Pinky Aquafin and the Thing That Never Noticed Her

The book

It's Jason and the Argonauts, retold underwater for fourth graders. Not simplified — retold. The impossible quest is there, the crew of misfits is there, and so is the long way home.

Pinky is an axolotl, which matters more than it first appears. An axolotl is the animal that stays a child its whole life. It never changes. She is leading a crew who can't do the job, on a voyage that will demand they all become something else.

There are thirty-four original illustrations through the interior, one for each chapter.

Six voyages

Each book in the series takes a classical voyage story and moves it under the sea.

1. IJason and the Argonauts9 November 2026
2. IIThe Odyssey11 January 2027
3. IIIThe Aeneidin production
4. IVThe Canterbury Talesin production
5. VGilgameshin production
6. VIThe Tempestin production

Every book ends with a note that retells its source as a story, names plainly what was borrowed and what was changed, and points a curious reader toward a young readers' edition of the original. A child who finishes one of these has somewhere to go next.

For librarians and educators

The book is available through Ingram and can be ordered through your usual supplier.

Requesting a copy

If it looks useful for your collection, write and say so and a copy will be sent. No cost, and no obligation to shelve it if it turns out not to be right for your readers.

dmgiblin@deepchannelbooks.com

The coloring book

Every illustration in the novel was redrawn as a page to colour. Thirty-four of them, in the order the story happens, published as a companion volume — one book to read, one to colour.

About the author

D.M. Giblin writes from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pinky Aquafin is a six-book series, written for a young reader named Zara who asked what an axolotl was and then would not let the question go.