When you experience your real life as dull and predictable, a book is a portal to adventure, to excitement, to dreams, experimentation and possibility.
Fantasy or ‘real world’ in children’s fiction
Book list: Novels in verse
Novels in verse are a bit like graphic novels, in how quickly they can be consumed, and in the way you have to join some of the dots yourself.
Day in the Life of Giselle Clarkson
Hello! I’m Giselle, the illustrator of The Tiny Woman’s Coat. I live in a small town near Wellington in New Zealand. I work from home in the corner of a room…
Ulf Nilsson 1948—2021
Gecko Press sadly informs our readers that Ulf Nilsson, the much-loved author of Detective Gordon, died in Sweden on 22 September at the age of 73.
The books that raised me: Bookshop Day edition
Early October brings Bookshop Days so we asked booksellers around Aotearoa to share a book that was special to them growing up, a book that raised them. Sometimes, when you’re surrounded by so many good books, it’s hard to pick just one. Jenna at Time Out, Auckland Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak… Read more »
In the Forbidden Forest with Ole Könnecke
For the release his book Dulcinea in the Forbidden Forest, Ole took over the Gecko Press Instagram account to show behind the scenes of creating the story.
Koro/Pops and Mihi: Q&A with Gavin Bishop
In their own way these ‘little’ books are as challenging as the much bigger books I’ve been doing in recent years. They don’t take as long because they don’t
Seeds of the Hattie story: Frida Nilsson
Frida Nilsson shares the inspiration behind her much-loved character Hattie and memories of her own school days for the publication of Hattie and Olaf.
Scan this! Enjoying the barcode
by rachel lawson There’s a bookshelf behind Julia’s desk at Gecko Press that miraculously houses examples of whatever we need whenever we need it. These are books we have loved but never published in English, for one reason or another. Julia often reaches in, mid conversation, to pull out exactly the book we need to… Read more »
Diverse perspectives in children’s books
Reading books from around the world expands our thinking. Yet international titles make up only a small percentage of books on the shelves of children…
