At Gecko Press, we believe that one good book can spark a lifetime love of reading.
We have built 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 takes books to places they are not normally found and works with anyone who wants to encourage a child to love to read. The Club brings together the entire book ecosystem – libraries, booksellers, schools, families, children.
If you want our help to organize an event, create a book club, or if you have ideas to promote children’s books and reading, please join the Club and share them with us. The aim of the Curiously Good Book Club is simple – that every child loves to read.
Do you want to receive our monthly newsletter, Book Club members-only content, events invitations and special offers?
Book Club Blog: Hattie: Hello from Frida Nilsson
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.
Click on the image to download the activity sheet.
Activity of the month
Book List of the month: 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.
To receive a reading journal, send us an email at [email protected] with ‘Gecko Press Reading Journal’ subject line and your home address. Currently available to New Zealand club members only. Produced with support from the Wright Family Foundation.
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News
Hattie is The Times Children’s Book of the Week
Alex O’Connell has selected Hattie by Frida Nilsson as The Times Children’s Book of the Week. “Hattie is from the Pippi Longstocking school of clever, anti-establishment little girls who have the capacity for misrule until their conscience kicks in, their hearts turn to fondant and they return to the path of righteousness (while avoiding piety)… Read more »
Gecko Press and Walker Books Australia want to encourage reading and classroom read-aloud experiences, and to support schools and public libraries dealing with the escalating COVID-19 outbreak. If you are a teacher, librarian or bookseller moving your storytimes or read-alouds online and wish to share Gecko Press titles, please do not hesitate to get in… Read more »
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 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 »
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.
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.
Monkey on the Run chosen for New York Times/NY Public Library 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books
Monkey on the Run, by award-winning Belgian picture book author-illustrator Leo Timmers, has been selected for the New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2019.
Giselle Clarkson is a freelance illustrator and comic artist, and the illustrator of The Gobbledegook Book. She illustrated Secret World of Butterflies (2017) and is best known for her illustrations for conservation and environmental projects, and of biscuits—Common Household Biscuits & Slices of New Zealand was a viral hit. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Book list: Celebrating books published in te reo Māori
In honour of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (9–15 Mahuru, 2019), we want to celebrate the increasing number of books being published in te reo Māori. We asked Lucy Ira Bailey (Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Mutunga, Taranaki), the senior bookseller at The Children’s Bookshop in Wellington, to curate a list for us. Find these… Read more »
At Gecko Press, we believe that one good book can spark a lifetime love of reading.
