Eel dreams of being a magnificent river eel and swimming in wild waters. But the reality of his life is quite different. The waters of his swamp are muddy and sluggish - not the right place for an eel like him! So with his friend, Pukeko, he sets out to find the perfect river for him. What he finds, however, is a surprise - even for him.

 

This book was published 2005 by Raupo Publishing (NZ) Ltd .

Helen Taylor is an award-winning children's book illustrator and an exhibiting artist. She has been twice shortlisted for the LIANZA Children's Book Awards. In 2006, Helen won Best Picture Book in the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, with A Booming in the Night . Helen Taylor and Ben Brown live with their two children and one ungrateful cat in an old yellow house on a red boned hill beside the sea in the portside town of Lyttelton. Here beneath their creaking eaves they write and illustrate children's books. Amid the passing of ships and the incessant squawking of indignant seagulls, Helen immerses herself in the possibilities of watercolour paints on Fabriano hotpress paper, as Ben explores the recesses of their combined imaginations in search of a story, while trying to find a pen to write it down with. Ben and Helen work together in a creative partnership that has spanned over twelve years of involvement with children's books in New Zealand.