Axolotl-Ella

A Sort-of Cinderella Story

Illustrated by Lian Cho
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Hardcover
$18.99 US
8.92"W x 11.26"H x 0.36"D  
On sale Jun 02, 2026 | 40 Pages | 9780593837993
Grades K-3

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Cinderella has never been so adorable--or amphibious!--as in this fractured fairytale picture book by New York Times bestselling author Kate Messner, with art by award-winning illustrator Lian Cho.

Axolotl-Ella is a quick and clever salamander with a daring, deliciously ambitious dream. All she needs to do to make her dream a reality is to meet the Prince at the King’s Festival. So with a little bit of magic from the lake of the night, Ella makes her skin gleam and her gills glow--and conjures the perfect outfit for a fancy party!

But the Prince talks a lot, and the magic wears off at midnight. Can Axolotl-Ella find a way to make her dream come true, or will she be stuck at the murky lake with her annoying stepsisters forever?

Bestselling author Kate Messner has created a funny, empowering retelling of the Cinderella story with a confident heroine who's way too practical for glass slippers. Complemented with laugh-out-loud illustrations by award-winning illustrator Lian Cho, and filled with amusing axolotl facts, Axolotl-Ella is destined to become a storytime favorite.
Kate Messner is a New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy books for curious readers. Her titles include award-winning picture books like Over and Under the Coral Reef and Axolotl-Ella, graphic novels like Camp Monster, the popular Ranger in Time and Wildlife Rescue chapter books, and novels like The Trouble with Heroes and All the Answers. Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her family and has climbed all forty-six of the Adirondack High Peaks. View titles by Kate Messner
Lian Cho has created artwork for Sesame Workshop and the New Yorker, and illustrated several critically acclaimed picture books, including It Began with Lemonade and The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom. Lian grew up in Taiwan and New Zealand, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, is a Society of Illustrators Student Competition Finalist, and received the Rhodes Family Award for Achievement in Illustration. View titles by Lian Cho
Once upon a warm and murky lake, there lived a
quick and clever salamander named Axolotl-Ella, and she loved
to dance. That’s the first thing you should know about her.

Axolotl-Ella had big plans for her life.
Huge plans.
Deliciously ambitious plans.

All she had to do was get to the King’s Festival so she could
meet the Prince. But Ella wasn’t very fancy.

“Your skin is mottled and green!”
her stepsister shrieked.

“Your gills are dull and gray!”

“You’re frumpy and toadish,”
her other stepsister declared.
“You can’t go to the festival looking like that!”

Discussion Guide for Axolotl-Ella

Provides questions, discussion topics, suggested reading lists, introductions and/or author Q&As, which are intended to enhance reading groups’ experiences.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

“With an irreverent, chart-your-own-course spirit, it’s a slippery, smart, and subversive story that wriggles free of most fairy tale expectations.”Publishers Weekly
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About

Cinderella has never been so adorable--or amphibious!--as in this fractured fairytale picture book by New York Times bestselling author Kate Messner, with art by award-winning illustrator Lian Cho.

Axolotl-Ella is a quick and clever salamander with a daring, deliciously ambitious dream. All she needs to do to make her dream a reality is to meet the Prince at the King’s Festival. So with a little bit of magic from the lake of the night, Ella makes her skin gleam and her gills glow--and conjures the perfect outfit for a fancy party!

But the Prince talks a lot, and the magic wears off at midnight. Can Axolotl-Ella find a way to make her dream come true, or will she be stuck at the murky lake with her annoying stepsisters forever?

Bestselling author Kate Messner has created a funny, empowering retelling of the Cinderella story with a confident heroine who's way too practical for glass slippers. Complemented with laugh-out-loud illustrations by award-winning illustrator Lian Cho, and filled with amusing axolotl facts, Axolotl-Ella is destined to become a storytime favorite.

Author

Kate Messner is a New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy books for curious readers. Her titles include award-winning picture books like Over and Under the Coral Reef and Axolotl-Ella, graphic novels like Camp Monster, the popular Ranger in Time and Wildlife Rescue chapter books, and novels like The Trouble with Heroes and All the Answers. Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her family and has climbed all forty-six of the Adirondack High Peaks. View titles by Kate Messner
Lian Cho has created artwork for Sesame Workshop and the New Yorker, and illustrated several critically acclaimed picture books, including It Began with Lemonade and The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom. Lian grew up in Taiwan and New Zealand, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, is a Society of Illustrators Student Competition Finalist, and received the Rhodes Family Award for Achievement in Illustration. View titles by Lian Cho

Excerpt

Once upon a warm and murky lake, there lived a
quick and clever salamander named Axolotl-Ella, and she loved
to dance. That’s the first thing you should know about her.

Axolotl-Ella had big plans for her life.
Huge plans.
Deliciously ambitious plans.

All she had to do was get to the King’s Festival so she could
meet the Prince. But Ella wasn’t very fancy.

“Your skin is mottled and green!”
her stepsister shrieked.

“Your gills are dull and gray!”

“You’re frumpy and toadish,”
her other stepsister declared.
“You can’t go to the festival looking like that!”

Guides

Discussion Guide for Axolotl-Ella

Provides questions, discussion topics, suggested reading lists, introductions and/or author Q&As, which are intended to enhance reading groups’ experiences.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Praise

“With an irreverent, chart-your-own-course spirit, it’s a slippery, smart, and subversive story that wriggles free of most fairy tale expectations.”Publishers Weekly

Photos

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additional book photo
additional book photo

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