What I learned from Bill Peet’s Autobiography
Growing up, I was in love with Bill Peet’s picture books. My mother’s dislike for their “cartoony” illustrations and “preachy” messages only seemed to fuel my enjoyment of them and my desire to check them all out of the library (she would not buy us any of them). That and Babar, which she also hated. I liked the energy of Bill Peet’s pictures, especially his monsters, and the depressing tone to many of the tales didn’t bother me. If there was anyone who knew what kids liked, it was certainly Bill Peet.
My brother is lending me a bunch of books because he’s going off to college and so needs somewhere to store them for four years. One of his books, which I’d browsed when visiting him, is “Bill Peet: An Autobiography.” Since it had been good when sampling it, I asked to borrow it, and ended up reading the whole thing yesterday evening. It’s wonderfully readable, in part because each page has at least as much illustration as words, a picture book for adults. It makes the autobiography about the size of a coffee table book, but its a delight to flip through, and the text is large and easily accessible. I can’t tell if it’s meant for adults or children, in that it’s so easy to read, and yet he is so frank about adult life issues, poverty, raising children, and office politics under Walt Disney. I think it’s the sort of book anyone could read, but you get a lot more out of as an adult reader.
Several things stood out to me from reading it.[image error]
Bill Peet never stops drawing. He drew constantly from a young age to the present. Drawing is like breathing for him.
Writing didn’t come naturally to him. Peet was convinced he was horrible, until Walt Disney in a fit of weird temper started insisting he write full length animated screen plays. For some reasons, Peet had no trouble doing this, and it gave him confidence in his story telling on his own. He also kept practicing writing to improve, even though it took years and he tended to fall back into drawing instead out of frustration
Peet always had a back-up plan, even if it kept changing, other than working for Disney. He knew the job was unreliable and would eventually drive him nuts, even if he kept doing it for 27 years or something. It was inspiring and fascinating to hear him talk about the various back-up income plans he worked out and his failures before his children’s books took off. The main thing is, he never kept looking for a way out, the next step to what he wanted to do for his career.
It makes me wonder, what goals do I want to set for myself and work? When do I give up and when to I press forward? And it makes me grateful that I don’t have Walt Disney for a boss, even if also sounds like he challenged him in positive ways. He didn’t make him sound like he was someone it was easy, or nice, to know personally.
It also makes me think that I should take up drawing again. I’m the opposite in that I write constantly, and when I try to draw I give up and just write instead. But maybe if I stuck with it a bit longer, I’d be more satisfied with my work. I also feel the need to go to the library… and check out as many Bill Peet books as I can find.
