Intrigued, Munsch told him to send down samples of his writing. The first story that Kusugak submitted eventually became A Promise Is a Promise, published by Toronto-based Annick Press in 1988. It deals with Qallupilluit, mythical creatures that live under the sea ice, and a little girl who defies them. To discourage children from the dangerous game of jumping from ice floe to ice floe during spring breakup, Inuit parents told them about Qallupilluit, which, if they saw kids playing on the ice, would grab them, take them under the ice and never bring them back. While Kusugak's original version was rejected by Annick, he and Munsch reworked it extensively into a book that has gone on to be a phenomenal best-seller.
All parents deal with dangerous situations and how they can keep their children safe.
Kusugak followed up two years later with his first solo effort, Baseball Bats for Christmas. It is based on a true story that took place in Repulse Bay during the year that Kusugak played hooky. One day shortly before Christmas, a bush pilot dropped off a half-dozen unsolicited Christmas trees. Kusugak's next two books were less autobiographical but equally rooted in the Arctic. Kusugak and Krykorka are now putting the finishing touches on a counting book, expected out in the fall, that will feature such northern animals as polar bears, lemmings and bowhead whales.