My Baby Sister Is a Diplodocus: Q&A with Aurore Petit

Aurore Petit

Aurore Petit was born in 1981, one of a generation of French illustrators to emerge from the influential School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. She lives in Nantes, where she publishes children’s books, illustrates for children and adults and works on theatre sets. Her books with Gecko Press are A Mother Is a House and… Read more »

Sounds Good!: Q&A with Ole Könnecke & Hans Könnecke

Ole Könnecke was born in 1961 and spent his childhood in Sweden. He now lives in Germany and has produced over 30 books, several of which have won international awards. Hans Könnecke is an award-winning composer, instrumentalist and music producer for film,and theatre, who studied composition at the Academy for Music and Theater in Munich…. Read more »

The books that raised the librarians of SLANZA

chlidren reading

For our new series, The Books that Raised Me, we talked to the School Library Association of New Zealand to discover the books that raised the librarians of SLANZA.

Book Recommendations for Gifts by Age Range

monkey on the run (c) Leo Timmers

We often get asked for recommendations for a particular age of a child so this month’s book list is by the Gecko Press team recommending our top picks from our shelves to help with your gift buying this season.

Book list: Wordless picture books

Migrants

I’d like to share some of my favourite wordless or silent picturebooks in the hope that this will encourage you to become familiar with silent books and their particular gifts.

Book list: Stories that teach kindness

Book list: Stories that teach kindness

I am particularly fond of books which feature kind characters, especially when those books are for children and young people. Here are some that are new and some that have been part of my life for a long time.

Michael Rosen on poetry in primary schools

Gecko Press square image from What Dog Knows, dog reading the paper in an orange armchair

A recommended read for Curiously Good schools and libraries! Michael Rosen’s blog is a great resource, with many marvellous ideas for sparking a love of poetry in children. “Make yourself a finder-out of poems for the class. Tell the children when you’ve discovered a poem. Tell them that you’re excited when they discover a poem… Read more »

The authors who helped us grow up

Gecko Press spot art from When I am Happiest, Dani reads a blue book with a cat and two guinea pigs

Need a book recommendation? The New Yorker children’s literature archive is a wonderful resource. From Where the Wild Things Are to Harry Potter,  with articles from the 1920s to early 2000s, there’s a lot of booky ground covered. We want to hear about your favourite children’s books. Are they the same as when you were a child?… Read more »