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OMNIBIRD: THE AVIAN INVESTIGATOR’S HANDBOOK, RRP, $45.
This picture book by author Giselle Clarkson is a highly illustrated, playful field guide to common international birds. It brings the art of observology to the science of ornithology, showing the many ways these familiar creatures are remarkable. An Omnibird contains the essential birdiness of every bird. It was born from an egg, has feathers, two legs, a beak and gizzard and perhaps some premium features like spurs or a curuncle. Once you recognise the Omnibird, you’ll see the remarkable in any bird.
THE LAST LIVING CANNIBAL, RRP $38.
This work of fiction is by writer Airana Ngarewa and is set in New Zealand in the 1940s. The Māori men of Taranaki have refused to join the Māori battalion because of the severity of their land confiscations. Koko is the oldest man in the village, a legend within his community. He’s lived through the land wars, Parihaka and imprisonment and they whisper of him as the Last Living Cannibal. Koko dotes on his grandson Blackie, who’s lived with him since Blackie’s mum left in troubling circumstances years earlier. This book is the epitome of a classic New Zealand novel, from one of this generation’s most promising writers.