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 »
Catharina Valckx has written and illustrated over 40 books and been nominated five times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her books are published in more than 17 languages and have won numerous awards. Many of your books are about small, everyday happenings—a lost sock,… 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 »
By Rachel Lawson This month we release The Kerfuffle by Clotilde Perrin, a book sparked by a dispute the author was having with her own neighbour. The book’s beginnings remind me that children’s books about arguments are not for giving lessons. Rather, they’re the stories we find in the events and human behaviour around us… Read more »
Peek behind the flaps of The Kerfuffle with author-illustrator Clotilde Perrin in this interview about creativity and connection.
Explore Omnibird with Giselle Clarkson! A fun, illustrated look at birds, observation, and the joy of discovery.
By Rachel Lawson Reuse has always been the most enjoyable part of the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra. And no picturebook creator reuses better than Leo Timmers. It’s the topic of Gus’s Garage: “Here comes Gus. The things he stores! Whatever will he use them for?” The answers appear as each visitor leaves the garage with… Read more »
What a delight to receive the Picture Book Award for Titiro / Look at the New Zealand Children and Young Adult book awards ceremony this August. This board book by Gavin Bishop began life as a wordless leporello for babies and developed into a book of first words that takes te ao Māori as its… Read more »
By Rachel Lawson, publisher-at-large The phrase “fractured fairy tale” took a while to permeate the Gecko Press lexicon. Possibly because we saw most of these books first as funny stories. It turns out we’ve made a number of fairy tales with a difference over the years. They have familiar characters and a story structure we… Read more »
Olivier Tallec was born in Brittany, France. After graduating from the École Supérieure d’Arts Appliqués Duperré in Paris, he travelled extensively and now lives and works in Paris. He has illustrated over 60 books for children, along with his work as both author and illustrator. He has two books with Gecko… Read more »
