Two beautifully illustrated rhyming stories and a fabulously fun card game about Aotearoa New Zealand's fish $39 (RRP $65)

Perfect for younger kids, Whitebait Wriggle and Eel Song are beautifully illustrated rhyming stories that teach about our precious native whitebait species (the galaxiids) and our unique longfin eel. Put these books together with Go Whitebait, a card game that will delight, and you have hours of fun for your young family.

The Whitebait Wriggle

Ian, Billy and Ginny, and Keri and Sheri have just set off on the journey of a lifetime. Tiny, little whitebait swimming all the way from the oceans around New Zealand to our rivers and streams.

Wriggling and darting through
the waves and the foam,
They all swim together 
in search of a home.

Ian the inanga was silver and dotty,
Giant kōkopu Ginny was dark brown and spotty.
The banded kōkopu Billy, the kōaro called Keri.
And the shortjaw kōkopu answered to Sheri.

Join our tiny whitebait as they undertake their quest to find a home. Share in the wonder as Ian, Billy and Ginny, and Keri and Sheri grow into five beautiful native fish.

Eel Song

Join Aotearoa’s amazing longfin eels on their migration from the silver-cold streams, rivers and lakes in which they grew up, to the tropical Pacific Islands far away. Once there, the longfins spawn and when the eggs hatch, tiny, leaf-like baby eels drift on ocean currents back to Aotearoa.

Go Whitebait

Amber McEwan has taken her passion for Aotearoa New Zealand's native freshwater fauna in a new direction, creating an fun and educational card game. Making up a standard pack, her Go Whitebait cards are not only beautifully illustrated, but can be used just like a normal pack of cards.

How to play Go Whitebait

Each player is dealt 7 cards, which they hold in a closed hand.  The rest of the cards are placed in a stack in the middle facing down.

The youngest player starts, then turns proceed in a clockwise direction.

Each turn starts with a question to a player of their choice: e.g. “do you have a forest pool?”

• If the player does have that card, they must give hand it over, at which point the person whose turn it is can lay down any pairs they choose. The turn then moves on.
• If the player does not have that card, they say “go whitebait!”, and the person whose turn it is picks up a card from the pile. The turn then moves on.

The only time a player can lay down pairs is during their turn, after they have asked their question.  Jokers can take the place of any card.  The game is won when a player has all 5 pairs laid down in front of them.

Other ways to play: the cards can also be used as a memory match game, and because they have the standard suits of a normal pack of cards you can play any other card game with these, if you ever get tired of Go Whitebait!