The Arts

When the Duchess arrives on the isle of Little Drum, she brings orders of silence, threatening the very soul of Oran's musical community. But then Oran hears of a mythical instrument with the power to manipulate hearts; she must find it and play it to change the Duchess's mind ......
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"Whatever you do, don't ask Greg Heffley how he spent his summer holidays, because he definitely doesn't want to talk about it. As Greg enters the new school year, he's eager to put the past three months behind him... and one event in particular. Unfortunately for Greg, his older... brother Rodrick knows all about the incident. And secrets have a way of getting out... especially when a diary is involved"--Publisher information.
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A beautiful and important book about the remarkable collaboration between the modernist architect James Hackshaw (a member, for a time, of the famous Group Architects), the painter Colin McCahon and the then young sculptor Paul Dibble on 14 New Zealand buildings - from churches ...to school halls. Drawing on interviews with James Hackshaw before his death and on the McCahon archive, this book brings into the light a body of work and a collaboration that has been little known or examined, even by old McCahon hands. Richly illustrated with Hackshaw's plans, McCahon's drawings, letters and journal entries, and contemporary images of the surviving buildings and artworks, and with expert essays by Peter Simpson, Julia Gatley and Peter Shaw.
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Poet Lynley Edmeades and painter Saskia Leek and luscious collaboration, the fourth in the landmark korero series edited by Lloyd Jones, explores ideas of the quotidian and its everyday miracles. Their close, intense domestic observations merge with the philosophical, in a quest ...for deeper meaning.
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Beautifully photographed by top garden photographer Juliet Nicholas, this book is a visual feast ... but much more too. While it includes some of the most magnificent gardens in the country, it also reflects on gardening in a broader sense. Gardens, defined as managed landscapes,... are as diverse as the tastes of their managers. The gardeners in these pages include botanists, conservationists, food growers and artists, and the gardens range from a food forest on the south coast to a dry garden in Cromwell, a community garden in Christchurch, a subtropical jungle in Kapiti, a productive Maori garden on the east coast and a historic whaling station in the far north. In the light of our growing awareness of climate change and land degradation, the role of gardeners as kaitiaki (guardians) is explored, but there is also the infectious enthusiasm that is to be found in the company of gardeners, and here you can see how they gain inspiration and share ideas. Muses include parents, brothers, sisters and spouses, and gardeners also keep close company with nature. These gardens might be seen as snapshots of a utopia we all crave. There is enough botanical detail to appeal to the experienced gardener but it will also inspire newcomers to don gardening gloves...or sit back and enjoy what is also a superb coffee table book.
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