Eirlys Hunter is on RNZ talking about some of her favourite media.
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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In praise of not-sameness: cabbage and cake
Diversity is much talked about in terms of race, gender and so on, but there is another level that is also important: in the current English-language book market, there is much that is the same. Sameness can make us all feel safe, but in our reading business, safeness is the end.
For me, risk-taking and adventure are the heart of good publishing, good book buying (and selling) and good reading; these things all belong together.
Jump! gets a starred review in Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly gave Jump! a starred review this week.
July competition winner: Travelling entertainment
The responses to our July competition proved that some forms of entertainment will never go out of style.
A Dinner Fit for Captain Cook: MBAS Tuia Encounters Dinner
Note: There are still tickets! Mercury Bay Area School and Gecko Press invite you to a themed dinner in celebration of the Tuia 250 events commemorating Captain Cook’s visit to Mercury Bay. Food, nutrition and hospitality teacher at Mercury Bay Area School, Joanna Mannington, is organising the event at the Flaxmill Bay campground during September… Read more »
Book list: Intrepid explorers
Winter 2019 is the season of intrepid explorers in Gecko Press books: from Cam in Song of the River to Otto in Otto Goes North, from Zanzibar to The Runaways. And keep an eye out for Cornelia and the Jungle Machine later in the year.
We asked Katie at Time Out Bookstore in Auckland to recommend some stories for adventurers of all ages.
Sat 14 Sept: Featherston Goes Gobbledegook—A Joy Cowley event
Featherston Booktown and Gecko Press are celebrating the joyous new anthology of much-loved poems and stories by Joy Cowley, The Gobbledegook Book, illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Don’t miss this chance to hear Joy recite gobbledegook poems and stories. There will be books for sale with Mr Feathers Den, Joy and Giselle will be signing and a scrumptious… Read more »
Celebrate Children’s Books in Wellington
Join us at Unity Books next Wednesday 7 August at 12pm to hear Catherine O’Loughlin (Penguin Books NZ), Mary McCallum (Mākaro Press), Robbie Burton (Potton & Burton) and Rachel Lawson (our own Gecko Press Associate Publisher) talk about shortlisted books for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adult.
Zanzibar: Q&A with Catharina Valckx
Catharina Valckx was born in 1957 in the Netherlands. She grew up in France and now lives in Amsterdam. She has written and illustrated over thirty books and been nominated four times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her books are published in more than eleven languages and have won numerous awards. Zanzibar, an uplifting,… Read more »
“I like to exploit and stretch an idea until it reaches breaking point”, Leo Timmers
Leo Timmers’ new book, Monkey on the Run, has all the characteristics of his picture books. As an illustrator, Leo asks the reader to look—then look again, and again. He uses collisions, movement, problem-solving, colour and humour in his plot. Here he talks about how Monkey on the Run developed as a story, even demanding new technique.
