Unless you’re caught up in the nerd world of animation credits, the names of some of the top animators in the business are probably not on the tip of your tongue. They should be, though.

BILL PEET is definitely one of those guys. One of Disney’s great “storymen” – terrific artists who wrote scripts and gags in storyboard form. He worked for Disney on classic animated films from Song of the South and Pinocchio to Jungle Book. He’s the only storyman in the history of Disney Studios who did all the storyboards for an entire animated film and he did it twice: The Sword And The Stone and One Hundred And One Dalmations. You can read more about Peet at his website.

Even in his spare time, he was prolific and managed to publish a pile of children’s books that he wrote and illustrated: The Wump World, Huge Harold, Jennifer and Josephine, Pamela Camel, The Whingdingdilly are just a few of his titles and you can get the list here along with a nice cover gallery.

There’s also an essay from Peet that’s been culled together from his speeches. It’s called Bill Peet’s Approach To Writing and it has a lot of snippets of great advice for anyone who wants to create. Here’s a taste:

“When I was a kid I thought sure that I would be content if I could find a reason to draw pictures the rest of my life. I never suspected that drawing pictures for someone else would be frustrating and far from being creative.”

Sadly, Peet passed away in 2002. Now, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group is stepping up to the plate. This fall, they’re releasing a 20th Anniversary Edition of the Caldecott Honor-winning autobiography: Bill Peet, An Autobiography. The nearly 200-page book will be available in both hardcover and paperback and “gives readers an in-depth look at his life, his career-and his creative process.” And it throws in tons of Peet’s great illustrations.

Yes, it’s targeted for the 8-12 crowd, but don’t let that fool you. It’s a great book for all ages, and if you’re at all interested in art, Disney animation and the creative process, you’ll want to snag a copy. There’s a Google Preview available at the Houghton Mifflin website.

Of course, you can buy the 1994 edition over at the Amazon, if you don’t want to wait for the 20th anniversary edition. I’m going to wait, but that’s just me.

If you want to delve deeper into the world of animation, past, present and future, I highly recommend bookmarking Cartoon Brew, the animation website run by Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi. Here’s a rundown of their posts on Peet.

[Artwork: Cover to Bill Peet: An Autobiography]