UniPress Books

Seashells are uniquely appealing; from beachcombing adults to children exploring rockpools, everyone can appreciate the natural beauty they embody. From the vast Australian trumpet shell to the exquisitely tiny Ammonicera minortalis, and with colours ranging from dazzling blue to palest pink, shells are one of the most beautiful and varied aspects of our natural world. The Shell Seeker is a unique way of discovering these enticing forms. With an entrancing volvelle set into the cover, the book introduces a wonderful selection of shells from all seven continents. Juli Berwald reveals the remarkable and sometimes surprising features of shells, including bioluminescence, camouflage, gigantism and more. Taking a new spin on this perennially popular subject, The Shell Seeker is the perfect gift for beachcombers and seasoned conchologists alike.

Homer’s Odyssey is one of the world’s oldest and most famous works of literature. It has enthralled readers for almost three thousand years with its tales of gods and monsters, warriors and kings, but also of family, faith, and the universal longing for home. This stunning new edition of Homer’s epic features a brand new retelling by celebrated classicist Barry Powell, who has studied, written about, and lectured on Homer for over three decades. Barry’s retelling is accompanied by sixty newly commissioned artworks, bringing the iconic scenes and characters to life, from the brutish Polyphemus, to the monstrous Scylla and Charybdis, mysterious Circe, faithful Penelope, and Odysseus himself.

From butterflies and hummingbirds to narwhal and leopards, Naming Nature celebrates our wondrous natural world by exploring the language we use to describe it. Take elephants, for instance. African languages often focus on the power of the animal; Tswana and Tsonga refer to ‘the unstoppable one’ and Zulu ‘one crashing through’. In ancient European languages however, elephants were seen as commodities. When Homer and Hesiod wrote about elephas in the seventh century BCE, they simply used the word for ivory. Bestselling author T.A. Barron brings together his love of the natural world and his joy in language, creating an inspiring – and often surprising – collection.