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: ‘Nothing with pictures. No pictures!’
By Trevor Agnew
We all know that books for young people are important. Except that some people seem to think that picture books are just an optional extra. They’re for toddlers to chew on – sometimes literally – until they get down to real reading. I still remember a fellow teacher who brought his classes into the school library to borrow books, shouting his final instruction, ‘Nothing with pictures. No pictures.’
Book List of the month: Puberty books for all ages
In November, we are releasing Tell Me, a book full of answers to real questions from 8-year-olds, covering what they really want to know about bodies, sex and emotions. Ella Sharpe, manager of the Younger Sun Bookshop in Yarraville, Australia, has provided us with a great list of other popular books on this topic.
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
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.
Just in time for Halloween, we have a new adventure from Clotilde Perrin, author of Inside the Villains. The House of Madame M is a thrilling, spooky work of paper-engineering and imagination. Anna Low from Potts Point Bookshop in Elizabeth Bay, Australia has sent us a round-up of her favourite interactive and lift-the-flap books. There… Read more »
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.
Four days until our FREE Joy Cowley Gobbledegook 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 »
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 »
Julia featured as a ‘rebel CEO’ in September Kia Ora magazine
Julia has been featured as a rebel CEO, alongside Hamish Johnson of Flying Saucer and Anna Dean and Angela Meyer of Double Denim in Air New Zealand’s September issue of Kia Ora magazine. “Gecko Press works hard to stay true to its vision of publishing curiously good books from around the world – to actively publish books… Read more »
At Gecko Press, we’re big fans of poetry and nonsense rhymes. We’re excited about the upcoming launch of The Gobbledegook Book: A Joy Cowley Anthology, illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. So we wanted to share the joy of children’s poetry with you.
The Curiously Good Book Club
The Curiously Good Book Club
