Frida Nilsson shares the inspiration behind her much-loved character Hattie and memories of her own school days for the publication of Hattie and Olaf.
Welcome to a combobulation of articles from our favourite thinkers, stories from behind the scenes, lists of good books, Gecko Press news and things that amuse us from time to time.
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The books that raised me: Sarah Rennie
Sarah is our newest member of Gecko Press, having joined our marketing team this month. Sarah has fond memories of reading with multiple generations of her family growing up in the 1980s in the UK. Here are some of the classic picture books and 80s bestsellers that raised her. When I was young, I had… Read more »
Book list for fostering empathy
This month’s book list has been collated by Bob Lingle from Off the Beaten Path Bookstore. The store is located in the Village of Lakewood, New York, with a focus on fostering empathy, to curate titles for the community that promote understanding, diversity, and creativity. Find Off the Beaten Path Bookstore on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter…. Read more »
Scan this! Enjoying the barcode
by rachel lawson There’s a bookshelf behind Julia’s desk at Gecko Press that miraculously houses examples of whatever we need whenever we need it. These are books we have loved but never published in English, for one reason or another. Julia often reaches in, mid conversation, to pull out exactly the book we need to… Read more »
Diverse perspectives in children’s books
Reading books from around the world expands our thinking. Yet international titles make up only a small percentage of books on the shelves of children…
Illustrating for the imagination
Currently, my mind-expanding travels take place on the pages of a different type of passport — the picture book. Here, both pictures and words offer a chance to travel without a plane ticket, to a new world, be it real or imagined. A picture book offers a round trip to the imagination, and these days, that’s my dream destination.
The books that raised the librarians of SLANZA
For our new series, The Books that Raised Me, we talked to the School Library Association of New Zealand to discover the books that raised the librarians of SLANZA.
LGBTQ+ book list—beyond the coming out stories
We are celebrating Pride 2021 with a list of children’s books featuring LGBTQ+ characters from Phoebe Wilton-Stuart of Wardini Books.
Gecko Press books shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
We are very pleased to announce that three Gecko Press books have been shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Day in the life of Anke Kuhl
Anke Kuhl shows us how she brought the weird and wonderful animal kingdom to life in Do Animals Fall in Love?
