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I know you’re all wondering what a book about the creator of Veggie Tales is doing on a personal finance and frugal living blog. But bear with me here. I was surprised at how relevant this book was to my own situation, and if it’s relevant to me, perhaps it’s relevant to you, too. So without further ado, on to the review of Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables*.

Background

Many of you (especially you Christian parents) will recognize Phil Vischer as the creator of Veggie Tales and voice of Bob the Tomato. Veggie Tales is possibly the most successful Christian children’s video series ever, and Phil Vischer’s autobiography details the rise and fall of the Veggie empire. Along the way we learn about the man Phil Vischer and God’s plan for him.

The Book

Phil Vischer begins by introducing us to his childhood and some of the experiences in his family that would go on to affect him for years to come. He tells us about his creative and innovative personality, which blossomed during high school and didn’t serve him well during college. We learn about his early years as a struggling animator.

One day Phil created a cartoon cucumber. From there Veggie Tales was born. It got off to a slow start, but then Veggie Tales took off. As the popularity of the talking vegetables grew, Phil’s company Big Idea also grew. But with tremendous growth, businesses often go south. And that’s what happened to Big Idea. On what should have been a night of celebration with the release of Veggie Tales’ first feature film, Big Idea was facing bankruptcy.

As he details the rise and fall of Big Idea and Veggie Tales, Phil Vischer gives us his impressions of what went right…and what went wrong. He’s not afraid to reveal his own weaknesses, which contributed to the fall of Veggie Tales. Vischer also answers the question of “Where was God when everything was falling apart?”

My Opinion

I thought this was an excellent book for people who are considering starting a business, and also for people who have a dream that seems to be falling apart.

There is a lot of good business advice in this book, even though it’s not a business book per se. I appreciated Vischer’s opinion on what went wrong with Veggie Tales. Apparently many, many rapidly growing businesses fail between the time they are small businesses and the time they would be considered large corporations. Vischer has some pretty good insights as to why this happens, and specifically why this happened to Big Idea.

More important than the business lessons in this book, though, are the personal lessons. When things are going terribly bad, it’s easy to wonder where God is. In Phil Vischer’s case, he came to the conclusion that God cared more about Phil the man than He did about the entity of Veggie Tales. And that’s encouraging to me.

God can use even the biggest of failures to make us stronger, better, and more sure of our faith. And the end of one dream is often the beginning of another equally great, but very different dream.

Who Should Buy This Book
Me, Myself, and Bob* will definitely appeal to the Christian much more than the non-Christian. If you’re not a believer in God, this book probably won’t be your cup of tea.

But for any Christian who struggles with broken dreams, this is a great book to read. It’s also a great book for an innovative person, such as Phil Vischer, who is considering going into business for himself. I always believe we should try to learn from other people’s mistakes, and a lot can be learned from Phil Vischer’s mistakes.

Overall, I recommend Me, Myself, and Bob*. It’s a great book and a quick read. If you have some spare time, grab a copy and get reading. Phil Vischer is very entertaining in his writing, and you won’t be bored for a second!

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