Once the connection has been made, for it to stay alive, there need to be more books, more nudges from more people, and they need to be meaningful to what that particular child needs at that particular moment.
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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Day in the life of Catharina Valckx
Catharina Valckx takes us to her studio in Amsterdam and shows us how she created the charming Lisette in Lisette’s Green Sock.
A Mother Is a House: Q&A with Aurore Petit
This book is completely autobiographical. It tells of my son’s first year and my first year of being a mother. It is a book I wrote so I wouldn’t forget that year and also to try to convey what I experienced when discovering motherhood.
Do Animals Fall in Love? The diversity of life and love in the animal kingdom
The parallels with human diversity and the ways animals express their sexuality and behave sexually are astonishing.
Children who read this book can discover that the most wide-ranging forms of life and love are a natural part of the diverse life on Earth.
Creating a rhyming translation of Where is the Dragon?
Translating rhyming texts is pretty hard, particularly when the text is so short and condensed. Of all the editions, James Brown’s versions deviate the most from the original text, but in a good way. They always surprise me, and I love it. He manages to capture the spirit of the text, while bringing his own imagination and poetry to it
Day in the life of Leo Timmers
Leo Timmers shares an insight into the work that went into making his latest book, Where Is The Dragon? From the first dummy and designing the characters to the execution of the final art and cover.
Inside the Suitcase: Q&A with Clotilde Perrin
While I was making the book, I had the image of a small child playing in his room with a small basket, creating a wacky adventure with the random objects he comes across. So I wanted a little man with a suitcase—that simple!
Where Is the Dragon?: Q&A with Leo Timmers
The story emerged from these drawings. After struggling for months, I suddenly had the whole story finished in an hour. Pure magic, and very thrilling. You just never know which new idea is around the corner.
New year, new list: preparing the 2022 publishing list
Though many are focused in the new year on the year ahead, at Gecko Press we find ourselves looking further ahead to plan the books we want to publish in 2022.
Read on for the hows and whys of our book choosing process and reflections on publishing post-2020.
Reading Aloud in the Babysitter’s Toolbox
Reading aloud is a key tool in a babysitter’s kit. It can bring children together from different parts of the house, calm them or cheer them up, signal that it is sleep time—your choice of book and how you read will depend on what is needed.
Read on for reading aloud tips for all babysitting scenarios.
