John McIntyre of the Children’s Bookshop Kilbirnie was a champion and friend of many, and myself and all of us at Gecko Press are just very sad that he has died. Our hearts go to Ruth and the Children’s Bookshop and all his family, many of whom we met at his 65th birthday this year…. Read more »
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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Become an art collector, and kickstart every child into a lifetime of reading!
Our illustrators from New Zealand and around the world are supporting the Curiously Good Book Club by offering limited edition prints, limited edition signed prints and original illustrations.
Behind the Curiously Good Book Club
When Gecko Press began in 2005, only 1 percent of books published in English countries came from non-English languages. I thought it odd that English speaking children did not have access to the best writers and books from the rest of the world. And that was the beginning of Gecko Press. Gecko Press continues to… Read more »
Our first Curiously Good Book Club event
On May 25 we had our first Curiously Good Book Club event! With our partners at Space Place, we launched Sabrina Malcolm’s Zeustian Logic and gazed at the stars. The planetarium was filled with old and new friends, with booksellers, authors, teachers and readers. We would love to organise more events like this one. But for that,… Read more »
Michael Rosen on poetry in primary schools
A recommended read for Curiously Good schools and libraries! Michael Rosen’s blog is a great resource, with many marvellous ideas for sparking a love of poetry in children. “Make yourself a finder-out of poems for the class. Tell the children when you’ve discovered a poem. Tell them that you’re excited when they discover a poem… Read more »
The authors who helped us grow up
Need a book recommendation? The New Yorker children’s literature archive is a wonderful resource. From Where the Wild Things Are to Harry Potter, with articles from the 1920s to early 2000s, there’s a lot of booky ground covered. We want to hear about your favourite children’s books. Are they the same as when you were a child?… Read more »
Book Club Pile-of-Books giveaway!
We are in the final stages of our Curiously Good Book Club PledgeMe campaign which finishes on 21 June at 9am. Please pledge a little (or a lot!) to the cause, and be in to win a HUGE pile of Curiously Good Books! Click here: you’ll find packs of books, illustrations from some of our best-known books; or… Read more »
New York Times books for young vehicle lovers
“Clearly, one animal’s clutter is another pig’s livelihood in this buoyant, rhyming tale.”
The Curiously Good Book Club needs your help!
We want to create a digital and real life community where people can share knowledge about great books for children (not just our books) and find creative ways to encourage children to love to read. The Curiously Good Book Club will include activities for kids, real people events and rich digital experience – all designed… Read more »
Three books for thinking children
I was recently asked about a book for a thinking child: I first chose The Day No one was Angry . It is a book of 12 stories about the 12 different forms of anger – the light blue, transparent colour of melancholy, “like a warm morning in early summer, with not a breath of wind.” It… Read more »
