About Keiko Kasza

Kasza was born on December 23, 1951 in Innoshima City, Japan, to parents Tomizo Tanaka, a businessman, and Masuko Tanaka, a homemaker. She lived with and grew up in an extended family, along with her parents, two brothers and grandparents. She left Japan to attend California State University at Northridge in the U.S., graduating in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in graphic design. After her 1976 marriage to Gregory J. Kasza, an American citizen and college professor, she moved permanently to the U.S. She originally worked as a graphic designer after graduating from college, while creating children's books as a hobby. She first began writing children's books as a hobby when she and her husband were living in Ecuador.[5]

Kasza published her first book in 1981, released in Japan. Her first published work in the United States was the children's book, The Wolf's Chicken Stew (1987). It won a Kentucky Bluegrass Award in 1989. Kasza won a Prix Chronos for her 1995 book, Grandpa Toad's Secrets.

In 1997, Kasza's book A Mother for Choco was recorded on a mini-album called "Completely Yours: A Complete Mini-Album of Story, Rhymes, and Songs", released on CD and cassette. The story and various nursery rhymes were performed by a cast that included Paula Poundstone as narrator, Bea Arthur as Mrs. Walrus and Mary Tyler Moore as Mrs. Bear.

Kasza has translated some of her own books into Japanese. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana with her husband. They have two sons.