Tiger has been acting like a bully, but Rat shows him how important it is to share and play fair.
Rat and Tiger are best friends. They have lots of fun playing together, even though when they play cowboys, Rat always has to be the bad guy. When they share a snack, Rat always gets the smaller piece. But one day, Tiger takes the bullying too far, and Rat decides that he's not going take it anymore. Rat stands up for himself and refuses to be Ttiger's friend until Tiger learns to play fair and square. With appealing illustrations and a simple text, Keiko Kasza delivers an important message about friendship in this heartwarming story.

Keiko Kasza was born on a small Japanese island in the Inland Sea of Japan. She grew up in a typical Japanese extended family with her parents, two brothers, and grandparents. Uncles, aunts, and cousins also lived nearby. "All the steps I took growing up were very normal," Ms. Kasza says. "The only unusual thing I did was go to college in the United States." She graduated with a degree in graphic design from California State University at Northridge. Ms. Kasza married an American, and the United States has been her home ever since.

After publishing five children's books in Japan and working as a graphic designer for fourteen years, Ms. Kasza decided in 1988 to devote her time to picture books. She says, "Having two small boys and two professions was too much to handle."

Ms. Kasza admires many great picture-book creators, such as Leo Lionni and Maurice Sendak, but says that the work of Arnold Lobel has influenced her the most. The subtle humor and warmth he created in his books continues to inspire me," she says. "I often go back to his work when I get discouraged or lose confidence."

Ms. Kasza compares the process of making a book to acting on stage under the lights:
"I become the character that I'm working on at that moment. I pretend that I'm a bird looking for a mother, or a pig trying to impress his girlfriend. When I'm acting, I'm a child myself."

Ms. Kasza's ambition is not to create a hundred books, but to "create one really good book that will be kept on the family bookshelves for generations, although a hundred really good books would be even better, of course!"

Keiko Kasza lives in Indiana with her husband and two sons.

copyright (c) 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.