee God by ship and, briefly, spends time in the belly of a great fish.

Through the “VeggieTales” theme, the South Levant children visited one room each day, where they heard Jonah’s story in more detail, learned a Bible verse, played a game, completed a craft project and had a snack.

Classrooms were elaborately decorated to represent five locales: Belly of the Fish, Palace of Nineveh, Harbor Light, Crossroads and Captain’s Quarters on a Boat.

Linda Wiggin, 62, of Levant, who has helped coordinate vacation Bible schools at the church for three years, said she liked the VeggieTales program “because the Bible verse, the craft, the snack and the game all tie in together. The Bible story is told in a way that teaches everyday values.”

In addition to teaching lessons about mercy, compassion, courage and obedience, VeggieTales’ “Jonah in Overboard Adventures: Learning to Walk in God’s Way” touts the first “VeggieTales” feature-length film “Jonah: A VeggieTale Movie,” due in October.

The commercialism of the movie tie-in didn’t seem to matter to 7-year-old Sarah Treadwell of Carmel, who watches “VeggieTales” videos with her family. “We’re doing some very fun stuff, like play games and earn prizes,” said Sarah of her vacation Bible school experience at the church on the Horseback Road.

The characters may have first appeared in Levant five years ago when Joshua Bean brought “Veggie-Tales” videos home from Cedarville College in Ohio to show his father, the Rev. Philip Bean, the 45-year-old pastor of the church.

“Some of the humor and Bible references in the videos are things that only teens and adults would get,” said another of the pastor’s sons, Chris Bean, 17, who helped out at this year’s vacation Bible school. “But the fact that they’re cartoons appeals to kids.

“Each video is based on a Bible story that helps kids find out how God can help them,” Chris Bean said.

The “VeggieTales” story begins in a Chicago suburb, where co-creators Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, both now 35, started Big Idea Productions with one computer in the spare bedroom of Nawrocki’s home in 1993.

For the less-complicated computer animation available to them, the two needed characters who had no arms, legs or hair. They also thought parents might be more receptive to vegetables telling Bible stories than animated animals or snack foods.

They could not be reached for comment this week. But Nawrocki has said in interviews that most of the Bible stories adapted for “Veggie-Tales,” like Jonah, come from the Christian Old Testament, because the central characters, often prophets, are human and fair game for good-natured satire.

“So much of what kids see goes contrary to what their parents are trying to teach them at home,” Nawrocki told a Kansas newspaper earlier this year. “Parents who find that church is important to the well-being of their kids don’t see that reflected in media. We wanted to offer something that would have a positive impact on kids, and down the line have a positive impact on culture.”

The two former puppeteers have cited the Bible and Monty Python as their creative influences.

Rejected by several publishing companies and distributors, Vischer and Nawrocki funded their first video, “Where’s God When I’m S-Scared?” with private donations. With the help of friends, family and two art school graduates, they completed the story of Daniel in the lions’ den that taught the lesson of conquering fear by trusting God.

In less than a decade, their company has sold more than 25 million copies of 20 videos. “VeggieTales” merchandise now includes books, computer games, plush toys, CDs, trading cards and Fisher-Price-type figures. Consistently at the top of the Christian best-seller list, the videos are sold in chain stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Amazon.com after years of being available only in religious bookstores.

And this summer, “VeggieTales Live,” a costumed musical, is touring the country, but is not slated to visit New England.

For information on VeggieTales, visit the Web site at www.bigidea.com. For information on South Levant Baptist Church, call 884-8195.