Author Q&As
Q&A with Julie Völk about A Rainy Dragon Day
Julie Völk is a celebrated illustrator from Vienna, Austria, who studied at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg and has illustrated many award-winning picture books. In 2018, she was named an IBBY Honored Illustrator. She is the author and illustrator of A Rainy Dragon Day, in which three friends, a dragon, a child and… Read more »
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Behind the book: Enric Lax talks about Start with a Teapot
Enric Lax studied illustration in Barcelona and later the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna. His work has been exhibited in Catalonia and Belgium. Born in Catalonia, Spain, he now lives in Brussels, where he teaches art. We asked him about the ideas and process behind his new book Start with a Teapot: An Unexpected… Read more »
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Q& A with Peter Goes about Timeline
Twenty years ago, Gecko Press published Timeline: A Visual History of Our World. It became one of our bestselling books worldwide, a staple in bookstores like the British Museum in London, and generated followup books including Timeline: Science and Technology. From the Big Bang to the present day, illustrated scenes tell the history of our… Read more »
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Book list: Gecko Press books in te reo Māori
What a delight to receive the Picture Book Award for Titiro / Look at the New Zealand Children and Young Adult book awards ceremony this August. This board book by Gavin Bishop began life as a wordless leporello for babies and developed into a book of first words that takes te ao Māori as its… Read more »
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Book list: Fairy tales reimagined
By Rachel Lawson, publisher-at-large The phrase “fractured fairy tale” took a while to permeate the Gecko Press lexicon. Possibly because we saw most of these books first as funny stories. It turns out we’ve made a number of fairy tales with a difference over the years. They have familiar characters and a story structure we… Read more »
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Q&A with Olivier Tallec about Is It Asleep?
Olivier Tallec was born in Brittany, France. After graduating from the École Supérieure d’Arts Appliqués Duperré in Paris, he travelled extensively and now lives and works in Paris. He has illustrated over 60 books for children, along with his work as both author and illustrator. He has two books with Gecko… Read more »
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Book list: The death of a bird in four picture books
by rachel lawson, publisher-at-large One of the best books we’ve published at Gecko Press is All the Dear Little Animals by Ulf Nilsson and Eva Eriksson. Three children start a funeral business to bury the dead animals they find in their neighbourhood. This book takes me instantly to my own childhood garden and to important… Read more »
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Q&A with illustrator Miho Satake
The Fierce Little Woman and the Wicked Pirate is an enduring story by Joy Cowley that was first published as a school reader in 1984. Gecko Press published a picture book edition illustrated by Sarah Davis in 2010. In 2024, Japanese publisher Tokuma Shoten commissioned Miho Satake to create illustrations to go alongside their Japanese… Read more »
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A story that travels across oceans and generations
By Rachel Lawson The Fierce Little Woman and the Wicked Pirate has the kind of publishing history you find with Joy Cowley’s most enduring stories. The tale of the fierce little woman who walked up and down the jetty playing her bagpipes to the seagulls was originally published in 1984 as a school reader. Gecko… Read more »
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In the studio with David Barrow
David Barrow is author and illustrator of Have You Seen Elephant? and Have You Seen Dinosaur? Come in to his studio… My studio is at the bottom of my garden. It’s built from an old outbuilding previously used by Kettering shoemakers to make shoes from home. It’s warm, has internet, and is my happy place…. Read more »
Read moreIt’s such a Gecko book: gorgeous, surprising, filled with kindness
Freda Daly Sadgrove, The Spinoff
You can never go wrong with Gecko Press
The Spinoff
My favourite (and most eccentric) publishing house for children’s books.
Jeremy George, Readings Melbourne
I love Gecko Press … This is a shameless endorsement.
Meg Rosoff, author and winner of the ALMA 2016
One message shines from the Gecko list: children deserve quality.
Your Weekend, Dominion Post
In typical Gecko Press fashion, Impossible Inventions is physically lovely, with paper you want to smush your cheeks against and colours you want to eat
Giselle Clarkson, The Sapling
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