The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People by Tim Flannery

$15.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: very good

This is the story of how human beings have consumed the resources they need for their own future. It examines the original "future eaters" who were the first people to leave the Afro-Asian homeland and travel down the chain of islands to Australasia and became the Aboriginal, Maori and other Polynesian peoples. They changed the flora and fauna in ways that seem inconceivable. The book then continues on to discuss how Europeans have made an even greater impact and how today "future eating" is a universal occupation. ...Show more

What Am I? In the Bush by Gillian Torckler

$6.00 NZD

Category: Children Non-fiction | Reading Level: very good

This fascinating book introduces 11 unique living things that can be seen in the New Zealand bush.Meet: a moth with no mouth that lives for only one night; an insect with four ears; a mischevious parrot that likes to pull cars apart; and a bird with nostrils at the end of its beak! Guess the identity of each animal from clues set out in rhyme, then learn some interesting facts about the mystery creature! Each of the 11 animals has a fact-file and a question page to test memory skills. What Am I? In the Bush will appeal to readers of all ages. ...Show more

The Tuatara ( Nature Kids ) by B. O'Flaherty

$5.00 NZD

Category: Children Non-fiction | Series: Nature Kids in New Zealand S. | Reading Level: very good

The Tuatara contains information about the family trees of these animals, what they eat, where they live, what they look like, how they look after their babies and what we can do to preserve the species. This title is part of the Nature Kids natural history series. These books aim to make information about popular aspects of New Zealand’s natural history accessible to children 5 through 8 years of age. ...Show more

Pathfinders Birds

$5.00 NZD

Category: Children Non-fiction | Reading Level: good

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv

$14.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: very good

"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth-grader. Never before in history have children been so plugged in and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation he calls it nature deficit to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and depression. Some startling facts: By the 1990s the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Today, average eight-year-olds are better able to identify cartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees, in their own community. The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind. Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. "Last child in the Woods" is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature. Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fears of traffic, strangers, even virus-carrying mosquitoes fears the media exploit that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas. Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods," and this book is the first step toward that nature-child reunion. ...Show more

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen

$15.00 NZD

Category: Travel | Reading Level: very good

Winterdance is an unforgettable account of Gary Paulsen's most ambitious quest: to know a world beyond his knowing, to train for and run the Iditarod. Fueled by an all-consuming passion for running dogs, Paulsen entered the grueling 1,180-mile race across Alaska in dangerous ignorance and with fierce de termination. For seventeen days, Paulsen and his team of fifteen dogs ran through breathtaking and treacherous Arctic terrain. They crossed the barren, moonlike landscape of the Alaskan interior and witnessed sunrises that cast a golden blaze over the vast waters of the Bering Sea. They endured blinding wind, snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, hallucinations - and the relentless push to go on. He crossed the finish line, but it wasn't enough: Paulsen was obsessed and wanted to race again. Though the dangers of the Iditarod were legion, more frightening still was the knowledge that he could not stop racing dogs of his own free will. ...Show more

The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science by Andrea Wulf

$14.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: very good

The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world--and in the process created modern environmentalism.   NATIONAL BEST SELLER   One of the New York Times 10 B est Books of the YearWinner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The James Wright Award for Nature Writing, the Costa Biography Award, the Royal Geographic Society's Ness Award, the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award   Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Kirkus Prize Prize for Nonfiction, the Independent Bookshop Week Book AwardABest Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, Nature, Jezebel, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, New Scientist, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The SpectatorAlexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. In North America, his name still graces four counties, thirteen towns, a river, parks, bays, lakes, and mountains. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether he was climbing the highest volcanoes in the world or racing through anthrax-infected Siberia or translating his research into bestselling publications that changed science and thinking. Among Humboldt's most revolutionary ideas was a radical vision of nature, that it is a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone.   Now Andrea Wulf brings the man and his achievements back into focus: his daring expeditions and investigation of wild environments around the world and his discoveries of similarities between climate and vegetation zones on different continents. She also discusses his prediction of human-induced climate change, his remarkable ability to fashion poetic narrative out of scientific observation, and his relationships with iconic figures such as Sim n Bol var and Thomas Jefferson. Wulf examines how Humboldt's writings inspired other naturalists and poets such as Darwin, Wordsworth, and Goethe, and she makes the compelling case that it was Humboldt's influence that led John Muir to his ideas of natural preservation and that shaped Thoreau's Walden.   With this brilliantly researched and compellingly written book, Andrea Wulf shows the myriad fundamental ways in which Humboldt created our understanding of the natural world, and she champions a renewed interest in this vital and lost player in environmental history and science. ...Show more

Persimmon Culture in New Zealand by Hirotoshi Kitagawa and Paul G. Glucina

$10.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Series: DSIR Information #159 Ser. | Reading Level: good

PERSIMMON CULTURE IN NZ New Zealand is well-suited to growing Persimmons but there was very little information in English on their cultivation. There was however information in Japanese and with the help of Hirotoshi Kitagawa, the DSIR published Persimmon Culture in NZ based on local experience and Japa nese experience. ISBN: 9780477067416 Title: PERSIMMON CULTURE IN NZ Author: KITAGAWA HIROTOSHI Year: 1984 Format: PAPERBACK  Pages: 73 Dimension: 240mm X 180mm ...Show more

Vireya Rhododendrons by J. Clyde Smith

$10.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Reading Level: good

Very good softcover copies. Good introduction to Vireyas with useful explanations of cultivation and propagation techniques.  

Yates Garden Guide by Yates (Orico New Zealand Ltd)

$20.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Reading Level: very good

This fully updated and revised 77th edition provides reliable, practical advice on all aspects of gardening: designing and planning your garden; preparing and maintaining your garden; organic gardening; water-saving gardens; gardening for kids; low-allergen gardens; pests, diseases and weeds; handy hint s from NZ's top gardeners; container gardening for courtyards. You will find everything you need to know about growing trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, vegetables, herbs and fruit in Yates Garden Guide - the essential companion for all gardeners. First published 1895; this 77th edition 2007. ...Show more

Vireyas for New Zealand Gardens by John Kenyon

$15.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Series: Godwit New Zealand Gardening Guides Ser. | Reading Level: very good

This illustrated guide is an introduction to the possibilities of cultivating vireya rhododendrons. It includes information on: the discovery and cultivation history of these relative newcomers; details of cultural requirements, care and maintenance, and propagation; suggestions for using vireyas in lan dscaping; and a discussion of suitable companion plants, along with lists of vireyas with notable attributes. The book includes a comprehensive descriptive list of species and the numerous hybrids in cultivation throughout the world. Jacqueline Walker is the author of "The Subtropical Garden". ...Show more

Rats - Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan

$15.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: very good

New York Public Library Book for the Teenager New York Public Library Book to Remember PSLA Young Adult Top 40 Nonfiction Titles of the Year "Engaging...a lively, informative compendium of facts, theories, and musings."-Michiko Kakutani, New York TimesBehold the rat, dirty and disgusting Robert Sullivan turns the lowly rat into the star of this most perversely intriguing, remarkable, and unexpectedly elegant New York Times bestseller.Love them or loathe them, rats are here to stay-they are city dwellers as much as (or more than) we are, surviving on the effluvia of our society. In Rats, the critically acclaimed bestseller, Robert Sullivan spends a year investigating a rat-infested alley just a few blocks away from Wall Street. Sullivan gets to know not just the beast but its friends and foes: the exterminators, the sanitation workers, the agitators and activists who have played their part in the centuries-old war between human city dweller and wild city rat. Sullivan looks deep into the largely unrecorded history of the city and its masses-its herds-of-rats-like mob. Funny, wise, sometimes disgusting but always compulsively readable, Rats earns its unlikely place alongside the great classics of nature writing. With an all-new Afterword by the author ...Show more