The Bäcklund transformations and abundant explicit exact solutions to the AKNS shallow water wave equation are obtained by combining the extended homogeneous balance method with the extended hyperbolic function method. The solutions obtained admit of multiple arbitrary parameters. These solutions include (a) a compound of the rational fractional function and a linear function, (b) a compound of solitary wave solution and a linear function, (c) a compound of the singular travelling wave solutions and a linear function, and (d) a compound of the periodic wave solutions of triangle function and a linear function. In special cases, we can obtain a series of soliton solutions, singular travelling wave solutions, periodic travelling wave solutions, and rational fractional function solution. In addition to re-deriving some known solutions in a systematic way, some brand-new exact solutions are also established.