Visions of Nature: New Zealand's Wild in the West
by Trevor Penfold
Perfect Publishing, $58
There are so many fine picture books about New Zealand these days that it's often difficult to find a point of difference that makes one stand out from the others.
In this case, however, it's Trevor Penfold's marvellous photographs of wildlife - birds, insects, spiders, moths, reptiles, whales, crabs and starfish - that make it so special.
I've always thought one of the great reasons for visiting anywhere is to see the wildlife.
This book is a real inspiration to explore the wild and wonderful West Coast that Penfold clearly loves.
The detail in his gorgeous pictures of goony spoonbills, bouncy pied stilts, glittering tui, nest-building goldfinches, a red damselfly resting on a green-and-gold bell frog, fighting white herons and streamlined godwits are an absolute joy to behold.