This month we release Cass and the Beast by Claire Mabey and Jill Calder. Brave Cass takes her place in a handful of very good Gecko Press books, where a girl finds herself in the midst of adventure, and uses determination, cunning and courage to get herself back home. Ole Könnecke’s Dulcinea and the Forbidden… Read more »
Cass and the Beast is a sweeping and original picture book about a girl who chooses not to be afraid, a modern-day heroine in a story we feel in our bones like an ancient folktale. It is written by Claire Mabey, a New Zealand children’s writer with a background… Read more »
By Rachel Lawson Much of the international children’s book scene centres on Europe, where there is a long history of high-quality children’s stories and vibrant contemporary publishing to choose from. Certainly many of our great Gecko Press books are European, from Sweden, France, Germany and more. But we make sure to look to different parts… Read more »
Mats Strandberg is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed suspense and horror writers, often dubbed “Sweden’s Stephen King.” He writes for adults and children in all formats: books, film, TV, stage and musical. How do you come up with the idea for the Frank the Monster series? The book came to… Read more »
‘My characters were strong children who could always win. They didn’t need adults to win for them; they could do it themselves. And I tried to put in a joke at the end of the story. I learned to write for children by reading and talking to them. I was taught to write by children.’… Read more »
This image by Sarah Wilkins from A Book Is a Book represents so well that reading books is both solo and social, depending on all the people who recommend, share, buy, borrow and talk about books—and put them into our hands, of course. In anticipation that Gecko Press readers will be putting books in the… Read more »
By Rachel Lawson The Fierce Little Woman and the Wicked Pirate has the kind of publishing history you find with Joy Cowley’s most enduring stories. The tale of the fierce little woman who walked up and down the jetty playing her bagpipes to the seagulls was originally published in 1984 as a school reader. Gecko… Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
