Guillermo del Toro is known not only as one of the most famous directors of our time, but also, he is an author of several literary works. In 2018, immediately after the premiere of the film “The Shape of Water”, which made him an Oscar winner, a novel of the same name written in collaboration with Daniel Kraus appeared. “The Shape of Water” represents a novelization, but the film, as compared with the book, tells the story in different ways. We can see the difference between the representation of some characters. They are deeper and more complicated in the book. Also, we analyze methods, which the writers used to transfer the language of cinema in the text of the novel. Among the motifs realized both in the film and the novel we distinguish the motif of water. We focus on the forms of water, which are symbolic for the narrative.