"Lambert was another one that didn't turn out well, but it was an idea I'd had; I didn't get paid for that at all. Someone else finally developed it for the short subject. At that time, I was thinking of doing some story books, but I really didn't have the time, or the energy, for that matter. When you do thousands drawings a year on storyboards, you just can't work nights and weekends that way."Bill Peet in an interview with Mike Barrier, 1978.

But he did work nights and weekends and was able to get five books published while working at Disney's. These books allowed him to quit his job and devote full time to writing children's books.