Halloween at Gecko Press: Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

This October we are celebrating our sometimes-scary  lupine characters. Thérèse Tillard, a French librarian, speaks about the enduring appeal of Wolfy below.

Children love to play at being scared. The fear of the wolf (or of the dark, or of the monster) is essential
to the development of children’s minds between 4 and 7 years. Psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim says,
Fairytales don’t traumatize young readers. They answer precisely and irrefutably to the children’s and
teenagers’ anxieties

In the child’s subconscious the wolf is the one that will eat them, the one that will separate them from
people they love. The wolf is a recurrent character in fairytales and it is always THE villain. However,
in the last 20 years, we’ve seen children’s books in which the wolf is friendly – or even ridiculous.
In Wolfy, Grégoire Solotareff takes the wolf and makes him both villainous and a friend. That is what
made and still makes Wolfy success…

Read the whole article here.

Wolf books by Gecko Press

Wolfy Gregoire Solotareff bestselling picture book I am so strong book, Mario Ramos, picture book for kids, book about a wolf I am so Handsome book, Mario Ramos, picture book for kids, book about a wolf I am the wolf and here I come book, Benedicte Guettier, book for toddlers, boardbook for babies Help! the wolf is coming book, Cedric Ramadier, Vincent Bourgeau, interactive boardbook for toddlers Sheep with Boots cover Gecko Press