In what was described as a David and Goliath choice, Wellington-based publisher Gecko Press and Random House New Zealand jointly won the Thorpe-Bowker Award for New Zealand Publishing.

Gecko Press specialises in translating and publishing edgy yet proven award-winning non-English children's books from around the world for the NZ, Australia and global markets.

Earlier in the year Gecko Press won the NZ Post Book of the Year award for Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop. Rights to the book have been sold to Australia and the United States.

Gecko Press received an NZTE Market Development Grant in 2008 with the primary aim to develop a presence in the United States and United Kingdom markets.

They have previously received assistance through the specialised publishing training programmes sponsored by NZTE, the Capability Building Grant and former Enterprise Network Programme. They have also been a member of the Creative HQ Incubator programme for the past two years.

The company was identified early in its development as offering a traditional product with a different twist. Specialising in internationally translated stories for children, initially from Sweden, the books have been published with quality as the key driver.

Gecko Press currently have over 20 titles on their register and are regularly reviewed on Radio New Zealand National's children's book segments.