Greedy Gecko Gets His Just Desserts
Gecko and Mosquito by Melissa DeSica
Gecko is only a few inches tall, but that’s still big enough to be a bully when there are smaller creatures around the house—like Mosquito and her insect friends. But Mosquito is tired of being chased and harassed by the greedy lizard.
In Gecko and Mosquito, Mosquito is the unlikely hero who saves the day and frees the household bugs from Gecko’s tyranny with a clever plan. Gecko may be bigger, but he’s definitely not smarter.
Told in rhyming verse, with a liberal sprinkling of Hawaiian words and a glossary, Gecko and Mosquito is the first title written and illustrated by Melissa DeSica. Her illustrations have also appeared in Wordsworth Dances the Waltz and Eddie Wen’ Go, also from Watermark Publishing, and the Shark Stories books; she created the cover illustrations for Shark Stories at age 14.
Author/Illustrator Melissa DeSica reads from Gecko and Mosquito
Sadly, DeSica was diagnosed with leukemia in May 2007, just a few weeks before Gecko and Mosquito arrived on Hawai‘i bookstore shelves. After an almost yearlong search, a donor match was found for her in March 2008 through the cord blood bank. Two months later, DeSica was selected as the sixth person ever to receive an innovative new treatment involving the use of cord blood stem cells to grow an entirely new immune system. Her treatment and care took place at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. After battling leukemia for 19 months, Melissa “Missy” DeSica passed away in Seattle, WA, on December 17, 2008. She was 26 years old.
Signing books at the Gecko and Mosquito launch celebration
Raised by her grandmother, along with 16 foster siblings, DeSica was a graduate of Kailua High School and the University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa. At UH, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, English and French. She was a Rhodes Scholar, a Gilman Scholar, and won several awards for her writing and illustrations. Her art awards include the University of Hawai‘i’s Clark Award, the John Young Scholarship Award, the Jean Charlot Foundation Scholarship Award and The Honolulu Advertiser’s Fine Art Award. Additionally, she was a two-time recipient of the Hon Chew Hee Golden Callus Award. Her artwork was also featured in the Honolulu Neiman Marcus and Borders Books & Music, Ward Centre, stores.
Gecko and Mosquito is available for purchase at your local bookstore and at online booksellers, including direct from the publisher at www.bookshawaii.net.
Author/Illustrator: Melissa DeSica
Hardcover, 32 pp
Release Date: June 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9790647-6-0
$14.95 retail price
Tags: Gecko and Mosquito, Melissa DeSica
