I love seeing how a writer takes an old story and gives it a new twist.  Melissa Sweet, author/illustrator of Carmine, A Little More Red, gives several twists to her picture book.  Not only is an updated story, but it also is a unique alphabet book, with some comic book style additions.  This book was published by Houghton Mifflin (2005).

Read more about Melissa at her website:  http://www.melissasweet.net/index2.php

Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen written and illustrated by Lisa Campbell Ernst is a delight.   In this picture book (Dutton Children's Books, 2005) Sylvia has a costume and persona for every event, and everyone, including Sylvia, expects her to have the best costume for the costume party.  Coming up with the ideal costume isn't so easy, however.  The reader doesn't get to see her surprising costume until near the end of the story and indeed Sylvia wins the prize.   The solution is summed up with this quote:   "The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterward." -Arthur Koestler