Bill Peet's picture books were always in the background during my childhood. I know that I read them, but it was my brother who checked them out of the library over and over again: Buford the Little Bighorn, How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head, The Kweeks of Kookatumdee, The Wump World, and more. His favorite was Chester the Worldly Pig, about a little pig who loves to stand on his nose on fence posts. The pig joins the circus, but then runs away after being humiliated and unappreciated, and eventually becomes famous for his markings in the shape of the world's continents. Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that it was my brother who recommended Peet's autobiography for young readers.
It has simple language, large print, and illustrations on every page. Born just before World War I, Peet grew up in Indiana. His earliest childhood memories are of drawing, and this memoir shows not only the development of his art, but also the ways in which his interest helped him earn a living at a difficult time. While his paintings were never successful, Peet found his stride while working for Disney Studios, beginning with their first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and sticking with them through the next 30 years. By the time his work at Disney ended, he was even directing and animating his own stories: Lambert the Sheepish Lion was one, and while looking at his drawings in the book, it’s possible to see how many of the design elements in Disney were influenced by him.
What I liked most about this autobiography was not merely a sense of resounding success. Instead, Peet talks a lot about the frustrations he encountered along the way, like the time he got totally fed up animating Donald Duck and left the studio shouting "NO MORE DUCKS! NO MORE DUCKS!" Peet was always learning, always practicing, always trying to get his art to do something different or something more. It wasn't always successful. He had plenty of disappointments along the way and definitely felt a sense of failure when it seemed like all Disney wanted from him was to execute the ideas of others, instead of contribute his own. But through it all, there is this sense of art—not as a lofty goal, but as constant practice. This is not a story of "I set out to do something and here is how I accomplished it." Instead, it is a story of someone who hung on to one of his few talents and made the limited opportunities available work for him, even amidst misfortune and frustration.
My brother—who has always enjoyed Peet—was given this book by his animation teacher. It is an inspirational story, but it is not a how-to manual. It gives an excellent sense of the creative process and the ways in which we do not always know the direction in which our talents lead us. There is nothing certain except for constant practice. Peet feels like the story of Chester the Worldly Pig is very much his own story: a little pig with an unusual talent goes to work in the circus big top, but discovers that his talent has less to do with what he does than who he is. In Peet's own words: "Those markings were on the pig from the very beginning just as my ambition to illustrate books was always there. But I never considered writing them, so I had grown far beyond my expectation."
Do you have any favorite biographies appropriate for young people? What are your favorite books about the creative process? Whose life story makes you feel inspired?
Sarah Wood, a reviewer for Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com since 2003, is a lifetime reader and writer. She refuses to accept that there are people who don't like to read and stubbornly believes this is only because they have not met the right book yet.
