Tasting with your Feet is a fascinating insight into the ways that animals use sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and other sensory abilities to make sense of the world. One of the most interesting aspects of the animal kingdom is the way that animals have developed an incredible array of senses to live day-to-day in the world. Butterflies taste with their feet, a bumblebee can see a flower’s ultraviolet colours, a shark can sense its prey’s electric pulses, a bat can use echolocation to fly through a forest at night without hitting anything, a godwit can use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate from Alaska to New Zealand. Tasting with your Feet explores the myriad, and often bizarre ways that animals use sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and the ability to sense movement, to make their way in the world. With clear descriptions and wonderfully illustrative artwork, Ned Barraud opens up this world to children in a highly original way. Any child interested in the animals around them will be intrigued by this beautiful book.

The Living Tree – Dave Gunson $25.00

An in-depth look at native and introduced New Zealand trees and all the life that lives and thrives in, on and around the unique environments that they provide.

Featuring information about the many fascinating animals, plants and fungi that live within the varied habitats of our trees, including fantail, kereru, giant weta, huhu beetle, forest gecko, shore skink, bracket fungi, clematis and many more!

by Niels Meyer-Westfeld $60.00

In this illustrated nature journal, Niels Meyer-Westfeld explores the feathers of Aotearoa’s native birds, from the long wing feathers of an albatross that enable it to soar endlessly over the oceans, to the tiny, insulating feathers of a penguin. Feathers are one of nature’s most remarkable evolutionary developments, an ingenious solution to the countless environmental challenges that birds face. This exquisitely illustrated book, that combines artwork with compelling insights, will reveal a largely unknown aspect of the avian world, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in our unique bird life.

In the Bush is the fourth title in the popular and award-winning ‘explore & discover’ series. The successful author and illustrator combination of Gillian Candler and Ned Barraud, turn their attention to the New Zealand bush and its iconic animals and plants. Young readers will be fascinated to learn more about familiar creatures as well as discover other intriguing plants and animals and see how they relate to each other in the forest ecosystem. Learn about pests and other dangers to our native wildlife and catch a glimpse of animals and plants that thrive in wildlife sanctuaries.

Sylvia and the Birds – Johanna Emeny and Sarah Laing $40.00

Inspiring young readers to help and protect our native birds

Part graphic biography, part practical guide to protecting our bird wildlife, this remarkable book for young readers and their families is fully committed to detailing the wonders of our native birds, the threats they face and how we can help them. Based on the life of ‘The Bird Lady’, Sylvia Durrant, who helped over 140,000 sick, injured and lost birds during her lifetime, it inspires a reverence for the natural world and is a call to action for all young ecologists and environmentalists.

With charming illustrations by Sarah Laing, an engrossing text, mātauranga Māori insights, activities and how-tos, it offers hours of enchantment and engagement.

Whimsical, loving and layered, Sylvia and the Birds makes a unique contribution to children’s knowledge of the natural world.