Bill Peet
Bill Murphy, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · licence

PEET, BILL, 1915 to 2002

Bill Peet

Bill Peet (1915-2002) was an American Disney story artist and the author-illustrator of more than 30 picture books, including The Wump World.

Books
8
Editions tracked
15
First editions
8
Nationality
United States

WikidataOpen LibrarySearch within Bill Peet

About Bill Peet

Bill Peet (1915-2002) was an American story artist for Walt Disney and the author and illustrator of more than 30 picture books, including The Wump World and Chester the Worldly Pig.

Born William Bartlett Peet on 29 January 1915 in Grandview, Indiana, he joined Walt Disney Productions in 1937 during the making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Over 27 years he developed story and storyboards for films including Fantasia, Dumbo, Cinderella, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. He was the sole story developer on One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone. He left the studio in 1964 after a disagreement with Walt Disney over The Jungle Book. His first picture book, Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure, appeared in 1959, and Houghton Mifflin published his children's books, which have stayed in print. Titles include Chester the Worldly Pig (1965), Kermit the Hermit (1965), The Wump World (1970), The Whingdingdilly (1970), How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head (1971) and The Ant and the Elephant (1972). He died in Studio City, California, on 11 May 2002.

For collectors

Bill Peet: An Autobiography (Houghton Mifflin, 1989) was named a Caldecott Honor Book by the American Library Association in 1990. Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure (1959) is his first book.

For collectors

Collect Bill Peet

Earliest first editionKermit the HermitHoughton Mifflin, 1965 Most editions trackedBig Bad Bruce2 editions
First published by
Also an illustratorBooks illustrated by Bill Peet
Reading guide

Bill Peet books in order

In publication order

  1. 1Chester the Worldly Pig1965
  2. 2Kermit the Hermit1965
  3. 3Farewell to Shady Glade1966
  4. 4The Whingdingdilly1970
  5. 5The Wump World1970
  6. 6How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head1971
  7. 7Big Bad Bruce1977
  8. 8Bill Peet1989
In order

First editions, year by year

  1. 1965Kermit the HermitHoughton Mifflin
  2. 1965Chester the Worldly PigHoughton Mifflin
  3. 1966Farewell to Shady GladeHoughton Mifflin
  4. 1970The Wump WorldHoughton Mifflin
  5. 1970The WhingdingdillyHoughton Mifflin
  6. 1971How Droofus the Dragon Lost His HeadScholastic
  7. 1977Big Bad BruceHoughton Mifflin
  8. 1989Bill PeetHoughton Mifflin
Books and editions

Which edition do you have?

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

What order should I read Bill Peet's books in?

In publication order they begin with Chester the Worldly Pig (1965), then Kermit the Hermit (1965) and Farewell to Shady Glade (1966). Books in a series are listed in series order on this page.

What was Bill Peet's first book?

The earliest book we list is Chester the Worldly Pig, first published in 1965.

When was Bill Peet born?

Bill Peet was born in 1915 and died in 2002.

How many Bill Peet books does MyVolumes track?

We track 8 books by Bill Peet across 15 editions, 8 of them first editions.

How do I know if my Bill Peet book is a first edition?

Open the book's page here and compare the publisher, place, date and the issue points we list for the first printing with your copy's title page and copyright page.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026.

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