#tbt: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Image: HarperCollins

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Illustrated by Patricia Castelao. 320 p. HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2012. 9780061992259. (Own.)

Today is the penultimate Thursday of summer break for my students, but the final Thursday for me and the rest of my colleagues. We return next Thursday! 

#tbt features The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Ivan, a Silverback Gorilla, has lived at the Big Top Mall for 9855 days, by his counting. He is a content gorilla. He spends his days watching television, eating bananas and painting. His friend, Stella, a former circus elephant lives in the next enclosure. And then there's Mack, the stray dog who is content being a stray. Ivan doesn't remember his life before poachers captured him and killed his mother. Stella has a long memory and longs to live in a zoo. When a baby elephant, named Ruby comes to live at the mall, Stella is determined to get them out.

The One and Only Ivan is a work of fiction based on a true story. There really was an Ivan who lived in a mall and painted. It was published in January of 2012 and won the 2013 Newbery Medal. In 2014, the book was optioned for film and the live-action adaptation released to Disney + in 2020 instead of to theaters due to the pandemic. Also in 2020, Ms. Applegate published a companion/ sequel called The One and Only Bob. On August 21, Ms. Applegate posted a photo of Ivan on her Twitter page to mark the tenth anniversary of his death.

I've read the book both with my ears and with my eyes several times and cried each time. Happy reading!