New Releases

Gecko Press is pleased to launch a new edition of The House that Jack Built by Gavin Bishop, and the first Te Reo Maori edition - Koinei te Whare na Haki i Hanga - as part of Porirua's popular, multi-cultural Waitangi Day event, The Festival of the Elements.

The Festival will take place from 11am till after 7pm at Te Rauparaha Park and Arena and Pataka Museum, Porirua on Monday 6 February.

A book that is about to be officially launched on Wednesday, 25 January regarding the use of urgency by the New Zealand House of Representatives has already resulted in changes to parliamentary procedure.

What’s the Hurry? Urgency in the NZ Legislative Process 1987-2010 (VUP, Wellington, 2011) is the result of a major research project at Victoria University’s Faculty of Law and was funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation. The Project researchers (Claudia Geiringer, Polly Higbee and Professor Elizabeth McLeay) examined the use of urgency in the New Zealand House of Representatives over a 24-year period – from 1987-2010.  

The ‘Dunedin Sound’ of the 1980s is a phenomenon known throughout the world. But what does Dunedin musicmaking sound like in the 21st century?

Dunedin Soundings features writing from musicians, composers and scholar/practitioners. They discuss genres as diverse as brass band, opera, classical, Indonesian gamelan, jazz, rock and more, the intricacies of the composition and lyricwriting processes, digital remixing, and scoring for film and TV.

Together, they reveal the ways in which these supposedly separate music fields have the potential to inform and stimulate each other.

New books for March from HarperCollins have been released. Highlights include:

• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• Tea with Miss Tilly by Justine Payden, illustrated by Philip Webb
• Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum by Terri
  Baynto
• The House on Willow Street by Cathy Kelly
• The Fine Colour of Rust by Paddy O’Reill

Open the catalogue of new childrens' titles for March (opens to PDF on website)

Before an idea there is a song – without these songs there is no world.

Only heard by babies in the womb, these wondrous melodies entice newborns into the world. Sixteen-face John, a shaman from the Arctic Circle, has lost his way, preferring Coca Cola and magazines to his mystical duties.

For guitar fans everywhere, this lavishly illustrated book is packed with intriguing facts, anecdotes, quotes, lists, history and just plain bizarre stuff.

From guitars made from cigarette boxes and oil cans to the world's most expensive instruments, discover the origin, history, construction, and stories behind the Fender, Stratocaster, Gibson, Epiphone and their luthiers.

Icons of their times, guitarists entertain with their personalities, adventures, and virtuosic musical ability. Read their thoughts on their instruments, music, and fame in their own word and find out fascinating facts about Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, BB King and others.