Shedding new light on the renowned Renaissance artist, this book examines all of da Vinci’s known paintings using recent advances in technology and the latest art historical research. While Leonardo da Vinci is one of history’s most studied and renowned artists, there are many myths surrounding his work. Beginning with his birth and early maturity in the workshops of the Florentine masters, Alessandro Vezzosi delves into the provenance of disputed works such as Madonna Litta and La Bella Principessa. He demonstrates how recent advances in technology have aided researchers in studying and restoring da Vinci’s art—including settling controversial attributions—and he explores the artist’s scientific achievements in the fields of optics and paint composition. An exquisitely produced plate section looks at the most significant aspects of da Vinci’s work, and offers numerous comparative examples in the form of archival documents, preparatory studies, and contemporary paintings. A fitting tribute to da Vinci, this wide-ranging book applies 21st-century knowledge to help answer centuries-old questions about the Renaissance genius.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 288

Dimensions: 245 x 340 mm

Publication Date: 19-04-2019

An introduction to easy gardening so you can grow everywhere and anywhere. Whether you live in the city or the countryside, there are plenty of places you can plant and grow. For a new generation of green fingers there are different ways to bring nature into the home. Make your own pots, build balcony boxes, create your own bird feeders and even get friendly with worms! Each activity has been carefully chosen to create living, renewable and sustainable environments for kids and their families. Each activity has been carefully written by Kirsten Bradley, a leading practitioner in permaculture for kids and co-founder of Milkwood permaculture farm in Australia. The simple steps and beautiful spot illustrations make activities fun and easy to follow. The book will also feature non-activity spreads explaining the importance of why and how nature works. Illustrated by Aitch, a Romanian artist whose folkloric illustrations pay homage to vintage botanical books while giving each page a sense of modern magic.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 56

Dimensions: 210 x 260 mm

Publication Date: 25-03-2019

In this charming book, children will delight in the sounds animals make as they come together to help a young bird find a friend. It's spring and everywhere birds are calling out to each other. But one bird has forgotten which sound to make. He tries "Woof," and meets a dog, who encourages him to try "Oink," with the expected result. Moo, Hee-Haw, Baa, Meow--each successive call adds another animal friend to the page. Will the young bird find another bird friend? As young readers are introduced to each type of animal and their sounds, Hendrik Jonas's clever illustrations grow increasingly crowded. The result is a beautiful celebration of friendship that will delight young children everywhere.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 52

Dimensions: 200 x 215 mm

Publication Date: 15-03-2019

There are few things more fascinating than the diversity of the animal kingdom—and it’s a wonder under immense threat. The latest figures estimate that 60 percent of all animal populations on our planet have been wiped out in the last 50 years. Pedro Jarque Krebs, a multi-award-winning wildlife photographer, focuses his lens on this fragile natural world to draw attention to its precarious situation. His photographs aim to break down the psychological and emotional barriers that separate us from our fellow creatures, capturing every animal—whether a bird, a reptile, or a big cat—in an atmosphere of breathtaking intimacy. Beautiful and humbling, his images give the animals their full and due dignity. They remind us that we are not the center of the universe, and that our most important project is to protect the intricate ecosystem of which we are just a small, constituent part. “My goal with these images is to raise our awareness of the beauty and diversity of the natural world, but—even more importantly—its dreadful fragility and endangerment.” Pedro Jarque Krebs Pedro Jarque Krebs was born in 1963 in Lima, Peru, and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. One of the most celebrated photographers, his numerous awards include the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 220

Dimensions: 250 x 320 mm

Publication Date: 21-06-2019

Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982), a distinguished University of Canterbury alumna, was one of the greatest crime writers of the twentieth century. Marsh was also a gifted Shakespearean director, establishing her reputation in 1943 with the Canterbury University Drama Society modern-dress production of ‘Hamlet’. Fast-paced, with a deftly-cut script, and featuring especially commissioned incidental music by Douglas Lilburn, Ngaio Marsh’s production of ‘Hamlet’ was a hit with wartime audiences. Marsh’s 1943 ‘Hamlet’ production typescript is reproduced here for the first time, together with Lilburn’s previously unpublished music and a selection of archival photographs. An introductory essay by Polly Hoskins examines the staging of the production and the wartime context in which the play was performed, offering broader reflection on Marsh’s compositional approach, and a note from Robert Hoskins introduces Lilburn’s music. This edition makes the perfect starting point for enriching our understanding of Ngaio Marsh as a Shakespearean director and producer, and presents a fresh perspective on New Zealand’s theatre history.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 134

Dimensions: 148 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2019

Ces Gledhill hired on with New Zealand Railways in 1925. Forever the rolling stone in search of better money, overtime and promotion, Ces transferred around New Zealand seeking out opportunities within the railway service. Starting as a cleaner, he worked his way up through the ranks of fireman and eventually first-class enginedriver. Working through the Depression years and the boom of war-time rail traffic, Ces recounts with interest his time living at the various towns and cities, working on both isolated sections, branch lines and main trunk trains. Told with passion are many of his footplate escapades. After a wartime absence, he returned from railway military service in the Middle-east, he settled down on the West Coast of the South Island, both operating and keeping operational, run-down locomotives on the post-war railway. This work is well illustrated with images of the period, many taken by the author.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 115

Dimensions: 210 x 296 mm

Publication Date: 16-08-2019

Not all superpowers are a good thing. Especially NOT if your mum has them. Or if they're fuelled by embarrassment. And what if you can't find your way back home? Jump out of your skin with these hilarious short stories by Tom E. Moffatt. Bu don't leave your body unattended for long!

Bind: paperback

Pages: 266

Dimensions: 127 x 203 mm

Publication Date: 19-07-2019

Revised and Updated 2019 Edition Dunedin city and its environs are home to an amazing range of habitats and landscapes, of plants, animals, birds, insects and geological features. From the ocean, with its albatrosses and penguins, to the high alpine zone of inland ranges, this book introduces a magnificent natural environment. This revised edition of Wild Dunedin includes new and updated information and stunning new images, including a look at the jewel in Dunedin’s natural history crown, Orokonui Ecosanctuary. An essential guide to the natural beauty of this stunning southern city.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 156

Dimensions: 189 x 246 mm

Publication Date: 12-07-2019

The title of James Norcliffe’s tenth poetry collection points deftly to the way it conveys big emotions without cracking a smile or shedding a tear. In Deadpan, Norcliffe writes in an alert, compassionate yet sceptical voice. The book’s first section, ‘Poor Yorick’, shares the thoughts of an introspective narrator as he contends with the travails of later life. ‘In his hospital pyjamas’, Yorick is by turns cheerful and beset by loss, laughing and weeping, comparing the stages of life (and death). The following sections – ‘Scan’, ‘Trumpet Vine’, ‘Telegraph Road’ and ‘Travellers in a small Ford’ – reach around to mine experience in a world where ‘nothing lasts’; not childhood, place nor identity. An appropriate response to this ephemeral world is to embrace ambiguity, uncertainty, absurdity and surrealism. ‘Deadpan,’ writes the author in his introductory essay, ‘is the porter in Macbeth pausing to take a piss while there is that urgent banging at the gate. It is Buster Keaton standing unmoved as the building crashes down on top of him. It is my poker-faced Yorkshire grandfather playing two little dicky birds sitting on the wall.’ These poems are concise and contained, using supple, precise language and a gleam of dry and mordant wit. Deadpan is the work of a mature and technically astute poet who is one of New Zealand’s leading writers.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 100

Dimensions: 165 x 235 x 10 mm

Introducing the first title in Clive Mantle's incredible adventure series. We meet Freddie Malone as he turns thirteen and receives a mysterious gift from his Uncle Patrick. With the help pf his best friend, Connor, Freddie embarks on an incredible journey through time and space to find himself caught up in mountaineering legend! But can he and Connor save history - and themselves - from the overbearing bully, Jasper? An exhilarating, page-turning series that encompasses history, action and adventure in equal measure.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 272

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm