Julia Marshall is the former publisher of Gecko Press and still our number one translator from Swedish. We asked her to write about translating Giraffe Island by Sofia Chanfreau and Amanda Chanfreau. Giraffe Island is a magical realist mystery adventure for 8- to 12-year-olds. It is a playful, fresh and beautifully written story about a… Read more »
Exploring Whānau and Words: An Author Interview with Gavin Bishop
Gavin Bishop has created four board books for the very young that introduce first words and concepts through a lens of whānau and our place in the world. The direct gaze of child and adult faces draws the reader into each illustration, while single words spark conversation about objects, emotions, relationships and more. The series… Read more »
Earning the turn
By Rachel Lawson The page turn is at the heart of the picture book. Unobtrusive or dramatic, satisfying or surprising, it makes a picture book sink or sing. The turn of a page speeds or slows the pace, sets us up and rewards us, reveals a joke or surprise, draws us carefully through a story… Read more »
Happy birthday at Bologna Book Fair
At Bologna Book Fair in April 2024, Lerner Books held a special reception to celebrate the acquisition of Gecko Press and its 65th birthday. Below is the hello goodbye birthday speech from Julia Marshall. Thank you to Rob Sharp for the photographs, taken serendipitously as he was walking in the porticos and thought this looked… Read more »
Humour, heart and human nature for early readers — Gecko Press junior fiction
At Gecko Press we have a fondness for books for six- to nine-year-olds, especially ones that appeal to children with a dry sense of humour. In the same way that trees suddenly appear grown, we now have a wonderful collection of illustrated junior fiction. Our first published book was a chapter book—Can You Whistle, Johanna?… Read more »
Can I Sit in the Middle?: Q&A with Susanne Strasser
Like all my books in this series, the story has a cumulative structure that increases up to a surprising twist, finally resulting in an unexpected happy ending.
This increasing structure automatically creates expectations and growing excitement.
Hilary Tapper on creating a beach storybook
Kia ora! Hilary here, the illustrator of At the Bach.
Creating this book was a really special process for me—I got to focus on creating a book about the delight of ‘baches’ in New Zealand culture.
The creation of Have You Seen Dinosaur?
This month we’re celebrating the release of my latest picture book Have You Seen Dinosaur?, lovingly published by the wonderful Gecko Press. So in honour of this event I’d like to invite you into my studio.
Giselle Clarkson’s life as an observologist
Hello! I’m Giselle, author and illustrator of The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions.
I’m absolutely fascinated by all the smallest details in nature. I especially love tiny invertebrates. I wrote this book because I want to share all my favourite things about them with other people.
Book list: 21 of the best leporellos
By Mel Schuit of Let’s Talk Picture Books Mel Schuit is one of our favourite children’s book bloggers, especially for her “Let’s talk illustrators” interviews with children’s book illustrators, full of interesting questions about the process of bookmaking. This month, we are releasing our first leperello—Look by Gavin Bishop—so we are sharing Mel’s book list… Read more »
