We’ve always loved a twist in the tail/tale at Gecko Press—ideally a double twist! Perhaps counterintuitively, a twist ending can encourage reading again and again, to enjoy the build-up, spot any clues, and take full pleasure in the ta-da moment. Twist endings create opportunities to talk about a book, to discuss and anticipate while you’re… Read more »
By Rachel Lawson Below is a wonderful review by UK academic and teacher Mathew Tobin of our new book by Olivier Tallec, Red Snake Blue Snake. I couldn’t ask for a better reading of this book that we chose for its bright story of how opposite points of view can be equally true (and the… Read more »
This month we release Cass and the Beast by Claire Mabey and Jill Calder. Brave Cass takes her place in a handful of very good Gecko Press books, where a girl finds herself in the midst of adventure, and uses determination, cunning and courage to get herself back home. Ole Könnecke’s Dulcinea and the Forbidden… Read more »
Cass and the Beast is a sweeping and original picture book about a girl who chooses not to be afraid, a modern-day heroine in a story we feel in our bones like an ancient folktale. It is written by Claire Mabey, a New Zealand children’s writer with a background… Read more »
By Rachel Lawson Much of the international children’s book scene centres on Europe, where there is a long history of high-quality children’s stories and vibrant contemporary publishing to choose from. Certainly many of our great Gecko Press books are European, from Sweden, France, Germany and more. But we make sure to look to different parts… Read more »
Catharina Valckx has written and illustrated over 40 books and been nominated five times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her books are published in more than 17 languages and have won numerous awards. Many of your books are about small, everyday happenings—a lost sock,… Read more »
Mats Strandberg is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed suspense and horror writers, often dubbed “Sweden’s Stephen King.” He writes for adults and children in all formats: books, film, TV, stage and musical. How do you come up with the idea for the Frank the Monster series? The book came to… Read more »
‘My characters were strong children who could always win. They didn’t need adults to win for them; they could do it themselves. And I tried to put in a joke at the end of the story. I learned to write for children by reading and talking to them. I was taught to write by children.’… Read more »
This image by Sarah Wilkins from A Book Is a Book represents so well that reading books is both solo and social, depending on all the people who recommend, share, buy, borrow and talk about books—and put them into our hands, of course. In anticipation that Gecko Press readers will be putting books in the… Read more »
By Rachel Lawson This month we release The Kerfuffle by Clotilde Perrin, a book sparked by a dispute the author was having with her own neighbour. The book’s beginnings remind me that children’s books about arguments are not for giving lessons. Rather, they’re the stories we find in the events and human behaviour around us… Read more »
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