Gecko Press Blog

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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Gecko Press webstore to temporarily close

The Gecko Press online store will be temporarily closing from the 24th of March 2020 as our staff will be working from home and will not have access to our stock room. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and cannot wait to reopen once it is safe and advisable for us to… Read more »

Julie Danielson reviews Tell Me

Julie Danielson has reviewed Tell Me for her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast: I read just this morning about a well-reviewed book about sex, aimed at children and written by a sex educator, causing all kinds of controversy at a Massachusetts school. To be clear, I haven’t read that particular book, but generally speaking these… Read more »

Hattie: Hello from Frida Nilsson

Hattie

Frida Nilsson is one of Sweden’s most talented children’s book authors. Her writing is characterised by playfulness, humour and sincerity, and has been compared to the work of Roald Dahl and Barbro Lindgren. Frida has received numerous Swedish and international prizes, including the James Krüss Award for International Children’s Literature, the August Prize, the German Youth Literature Prize and the Astrid Lindgren Prize.

Frida is the author of The Ice Sea Pirates (2017) and Hattie (out March 2020).

Wed 4 March: Reimagining Classics at The Children’s Bookshop

Join illustrators Giselle Clarkson, Kieran Rynhart and Kimberly Andrews for a curiously good evening at The Children’s Bookshop. They will talk about how they approached reillustrating the work and characters of iconic writers, from creating a new Greedy Cat to rethinking James K. Baxter’s Tree House poems. Bookings are essential for seating   RSVP books@thechildrensbookshop.co.nz

Book list: Reimagined classics

On Wednesday 4th March, The Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie will be hosting illustrators Giselle Clarkson, Kieran Rynhart and Kimberly Andrews, to discuss how they approached reillustrating the work and characters of iconic writers.

Book list: Some favourites chosen by our authors and illustrators

Gecko Press authors and illustrators have excellent taste, so we figured they were excellent people to ask for recommendations.

Read on for some inspiration.

Gecko Press shortlisted for London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2020

Gecko Press has been shortlisted at the 2020 London Book Fair International Excellence
Awards for the Literary Translation Initiative Award.

Your child’s brain on books

Have you ever wondered what’s going on inside your child’s brain as you’re reading to them? For the first time, scientists are now able to see the way stories grow children’s brains. Their research shows that while sharing picture books seems straightforward, it’s engaging your child’s brain in deep ways. 

A Curiously Good opportunity: Publishing and marketing role with Gecko Press

Gecko Press is seeking a publishing allrounder with a focus on marketing for our central Wellington office. We are looking for someone with initiative, confidence and a deep interest in children’s books; a quick worker who thrives on getting things done.

Book list: In defence of children’s books

Towards the end of 2019, researchers using data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study released findings that showed reading to babies has significant impacts on their learning and development.

This isn’t news to us at Gecko Press. And luckily there is a whole genre of books celebrating children’s books, so we’ve collected a few of our favourites.

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