KASANOVA - LOST IN LOVE

An amorous koala pursues potential paramours in Baysinger’s picture book.

Kasanova, a gregarious, pleasant-looking koala, spends most of his time trying to beat the heat in the Great Dividing Range in Australia—but he also dreams of holding a true love close. Falling for a beautiful kangaroo, Kasanova woos her, feeling “glad it was so humid—it meant he was extra musky.” But aside from his “strong scent”, Kasanova has little to offer the placid, flower-munching kangaroo, and after staring at him wordlessly as he struggles to speak, she leaves, and in his despair he sleeps for nearly a full day. Kasanova tries to sing for her next, but “it is always hard to tell if koalas are singing or choking on something,” and the still-wordless kangaroo falls instead for “a powerfully built male kangaroo.” Fickle Kasanova doesn’t mope for long and becomes attracted to a cassowary—but just then, an eyelash-bedecked girl koala sings “a sultry song,” and his love is finally redirected toward a species-appropriate romantic object. An entertaining, visually effective story unfolds as cute pen-and-watercolor cartoons and painterly Australian landscapes by illustrator Olmstead (and goofy humor playing off the lovelorn koala’s sleepy-animal instincts) meld with a narrative that is, at its heart, all about mismatches of desire and attendant pain.

A charming tale of heartbreak, longing, and musk in the Australian outback for kids who love romance.