STEPHEN SHASKAN graduated from Rhode island School of Design. Since then, he has worked as an early childhood educator and played in four rock bands. Steve received a Minnesota State Artist’s Initiative Grant in 2011 and 2014 for his illustration work. He lives in Minneapolis with his author-wife Trisha Speed Shaskan, an adoringly curmudgeon of a cat, Eartha, and a sweet doxie named Bea.

Visit Stephen online at:
         

For more information, please contact Teresa Kietlinski at teresa(a)bookmarkliterary.com.

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Author photo credit © Karl Rashke

Stephen’s bookshelf:
PIZZA AND TACO SERIES:
by Stephen Shaskan | Random House Graphic | 2020-
Pizza & Taco: Who’s the Best? | Book 1
• a School Library Journal Summer Best Reads: 13 Books to Tickle the Funny Bone, 2020
• a Texas Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List, 2021, for Grades K-5
• a Sakura Medal winner, 2024
Pizza & Taco: Best Party Ever! | Book 2
• an Amazon.com Editor’s pick for Best Books Ages 6-8
• A Scholastic Book Club selection
• A Scholastic Book Fairs selection
Pizza & Taco: Super-Awesome Comic! | Book 3
• A Scholastic Book Club selection
• A Scholastic Book Fairs selection
Pizza & Taco: Too Cool For School | Book 4
• an Ohio Buckeye Children’s Book Award, 2023, Grades K-2 WINNER!
Pizza & Taco: Rock Out! | Book 5
• a Heartland Booksellers Award Finalist, 2023
Pizza & Taco: Dare to Be Scared! | Book 6
Pizza & Taco: Wrestling Mania! | Book 7
Pizza & Taco: Best Christmas Ever! | Book 8
Pizza & Taco: Coolest Club Ever! | Book 9
Pizza & Taco: Go Viral! | Book 10
• and Amazon Best Pick of the Month, January 2026
Pizza & Taco: Draw Your Own Comic! (An Activity Book)
“Series fans and budding graphic novelists alike will appreciate this DIY outing from the tasty twosome we’ve come to love over 9 volumes of comic books.”—Youth Services Book Review

“Anthropomorphic foodstuffs campaign for their own excellence. Shaskan goes for the goofy with this graphic-early-reader series opener. Each of the book’s five chapters revolves around Pizza and Taco, who are such “BEST-BESTIES!!!” that they finish each other’s sentences. One day, the friends—who are literally a slice of cheese pizza and a beef taco—come to a stalemate over who is the best. They ultimately put it to a vote, but Pizza—aka “Cheaty McCheato”—deliberately misreads the ballot. They bring in another set of BFFs, Hot Dog and Hamburger, to settle things once and for all. But what does being “the best” mean anyway? Does it have anything to do with fist bumps or butt bumps? If so, Pizza and Taco are solid. Though appropriately repetitive, the plot packs a contagiously zany sense of humor that pairs well with series like Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss’ Noodleheads and Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly. Shaskan’s distinctive character design combines cartoon illustration with photography, augmenting the humor. Recycled catchphrases like “AWESOME!” and “YAAAS” keep the lightness going—although the pair’s constant dismissal of Hamburger is a little disconcerting. The sparse backgrounds—most often a blue polka-dot sky set above simple shapes—help make the white speech bubbles readable. The well-paced, easy-to-follow structure keeps the panel count at six or fewer per page. YAAAS! This lunch bunch serves pure silliness.” –Kirkus Reviews (Pizza and Taco: Who’s the Best?)

“Pizza and Taco are the ultimate best-besties—finishing each other’s sentences, sharing a love of super-awesome waterslides, doing cool best-friend dances—but when Taco declares that Pizza is the best, Pizza—instead of returning the compliment—agrees! Thus begins a fierce but friendly contest to determine who is actually best. After a vote ends in a one-to-one tie and a waterslide competition leaves the winner undetermined, their exploration of “the true meaning of being best” leads each to recognize the best in the other. This book’s hilarity is rooted in the charming design of its characters: Shaskan fills bold outlines with photographic images of sauce and cheese (for Pizza) and ground beef (for Taco), using round eyes, curving mouths, and stick limbs to produce surprisingly emotive and endearing interactions. The visual comedy is matched by the absurd storyline, which is littered with smaller laughs as the pair cycles between mutual adoration and intense rivalry. Straightforward paneling and simple dialogue make this a perfect choice for early readers beginning their climb to Dog Man.” –Booklist (Pizza and Taco: Who’s the Best?)

“In the first chapter of this comic-styled easy reader, we learn that Taco and Pizza are the best of buds, but the big question is: who is the best individually? After crowing about their appealing qualities—Pizza showing off unlimited toppings and Taco boasting about yummy spiciness—the two decide to hold an election, consulting Hot Dog and Hamburger. The results are muddled (Hamburger and Hot Dog write in Hamburger), so the frenemies take to the water park to see who’s the fastest on the water slides, but two end up having a grand old time and renewing their friendship. The buddy story isn’t a new one, but this one is so joyously absurd and unabashedly kooky that it’s hard to resist. The digital illustrations are simple but expressive, with cartoony Pizza and Taco balanced on tiny legs and waving about their little stick arms dramatically, and the addition of Hot Dog and Hamburger makes for further hilarity. Limited text, dialogue bubbles, and a propelling pace puts this well within the reach of early readers, and fans of Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly series will find these foodie friends particularly appealing“ –The Bulletin BCCB (Pizza and Taco: Who’s the Best?)

“There’s plenty of gross-out humor for kids. Readers will relate to the joy and frustration of friendly competition, and the hilarity of watching an animated taco and slice of pizza do their best-friends dance is not to be missed. A delightful graphic novel for young readers.” –School Library Journal (Pizza and Taco: Who’s the Best?)

“The lunch bunch is back—and they’re throwing a party! It starts as a boring day. Neither Pizza nor Taco knows what to do besides sit. To spice things up, Taco suggests they stand. Standing feels better—until they realize that they’re now “STANDING and doing nothing.” The two anthropomorphic foodstuffs move and jump around to help them “THINK. / THINK. / THINK.” Taco gets a brilliant idea to throw a party. After “AWESOME!” and “YAAAS!” the pair gets to work planning. They make a list of supplies. They decide to host the party at “THE WATER PARK!” They send off invitations to their foodie friends: Cake, Ice Cream, the Chicken Tender twins, Hamburger, Hot Dog, and Cheeseburger. But when they get to the Water Park, they discover that it’s closed: “AHHHHHHHHHH!” Their names are misspelled on their party sign: “AHHHHHHHHHH!” A balloon pops and scares Ice Cream: “AHHHHHHHHHH!” Will anything go according to plan? Shaskan hams it up even more for this second course after Who’s the Best? (2020). Patterned backgrounds reiterate the setting and occasionally form full-page images alongside smaller panels. The low overall panel count (eight or fewer per spread) and repetitive five-chapter structure aid emerging readers in decoding the deliciously fun text. Unfortunately, inconsistent choices about panel borders may confuse some new-to-comics readers. A party worth crashing.“—Kirkus (Pizza and Taco: Best Party Ever!)

“Our lovable eponymous food protagonists are back for another wacky adventure. Bored one day, Pizza and Taco decide to throw a party at the water park. When they arrive at the park, only to find it closed, they try to improvise. When issues with their party sign and guests arise, they realize that they might not be able to save the day. This dialogue-driven graphic novel is short but sweet, with a solid lesson about planning. Readers will enjoy Pizza and Taco’s positive energy and tendency to emote big feelings. Photographs of food superimposed against spare cartoon backgrounds match the whimsy and humor of the text. VERDICT Hand to early readers starting to explore graphic novels and who enjoy food-themed high jinks; even those unfamiliar with the series will easily jump in.”—School Library Journal (Pizza and Taco: Best Party Ever!)

“Pizza and Taco are excited for the first day of school. Sporting new backpacks and ready to make new friends, the pair is ready for what the school year holds. When new kid B.L.T. arrives, all of the kids (anthropomorphized treats like burgers, hot dogs, and chocolate cake), try to prove how cool they are. The sandwich wears sunglasses and speaks in two-word, nonchalant sentences. Pizza finds sunglasses in the lost and found box and hopes to impress their new friend, but they keep getting to class late, resulting in detention with the crabby Mr. Apple. This graphic novel early chapter book features bright primary colors, dynamic panels, and hilarious digital art that includes talking tacos and pizzas with arms and legs drawn in. The expressive faces of the characters and the food-related puns will elicit giggles from the intended readers. The themes of popularity, trying to fit in, and being yourself will resonate with younger elementary students. VERDICT A fun, early graphic novel back-to-school pick for read-alouds or pleasure reading.“—School Library Journal (Pizza and Taco: Too Cool For School)

“Best friends Pizza and Taco are back, this time looking forward to Christmastime and the presents that Santa Slaw will surely bring them. Their spirits are dampened when they recall that Santa Slaw only brings presents to “good children.” Luckily, the pair have months before the big day to polish up their records. The series theme of friendly competition carries through, with the pair vying to see who can demonstrate more niceness by raking leaves and doing chores without being asked. They even exchange pleasant holiday wishes with their frenemy, Cheeseburger. When Pizza is disappointed that they didn’t get every present on their wish list, Taco comes through to remind them that some presents are too big to fit under a tree. Shaskan packs a lot of emotion and action into very simple lines and shapes. Dialogue presented in speech balloons contains just a few words each, and the panel structure is uncomplicated. Frequent repetition of the duo’s catchphrases “YAAAS!” and “AWESOME!” will enable beginning readers to recognize them, even though they may be unlikely to appear on a typical sight-word list. The Christmas focus is limited to secular elements: the anticipation of gifts, a festive gathering, and goodwill toward others. VERDICT Fans will welcome this nice addition to the series.“—School Library Journal (Pizza and Taco: Best Christmas Ever!)

Big Choo
by Steve Shaskan | Scholastic Cartwheel | 2018
“In this riff on The Little Engine That Could, a big steam engine, Papa Pufferbelly, cheers on the efforts of his ambitious son. Little Choo wants to be called Big Choo and to be brave, fast, and strong like his father, which means moving from his little loop onto the main track. As Little Choo crosses an old bridge, picks up speed, and starts to haul some freight, the father and son keep up a steady call-and-response refrain of encouragement. Chugga-Chugga! toots Little Choo twice, with Papa responding, in large purple letters, Choo! Choo! The story’s two-dimensional digital artwork carries a suitably playful vibe, with Little Choo resembling a squishy, plush toy, and the trains’ bright colors contrasting with a rolling landscape punctuated by a city, farm, and mountains. In a dramatic turn, Little Choo gets overambitious while trying to haul a ton of freight up a very high mountain, and is derailed. But Papa, using train-speak (Let’s get you back on track! and Full steam ahead!) restores Little Choo’s shaken confidence.”—Booklist

“How will a little engine fare on his first trip on the main line?Little Choo decides he wants to be called Big Choo when he and Papa Pufferbelly head out for a ride on the rails that will send him onto the main line for the first time. Papa cheers him on at every step, with illustrations depicting the anthropomorphic trains zipping through landscapes that Shaskan’s endnote says were inspired by his study of Virginia Lee Burton’s illustrations. His style, particularly in the visual characterization of the trains, is more cartoonish then Burton’s, and the trains’ lime-green faces do not seem particularly Burton-esque, but certain graphic elements such as twisting roads and rails and patterned beams of light do recall her work. Another train story, Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could, comes to mind when Big Choo derails, though Shaskan’s protagonist initially shows little of that archetypal character’s can-do spirit. But Papa Pufferbelly is there to offer encouragement, and soon Big Choo is literally and figuratively “back on track” and ready to climb a mountain before heading back home. Plenty of “chug”s and “choo”s printed in prominent display type invite readers to chime in. Little train enthusiasts will be ready for an “All aboard!” for storytime.“—Kirkus

“Little Choo, a small locomotive, persuades his father that he’s big enough to run on the main line. Big Choo, as he now insists on being called, seems to know what he’s doing-he even expertly tows a line of freight cars. “Chugga-chugga! Chugga-chugga!” he says proudly, and Papa Pufferbelly responds with an approving “Choo-Choo!” But when the small locomotive derails while trying to scale a mountain, his confidence is shaken: “I’m not Big Choo,” he sobs. “I’m Little Choo.” Papa reminds his son that he’s “brave, fast, strong, and smart” (words that Big Choo had previously used to describe himself), and soon he’s back on track. In an afterword, Shaskan (Toad on the Road) cites Virginia Lee Burton as an aesthetic inspiration; her influence can be seen in his swoopy organic shapes and decorative treatment of the landscape, but the backgrounds feel at odds with the cutesy detailing of the trains, which have little emotional range in their expressions. Instead, the narrative propulsion comes from playful typography, the text’s eager tone, and the recurring train sounds. “—Publisher’s Weekly

Q & Ray: The Case of the Missing Mola Lisa | Case 1
Q & Ray: Meteorite or Meteor-wrong? | Case 2
Q & Ray: Foul Play at Elm Tree Park | Case 3
written by Trisha Speed Shaskan | Lerner Graphic Universe | 2017-2018
illus. by Stephen Shaskan

Toad on the Road: A Cautionary Tale
by Steve Shaskan | HarperCollins | 2017
★ Kirkus Reviews starred review for Toad on the Road: A Cautionary Tale
• an Oklahoma Redbud Read-Aloud selection, 2018
• a Utah Beehive Award selection, Picture Books, Grades K-3, 2019

Punk Skunks
written by Trisha Speed Shaskan | HarperCollins | 2016
illus. by Stephen Shaskan

Max Speed
by Stephen Shaskan | Random House | 2016
★ Kirkus Reviews starred review
• an Amazon.com Editor’s Pick, Best Books ages 3-5

“Max’s room has been straightened to Mom-approved tidiness, but for a little guy with a racecar-shaped bed, a lot of imagination, and a surfeit of energy, that room won’t stay straight for long. No sooner has Mom closed his door than pajama-clad Max is zooming in his imagined car toward adventure, with each obstacle along his roadway inspired by a toy from his cubbies. A river of hot lava spews from a volcano. No worries; his jet pack will send him right over it. And when the jet pack sputters out? No worries; his parachute will activate and land him gently … into shark-infested waters. No worries; the cave maze is his route to escape. At the end of this Going on a Lion Hunt styled journey, Max arrives back safe at home, but—“Great Gadzooks!”—Mom’s right there too, surveying the toy-strewn wreckage of Max’s adventure and leading him on a second cleanup mission. Max is a simply an irresistibly cute kid, his brown skin cozy warm against the cool lavenders, aquas, and hot golds and reds that background his exploits. The “Great Gadzooks!” and “Had Max met his match?” reprises invite kids to ante up the drama with their own histrionic chime-ins. This is just the right lead in for the more intense toy-inspired adventure in Morales’ Niño Wrestles the World.”—The Bulletin BCCB

The Three Triceratops Tuff
by Stephen Shaskan | Beach Lane Books | 2013

“In this amusing retelling of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” the goats are replaced by a triceratops trio, and the nasty troll here is a Tyrannosaurus rex. Shaskan follows the original tale fairly closely: the triceratops are headed for some lovely plants but have to cross the T. rex’s valley to get them; the triceratops “clip clomp” through the valley, attracting the T. rex’s unwanted attention; the younger two triceratops promise their bigger and better brothers to the T. rex, who lets them go; and the biggest brother smacks the T. rex to kingdom come to get him out of the way. Humorous turns of phrase (“Once upon a time, sixty-eight million years ago . . .”) make this an entertaining readaloud selection, and teachers and libraries will appreciate the usefulness of the folktale connection and dinosaur theme. Shaskan’s digital illustrations suggest block prints; the opaque patches of color are faintly splotchy, and the figures are outlined with thick, carved-looking black lines. Sky blues, greens, golds, and yellows predominate the palette, while the smallest triceratops provides a pop of pale pinkish mauve. The nasty, sharp-toothed T. rex is a clear-cut baddie, and viewers will be pleased to see him sailing off towards what appears to be a volcano after being swatted by oldest bro. Share this at a dino-themed storytime, pair it with Willems’ Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (BCCB 10/12) for a dinosaur/folktale duo, or use in a lesson comparing it to “The Three Billy Goats Gruff “; intrepid adults could help kids stage a readers’ theater or puppet version afterwards.”—The Bulletin BCCB

A Dog Is a Dog
by Stephen Shaskan | Chronicle | 2011
• a CCBC Choices 2012

“Shaskan’s debut looks simple, but it’s in fact a polished and controlled piece of work. “A dog is a dog,/ whether it’s naughty… or nice,/ Whether it suns on the beach,/ or glides on the ice.” There’s no beach; instead, the snub-nosed, spotted dog relaxes in a plastic wading pool, sunglasses turned up to a mustard-yellow sky. After more information about the essential dogness of the dog comes the punch line: “A dog is a dog, unless it’s a… cat!” Shaskan doesn’t just substitute a cat for a dog; instead, a bit disconcertingly, he shows the cat emerging from inside the spotted pup, now revealed to be an empty-eyed, zip-up costume. As the verse repeats, each new animal (“A squid is a squid, unless it’s a… moose!”) throws off the empty costume of the animal before and emerges from it until, inevitably, the original pup resurfaces. There’s a chunky, woodcut feel to Shaskan’s hip and cheery art, and he gives each of the animals abundant personality. Children attracted to Escher-like paradoxes will appreciate the endless loop of animal costumes and low-key surprises.”—Booklist

“A dog is a dog, of course-unless it is something else. This book begins with the illusion of a dog that is really a cat in disguise, or perhaps a squid, or maybe even a moose. The ruse continues throughout the story as readers learn characteristics of each animal before it sheds its skin to reveal another creature beneath. The tale travels full circle when the last animal unmasked is actually the pup that began the story, proving that a dog is really a dog. Children will be delighted and surprised at these creatures’ transformations. Short, concise sentences perfectly match their accompanying illustration. Listeners will enjoy the lively rhythm of the text, and rhyming words encourage them to anticipate which animal may appear before the page is turned. The digitally rendered art is big, bold, and playful. Imaginative portrayals of the animals include the dog ice skating, the squid getting stuck in a bottle, and the moose wearing a headlamp to find his way in the fog. Shaskan has created a fun, fanciful tale that will engage young listeners during storytime or a lap reading.”—School Library Journal

Art Panels, BAM! A Guide To Writing Your Own Graphic Novel
written by Trisha Speed Shaskan | Picture Window Books | 2010
illus. by Stephen Shaskan