Good Night Sleep Tight by Kirstina Andres, Gecko Press


Articles

Bookmaking bests of the Gecko Press year

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.

Studio tour: Clotilde Perrin and her monsters

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.

On orphans in children’s books

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.

A dinosaur by another name | Translation

Leilong as umbrella

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.

Humour, absurdity and improbable friendships

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!

Day in the life of Kristina Sigunsdotter

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!

The importance of books in hospitals

Illustration of children reading

Over the last 2 years, COVID-19 infection prevention measures have meant that tamariki visiting the hospital have had heavily restricted access to toys

Ten years of Simon the Rabbit

Full Simon series

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,

The particularities of translating children’s books

Woman looking at the condensation on the window

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.

Book list: Silent children’s books

Aleph cover

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.