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Press here. That's right. Just press the yellow dot... and turn the page. The single touch of a finger sparks a whimsical dance of colour and motion. This irresistible picture book is ideal for sharing with children and has created a sensation worldwide. Originally published in France under the title Un Livre (A Book).

Wee Jack Baines is tired of living in his brother's shadow. Unlike his brother Robert, Jack is no good at sports or rabbit-shooting, and is not popular at school. Luckily for him, though, his Uncle Onslow notices that, as well as being short, Jack has a gift with horses: perfect for a jockey! And so he arranges an apprenticeship for Jack with a trainer in Napier. Determined to prove to his family that he can be as good as Robert, Jack sets out with high hopes and dreams of success - so at last he can be called just Jack. Instea... read more

Too many secrets, buried for too long. Becs is a sassy 12-year-old drama queen who strikes a bargain with her mother. She'll spend a few months away from home while her new step-family renovates an elegant old house in the country. When it's sold, some of the money will pay her fees at the same private school that all her friends will be attending. But as usual, she hasn't listened properly. They aren't going to live in the old mansion - they'll be in a shack in the bush, with long drops and eight-legged wildlife! Becs is not impr... read more

"I love doubters: of a truly honest doubter I have great hope." Printer, botanist and missionary, William Colenso was a nineteenth-century maverick, a true original. He protested at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, arguing that Maori did not fully understand its implications. He became a troubled conscience during the white-hot period of colonisation, maintaining his dissident voice throughout his career. Peter Wells refreshes our vision of this awkward, highly talented man, who lost his family after the church expelled him ... read more

A devastatingly powerful and memorable novel for readers of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
On a stormy night in small-town America, a couple, desperate and soaked to the skin, knock on a stranger's door. When Martha, a retired schoolteacher living a safe and conventional life, answers their knock, her world changes forever. For they are fugitives. Lynnie, a young woman with an intellectual disability, and Homan, a deaf man with only sign language to guide him, have escaped together from The School for the Incurable and... read more

In 1984, architect Scott Warren comes to China on a scholarship to study Daoist buildings, just at the time when the liberalisation policies of Deng Xiaoping are unfolding and Chinese people are experiencing new freedoms. Twenty-three years later he returns, to honour his dead wife's request to take her ashes back to China. He encounters a country that has been propelled into international commerce, culture and politics that has Western-style prosperity yet continued human rights restrictions and one-party rule. In this complexity,... read more

In June 1941, Nazi troops march on Leningrad and surround it. Hitler's plan is to shell, bomb, and starve the city into submission. Most of the cultural elite are evacuated early in the siege, but Dmitri Shostakovich, the most famous composer in Russia, stays on to defend his city, digging ditches and fire-watching. At night he composes a new work. But after Shostakovich and his family are forced to evacuate, only Karl Eliasberg - a shy and difficult man, conductor of the second-rate Radio Orchestra - and an assortment of musicians... read more

This title includes unexpected tales from the master of short fiction.
The Shielding of Mrs Forbes - Graham Forbes is a disappointment to his mother who thinks that if he must have a wife, he should have done better. And her own husband would be better if she were mourning him than living with him. But this is Alan Bennett, so no matter the importance of keeping up appearances, what is happening in the bedroom (and in lots of other places too) is altogether more startling, perhaps shocking, and ultimately much more honest to ... read more

Beautiful and filthy - Simon Hattenstone, Guardian

A fabulous debut novel about the stories we read and the ones we tell ourselve. In this delightful, funny and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. Lucy Hull, a 26-year-old children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both kidnapper and kidnapped when her favourite patron, 10-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly anti-g... read more

Based on his top-selling 'Uke'n Play Ukulele' series, Mike Jackson has now put together a bumper edition with a combined collection of songs, covering a wide range of music styles. Basic instruction is given for the beginner musician and relevance of the ukulele to the guitar is included-to make it especially easy for those who already play the guitar. The play-along CD has samples of all the 45 songs. It helps keep the beat and gives confidence to the player, as playing technique is being refined. With this 'Instant Play Method'... read more

"I always thought the job was to be as great as you could be." -- Bono This is the story of U2, in their own words and pictures. It is the only authorised, fully comprehensive guide to the biggest band in the world. "We are trying to pin down something elusive, something that represents where we are, emotionally, physically, spiritually, but is also fresh and exciting. If it is not absolutely the best it can be, then why bother?" -- Adam Clayton. In 1975, four teenagers from Mount Temple School in Dublin gathered in a crowded kit... read more

Waka Taua gives a concise introduction to the Maori war canoe. Key areas covered by the book include waka traditions, types and variants of the canoe, phases of building, parts of the waka, responsibilities of the crew and paddling the craft. With numerous historical and contemporary photographs and drawings, Waka Taua is an easily-read tribute to this timeless expression of tribal identity and power.

Pulitzer Prize winner 2009. Olive Kitteridge might be described by some as a battle axe or as brilliantly pushy, by others as the kindest person they had ever met. Olive herself has always been certain that she is 100% correct about everything - although, lately, her certitude has been shaken. This indomitable character appears at the centre of these narratives that comprise Olive Kitteridge. In each of them, we watch Olive, a retired schoolteacher, as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her life and the lives of those... read more

The new novel from the bestselling Patrick Gale.Renowned Canadian artist Rachel Kelly - now of Penzance - has buried her past and married a gentle and loving Cornish man. Her life has been a sacrifice to both her extraordinary art and her debilitating manic depression. When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio in Penzance, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up. She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work - but she also leaves a legacy... read more

Waiata Mai (literally, sing to me) is a compilation of contemporary and semi-traditional Maori songs aimed at anyone who is learning te reo or planning a visit a marae for the first time. Songs include popular classics such as Pokarekare Ana and Tutira Mai.The accompanying booklet with lyrics in both English and Maori has been newly designed and the songs re-recorded onto CD for readers and listeners. Explanatory notes in English and a new introduction are presented in easy terms for those new to the language and comments on the so... read more

This is a history, taken from his own words, of one of New Zealand's most important Maori leaders. To date, it is the most complete collection of sources and commentary surrounding the life of Wiremu Tamihana Te Waharoa Tarapipipi, rangatira of the Ngati Haua iwi, commonly referred to as 'The Kingmaker' for his role in the institution of the Maori King Movement.

Anyone who has been welcomed on to a marae in New Zealand, will understand that whaikorero - oratory - is at the heart of Maori culture. Whaikorero: The World of Maori Oratory is the first introduction to this fundamental Maori art to be widely published. It is based on broad research as well as oral histories from 30 of the leading exponents of whaikorero, many of whom have subsequently died. Author Poia Rewi's informants are affiliated to many iwi including Tuhoe, Ngati Kahungunu, Te Arawa, Ngati Porou, Ngati Awa, Waikato-Maniap... read more