Gecko Press

Gecko Press The international imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, and the home of curiously good children's books. Publishers of children's books
(21)

Here's a lovely interview with Antje Damm by Mark Amery on RNZ's Culture 101.You can meet Antje at our Picture Me festiv...
09/01/2024

Here's a lovely interview with Antje Damm by Mark Amery on RNZ's Culture 101.

You can meet Antje at our Picture Me festival in September.

Bring children to the Art Days at the National Library of New Zealand and Tūranga Christchurch City Libraries.

Come to the panel talks about the art of illustration at Unity Books Wellington and Tūranga Christchurch City Libraries

And visit the exhibition of illustration for children at Te Auaha Gallery in Dixon Street.

Tell your friends and come along to the events to help us make this festival a blazing success!

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018953426/a-world-of-handcut-wonder-matchbox-and-shoebox-diorama-with-antje-damm

The Picture Me Festival is funded by Franco German Fund alongside our sponsors and supporters.



Goethe-Institut New Zealand Alliance Française Wellington French Embassy in New Zealand - Ambassade de France en Nouvelle-Zélande

Remember making dioramas with pen and card in shoeboxes as a child? As a quick survey of German artist and writer Antje Damm’s instagram will attest, Damm creates a world of hand-cut wonder with tiny dioramas constructed in matchboxes. It began with architecture and shoeboxes. At home with childre...

"The best jokes are the simplest ones, and the joke at the heart of Leo Timmers’ new book is perfectly simple and very g...
08/31/2024

"The best jokes are the simplest ones, and the joke at the heart of Leo Timmers’ new book is perfectly simple and very good indeed."
Books for Keeps Book of the Week

Bear's Lost Glasses by Leo Timmers

Listen to an interview with Antje Damm on Radio New Zealand's Culture 101 this Sunday.Damm visits Wellington and Christc...
08/30/2024

Listen to an interview with Antje Damm on Radio New Zealand's Culture 101 this Sunday.

Damm visits Wellington and Christchurch in September for the Picture Me festival of illustration for children.

Damm's awardwinning children's books include The Visitor, which was chosen as a New York Times / New York Public Library best picture book and created by photographing carefully constructed 3D models.



Our international illustration festival is coming to Aotearoa and you are invited! Three awardwinning picturebook makers...
08/30/2024

Our international illustration festival is coming to Aotearoa and you are invited!

Three awardwinning picturebook makers from Europe arrive mid Sept for two weeks of free events and workshops in Wellington and Christchurch.

We have fun events for children to create their own art and see how picture books are made, and talks and workshops for adults that explore the art and career of children’s bookmaking.

Join us for this FREE festival of illustration and children’s books!

Where did I put my glasses?I can’t see a thing without them!Bear's Lost Glasses by Leo Timmers
08/29/2024

Where did I put my glasses?
I can’t see a thing without them!

Bear's Lost Glasses by Leo Timmers

08/28/2024

Author/Illustrator Julie Julie Völk shares her thoughts on books for children, the importance of art, and her new book, A Rainy Dragon Day. What’s more perfe...

I love rainy days. On rainy days nobody goes outside if they don’t have to.Today I’ll have a comfy day indoors. I’ll rea...
08/28/2024

I love rainy days.
On rainy days nobody goes outside if they don’t have to.
Today I’ll have a comfy day indoors. I’ll read and play, muck around, daydream.
No one will bother me.

A Rainy Dragon Day by Julie Völk

Kurī … Manu tukutuku… Whai!
08/20/2024

Kurī … Manu tukutuku… Whai!

"A terrific, tongue-in-cheek comical delight that puts forward the possibility that seeing with one’s imagination is pre...
08/19/2024

"A terrific, tongue-in-cheek comical delight that puts forward the possibility that seeing with one’s imagination is preferable to viewing reality."

Red Reading Hub reviews Bear's Lost Glasses by Leo Timmers

Whakarongo!Titiro / Look by Gavin Bishop
08/18/2024

Whakarongo!

Titiro / Look by Gavin Bishop

And now shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Children’s Nature and Conservation Writing!The Observologist by Giselle...
08/14/2024

And now shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Children’s Nature and Conservation Writing!

The Observologist by Giselle Clarkson

Prize winners announced 11 September

✨ Winner, Picture Book Award at NZCYA book awards 2024 ✨Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai by Michaela Keeble with Kerehi Gr...
08/14/2024

✨ Winner, Picture Book Award at NZCYA book awards 2024 ✨

Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai by Michaela Keeble with Kerehi Grace (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Porou) and illustrated by Tokerau Brown.

“Groundbreaking, deeply creative and completely original.”

Big happy congratulations to ❤️❤️

From Sweden to New Zealand, Julia Marshall has mastered the delicate art of translation. Her work ensures that unconvent...
08/13/2024

From Sweden to New Zealand, Julia Marshall has mastered the delicate art of translation. Her work ensures that unconventional, humorous children’s stories find their way to eager young readers around the world. Explore her story and her latest translation project!

Read more here
https://okt.to/FPLlZb

PinLinkedInEmailFacebook August is celebrated annually as Women In Translation Month. This is the time when we turn specific attention—and give gratitude—to the women writers  and the women translators who make possible access to stories from many languages to readers who can access them only i...

Translator of A Rainy Dragon Day, Melody Shaw, has multiple talents: meet Fred!
08/13/2024

Translator of A Rainy Dragon Day, Melody Shaw, has multiple talents: meet Fred!

Instagram takeover: Julie Völk, A Rainy Dragon DayThis is where I create my illustrations.My technique: watercolor, colo...
08/06/2024

Instagram takeover: Julie Völk, A Rainy Dragon Day

This is where I create my illustrations.
My technique: watercolor, colored pencil, pencil and pastel chalk

Illustrator takeover: Julie Völk, A Rainy Dragon DayVacation inspiration you can find in the book:PolandNorwayFranceIndi...
08/06/2024

Illustrator takeover: Julie Völk, A Rainy Dragon Day

Vacation inspiration you can find in the book:
Poland
Norway
France
India

Illustrator takeover: Julie Völk, author of A Rainy Dragon DayWhat else inspires me:My childrenOther childrenNo children...
08/06/2024

Illustrator takeover: Julie Völk, author of A Rainy Dragon Day

What else inspires me:
My children
Other children
No children

Illustrator takeover: Julia VölkWhat inspires me:My roofGrandpa’s roofMany roofs
08/06/2024

Illustrator takeover: Julia Völk

What inspires me:
My roof
Grandpa’s roof
Many roofs

“The witty narrative along with chatty commentary from the dog, who thinks his name is ‘Shuddup Sherlock’, because, afte...
08/02/2024

“The witty narrative along with chatty commentary from the dog, who thinks his name is ‘Shuddup Sherlock’, because, after all, that’s what everyone calls him, make this a funny and entertaining chapter book for young readers. The lively comical and colourful illustrations add to the fun”

The Pinchers and the Dog Chase by Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson reviewed by Outside in World

“Full of giggle-inducing efforts to accommodate the increasingly uncomfortable dragon... A unique bedtime story—before t...
08/01/2024

“Full of giggle-inducing efforts to accommodate the increasingly uncomfortable dragon... A unique bedtime story—before the nightly bathroom visit.”

A Rainy Dragon Day by Julie Völk, reviewed in Kirkus Reviews

“Absorbing, convention-flouting adventure... Whether they prefer outlaws or identify with the good guys, readers will ea...
07/30/2024

“Absorbing, convention-flouting adventure... Whether they prefer outlaws or identify with the good guys, readers will eagerly be turning pages.”

The Pinchers and the Dog Chase by Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson, reviewed by Kirkus

“Charming and funny … The dazzling colour palette with black outline drawings and watercolour is delicately executed ove...
07/29/2024

“Charming and funny … The dazzling colour palette with black outline drawings and watercolour is delicately executed over double-page spreads. Along with the pithy text they convey the absurdity of a dragon needing the toilet as well as the magical adventure the protagonist and Fred embark on.”

A Rainy Dragon Day by Julie Völk reviewed by Outside in World

"Deliciously understated ... So much to talk about with children"5⭐ review from Books for Keeps for A Better Best Friend...
07/24/2024

"Deliciously understated ... So much to talk about with children"

5⭐ review from Books for Keeps for A Better Best Friend by Olivier Tallec

It’s been nearly 10 years since we published Timeline by Peter Goes. It is still finding readers—and still magnificent!
07/20/2024

It’s been nearly 10 years since we published Timeline by Peter Goes. It is still finding readers—and still magnificent!

It's always a good moment for The Noisy Book by Soledad BraviWhat noise does a snail make?“The snail does nothing but mo...
07/18/2024

It's always a good moment for The Noisy Book by Soledad Bravi

What noise does a snail make?

“The snail does nothing but move its elegant feelers.”

“Are we nearly there?” asks Fox.“How far to the ocean?” Badger wants to know.“Patience!” says Bear. “All rivers end up i...
07/16/2024

“Are we nearly there?” asks Fox.

“How far to the ocean?” Badger wants to know.

“Patience!” says Bear. “All rivers end up in the ocean.”

“I think I smell salt in the air,” caws Crow.

They paddle on, until a sandy bank invites them ashore.

Around the World with Friends by Philip Waechter

Selected for the Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year—The Moon Is a Ball: Stories of Panda & Squirrel by Ed Fra...
05/16/2024

Selected for the Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year—The Moon Is a Ball: Stories of Panda & Squirrel by Ed Franck, illustrated by Thé Tjong-Khing

“Nine interlinked contemplative tales show the multifaceted nature of a deep and lasting friendship.”

“Perfect days at the beach, perfectly encapsulated in a picture book … The watercolour illustrations are bathed in the w...
05/15/2024

“Perfect days at the beach, perfectly encapsulated in a picture book … The watercolour illustrations are bathed in the warm hues of summer, the group of five little friends immediately familiar in their stance and movements, while Joy Cowley’s text is very special, a fifty word poem, each short line perfect in its simplicity.” Love Reading 4 Kids

Good Night, Good Beach by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper

⭐ Selected for the Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year—with a star for outstanding merit ⭐The Bear and the Wil...
05/14/2024

⭐ Selected for the Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year—with a star for outstanding merit ⭐

The Bear and the Wildcat by Kazumi Yumoto, illustrated by Komako Sakai

“Bear struggles with grief after his best friend’s death, until a music-playing cat leads him gently back into the world.”

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Who we are...

Gecko Press is an independent publisher, based in Wellington - New Zealand. Every year Gecko Press translates and publishes a small number of carefully-selected children’s books by some of the world’s best writers and illustrators, from countries including France, Germany, Japan, Poland and the Netherlands. Gecko Press also publishes two or three books each year by (mostly) New Zealand authors and illustrators.

Gecko Press books are the antidote to sameness. They are built for readers who are inquisitive and understand that life is full of absurdities and incongruities. Many of them are funny. A Gecko Press book offers a different way of seeing the world.

Try one!

Illustration from “The Holidays” by Blexbolex (geckopress.com/bookshop/the-holidays/)

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