By Rachel Lawson, Publisher at Gecko Press.
Every book is a careful process of translation, editing, design, layout, proofreading and printing — with small and big decisions from all of those involved and at every stage that change how the book will be for its readers. Here are ten decisions that I’ll remember from the year we’ve had.
For the release of Gotcha!, Clotilde Perrin took over our Instagram for a look inside her studio and at her work in progress. She shared images and video of original artworks and a bookcase bursting with books about monsters and fairy tales.
What is it about orphans in books? They are tragic, with backgrounds mysterious, bruised, like Jane Eyre. They are vulnerable and burdened, like Oliver; or have learned to be trickier than the trickiest, like the Artful Dodger. They are steely, sad, often hungry with large eyes. They’re tragically young and terrifically youthful. They are tantalisingly free.
By Rachel Lawson, publisher at Gecko Press. When we translate a book into English from another language, one of the first questions for the translator is the names of the characters—and often that affects the title too.
By Catharina Valckx. My books can start with an idea, a word or an image. Ideas come into my mind, and sometimes I feel—Ah! Here’s one that interests me!
Hi! I’m Kristina, author of The Secrets of Cricket Karlsson. I live in a town called Malmö in the southern part of Sweden. I usually write my books sitting on the couch in my living room, with the view of the sky, the ceilings and my new – very happy – lamp!
Over the last 2 years, COVID-19 infection prevention measures have meant that tamariki visiting the hospital have had heavily restricted access to toys
I saw Simon the rabbit at my very first Bologna Book Fair, standing out in a sea of pigs and rabbits and dragons. Caҫa Boudin, was so arresting,
A good translation is all in the detail; the result often reflects the amount of effort put in to giving every word its due and making the multitudes of small decisions that can make or break the book. A good translation will not be rushed.
In this month of noise, we’ve made a list of silent books.
We were very pleased to have three Gecko Press books selected for the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) 2021 silent book collection, with Aleph by Janik Coat chosen as an Honour Book.
