AQUANAUT SC

Gosh! Best of 2022

Caldecott award winner Dan Santat (long a comics fan) came out with this original graphic novel this year, and didn't disappoint. With his usual blend of whimsical humour and illustrative aplomb, Santat also delivers some strong dramatic chops here. Covering Big Topics like grief and environmentalism, The Aquanaut tells the story of a young girl who has lost her father, the famous co-founder of Aqualand, after an accident at sea. After she encounters a mysterious figure that turns out to be a hermit crab, a turtle and a pair of octopi piloting a man-suit (actually an old fashioned diving suit in fasionable attire), she learns of her father's last wishes, and the sinister secret behind Aqualand that they'll have to fight to put right. Honestly, this feels like a Pixar film just waiting to be made.

Dive in to this adventurous graphic novel all about saving the ocean from Caldecott-winning author-illustrator Dan Santat!

With the humorous and heartfelt tones of Finding Nemo, The Aquanaut follows a group of determined characters on their entangled journey to save their family.

First there's a band of sea creatures struggling to find their way to a fabled paradise and safe haven for marine life. Then there's a girl who lost her father at sea and is at risk of losing her uncle to his obsession with the legacy of a theme park. The unlikely group find their way to each other at AQUALAND, and stumble across what they are looking for in unexpected ways.

Dan Santat is the Caldecott Medal-winning and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, Are We There Yet?, and After the Fall

Fully illustrated in glorious colour throughout

A graphic novel perfect for readers who want to save the oceans and the creatures within