A true story about dreams, God and talking vegetables. That's the tagline and it is spot on. What else can you expect from the autobiography of the guy who invented VeggieTales? Off the wall, yes, but far from virtual reality. A God-honouring ambition that begins to come true, then suddenly shatters painfully. Where is God when that happens?

Starting from his childhood, Phil Vischer explains his experiences of growing up and as a result, how VeggieTales came to be. He poured all his God-given creative skills into a ministry for God. Through many steps of faith and hours of hard work he pursed his dream: a major entertainment company with the aim of glorifying God. The dream became reality. VeggieTales became an internationally-known, Bible-based kid's TV show. Major stores were selling it. Merchandise flew off the shelves. Children everywhere were singing the songs. Everyone knew Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber. It was a success! Then the company went bust. A series of seemingly disastrous events ended in a court order which forced the company, BigIdea, to be sold. How could God do that? Through the questions and issues that Phil struggled with some good lessons come out - in particular how God has never lost control.

The book is great if you were / are a VeggieTales fan, it's packed full of quirky little facts which lie behind those shiny CGI vegetables. Did you know... it started as a show about chocolate bars, they chose vegetable's because arms and legs were hard to create on the computer in those days, Bob was the first name Phil could think of, Larry was the second, Phil's wife sang a song the whole way through a sermon to remember the tune, they had to move 45,000 frames from one computer to another - 30 at a time, "Oh Where is My Hairbrush?" began as "Oh Where is My Razor?"... This book is also great if you're into the computer animation scene. I've toyed a bit myself and so very much enjoyed the references to software compatibility, rendering, transforming lattices and how other fun geeky terms worked out in a real-life situation.

What dreams are worth having? How would I react if I was in a similar situation? What are my dreams? Does God have a different plan? These are all questions prompted by reading Me, Myself and Bob. Overall: enjoyable, thought-provoking and powerful.

Before I read this book, the name Peter Pan made me think of a Disney film where a little boy pranced about wearing a green hat and in which Captain Hook was more comical than villainous. So when I discovered the book the film was based on (written by J.M. Barrie) on my bookshelf, I couldn't resist reading it to discover how closely it resembled Disney's creation. I found that it reflects the book very well indeed in both plot and characters, there is just one thing missing.

The thing which struck me most - and could only be found in a book - was the very definite Victorian writing style. And I'm not just talking about them living an old-fashioned lifestyle. Whilst Peter Pan is often seen as a children's book some of the language in it even I couldn't understand. It was enjoyable to read about Hook being "profoundly dejected", "ill luck" giving a "gentle melancholy to his countenance" and discovering there was "no elation in his gait", but what on earth are "sanguinary affairs" or "fine candours"? At points the narrator seems to forget his job and instead ramble off about how he wishes he could tell his characters what was going to happen. About half way through he tells us directly that he doesn't know which part of the story he should tell and flips a coin to decide. This strange quality gives you a feeling that you are sitting by the fire listening to an old man telling tales rather than reading a novel.

The plot is thinner than watery soup but somehow the colourful characters and off-the-wall ideas compensate for that. A make-belief island that is at the same time real; hollow trees that act as a doors; a dog as a nanny; red indians, pirates and fairies; and a crocodile that swallowed a clock! That last one is just ingenious. Interestingly, key features in the story have been drawn from the author's personal experience. The only child James Barrie's mother truly loved was Barrie's brother David who died at a young age. His mother was comforted by the fact that he would never grow up to leave her and Barrie came to believe that growing up was wrong. It was through this also that Barrie learnt about the need for mothers. The five lost boys are based on five real children that he met and became friends with. But no clue as to the ticking crocodile.

So is it worth a read? I would say yes, not because of the plot but because of the way the story is told. And even if it you don't enjoy it, at least you'll learn some new vocabulary.