Book Review:

Me, Myself and Bob
by Phil Vischer

"Mommy, you draw Bob and Larry for me?" my two-year-old sweetly asks.

"Look at me, Mom! I'm LARRYBOY!" my four-year-old son yells as he streaks past with an old sheet tied around his shoulders.

If your home is anything like ours, your children love Veggie Tales. What's not to like about Bob, Larry, Junior, and the rest of the veggie crew? They are cute, lovable characters who teach kids about the Bible. It also doesn't hurt that Veggie Tales videos are hilarious.

Phil Vischer is the mastermind behind the phenomenon that is Veggie Tales. He created Bob and Larry on a shoestring budget, hunched over a computer workstation in his spare bedroom. Veggie Tales and Big Idea Productions rode an amazing wave of success through the late 1990s and early years of this decade. Big Idea grew to employ hundreds of people, produce dozens of videos, and market a vast array of products. The company was worth tens of millions of dollars.

And then in 2003 it all came crashing to the ground.

Reading Me, Myself and Bob is a bit like stumbling upon the scene of a train wreck. Phil Vischer shares the gory details of his journey, and his autobiography is quite painful to read in light of Big Idea's unfortunate collapse. Me, Myself and Bob is a story about attaining big dreams and about falling hard.

What was it like to see a dream come to life so dramatically? And where was God when something so bad was happening to someone who only wanted to do good? The answers to these questions may change everything you believe about dreaming big, falling hard, and getting back up again.

Me, Myself and Bob was a difficult read. However, God can work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Phil Vischer's tale is a story about second chances. Veggies Tales did survive. Big Idea still exists. Phil Vischer is no longer intimately involved with the company he founded, but through his difficult loss he gained a deeper understanding of God, dreams and his life purpose.

In 2003, my dream died. And I discovered, once all the noise had faded away, what I had been missing all along. (p. 251)

Phil Vischer learned to let go of his dreams. He learned to fall into the loving arms of his Savior ... arms overflowing with abundant life. The journey was heartbreaking and painful, but God carried him through to the other side. Me, Myself and Bob offers a candid glimpse into the death of Phil Vischer's dream. (And the rebirth of his life.)