11 Sep 2024
Picture books introduce children to the magic of turning the page, the wonderful anticipation of what happens next. Gecko Press runs the Picture Me festival to give some insight into how that magic is made.
Gecko Press specialises in picture books for children, making books from other countries available in English. While translation to English is key to bringing the books to market in New Zealand, illustrations are the real focus of the Picture Me festival.
Picture Me will run in Wellington and Christchurch over September 2024, with two distinct audiences. For young readers, there are chances to engage with stories and experiment with their own pictures in art days, workshops and school events. For authors and illustrators, there are talks, workshops and masterclasses with European peers.
Rachel Lawson is Publisher-at-Large for Gecko Press and sees the festival as a chance to recognise the value illustrators bring to children’s books.
“Picture Me is one way we can increase awareness of the illustrator as an integral part of storytelling, especially for children’s books and picture books. There’s a history of thinking it’s the words are what matters, and the illustrations come along afterwards or separately, as the little sister and not the big brother. Picture Me is about elevating the idea of illustration as an equal and vital part of reading a book, making a book, and loving a book,” Rachel says.
Another element of Picture Me is the focus on sharing stories from other parts of the world.
“It’s important we tell our own stories, and publishers based in Aotearoa are doing a beautiful job of that. Alongside that, we need to look out and be part of the bigger world. Often that involves books in translations or books you wouldn’t expect to see. That’s the Gecko Press niche, making available what we’re not seeing because we’re so focused on English language,” she says.
Three European book makers are visiting for the festival: Antje Damm from Germany, Aurore Petit from France and Piotr Socha from Poland. Their stories and illustrations are central to the events and activities for young readers. But perhaps the most enduring elements of the festival come from the opportunities for those professionals to share experiences and processes with their peers in Aotearoa.
Rachel has an example of enduring impact from an author visit ten years ago, from Belgian book maker Leo Timmers.
“New Zealand illustrators still talk about the session because of his whole description of his process, how he would take a year to make a picture book – everyone was agog,” she says.
Rachel expects this year’s visitors to be similarly inspirational.
“The energy they bring with them is fun for the children, the readers, and for the local professional community. It’s really nice to talk with people from bigger countries where there is a whole professional culture around illustration and picture book writing that we’re just not big enough to have here. These makers have been through specialist university courses to get training and they’re in an environment where Illustrating for children has got mana, it’s a career. They come here and talk in way that is really inspiring for us.”
Creative New Zealand invests in Gecko Press through the Toi Uru Kahikatea investment 2023-2025.
You can see the programme for Picture Me in Wellington and Christchurch on the Gecko Press website.
Share this
