Picture Book Star of the Week: Keiko Kasza

Every week I will look at the work of a picture book author/illustrator whom I admire. Kicking off this series is none other than the wonderful Keiko Kasza. According to the Houghton Mifflin site, Ms. Kasza was born in Japan, moved to attend college in California, and now lives in Indiana. What I love about Kasza's books: the twists. Her economical stories always end with a surprise that you seriously don't see coming. So in addtion to her lively illustrations and her ability to convey the excitement and emotions of her comical characters, she often ends her stories with a moment that allows readers to say "whoooooaaaaa."

Here are my five favorite picture books by Keiko Kasza:

The Dog Who Cried Wolf. After his owner Michelle reads a book about wolves to him, good dog Moka decides that his domestic canine life is dull and mundane. So he decides to run away and live the life of a wolf. At first he's euphoric and my favorite spread shows a jubilant Moka running and dancing (and yes, there's an obligatory bathroom joke). But things get dire for poor Moka who, well, freaks out when he comes face to face with a howling pack of wolves. Kasza gives us a sweet reunion of dog and owner, followed by a typically hilarious Kaszaesque surprise.

Don't Laugh, Joe! In this darkly funny story, Mother Possum loves her son Joe, but there's a major problem: the boy will not stop giggling, and this prevents him from learning how to play dead. No matter how hard she tries, Joe cannot stop his guffawing. Kasza then introduces a bear who has some issues of his own in a very amusing twist. I love how Kasza introduces the bear, who creeps up from a distance. And it's fun to watch Joe's forest friends commenting on the action in the background. The ending always makes kids go "ewwwwww."

The Mightiest. This has become my favorite Kasza read aloud. Kids love this story about a bear, elephant, and lion who stumble upon a crown sitting on a rock that reads "For the Mightiest." The pals argue about which one of them is indeed the mightiest. They decide to end the squabble by seeing which one of them can best scare the elderly woman approaching them. Kasza outdoes herself with the twists here--the final six spreads offer surprises galore. Kids love making the sounds of the animals, and enjoy saying the elderly woman's recurring line "Oh my! You scared the daylights out of me!" Hilarious.

The Rat and the Tiger. Probably Kasza's most serious book, but still quite funny. Rat and tiger are friends, but tiger is a bit unfair to his much smaller rodent pal. For example, when splitting a doughnut, tiger always takes a huge piece and gives rat only a tiny smidgen. After Tiger reads a karate book, he does a karate kick that destroys the cool castle Rat has just built, and Rat goes ballistic, telling Tiger "you're a big mean bully." Sadness follows, but so does forgiveness. But just when everything seems perfect, well, Kasza offers a twist that's both funny and well, somewhat troubling.

The Wolf's Chicken Stew. This probably has Kasza's funniest surprise ending. A wolf who consumes meal after meal dreams of chicken stew. He sees the chicken that will be just right for his dream meal, but he needs to fatten her up a bit. In a gleefully silly touch, he puts on a chef's hat and bakes 100 scrumptious pancakes, 100 scrumptious doughnuts, and even a scrumptious cake that weighs 100 pounds. But of course Kasza has a surprise waiting for the wolf. It's funny--when I read this book to kids, they often get a little nervous but they love love love the surprise ending and always ask me to "read it again."