2013 Newbery winner, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate is a book about a gorilla named Ivan who is living in small cage in a mall next to an old elephant named Stella and a tiny mangy stray dog named Bob. When the mall’s owner buys a new baby elephant, Ruby, to help the financially declining mall, Ivan and Stella begin to work for a change so that Ruby does not have the life that they do. With help from the janitor and his little art-loving daughter Julia, Ivan uses his own art to try and get Ruby help.
What I liked. I loved that there were such warm relationships, perhaps thrown into greater relief and clarity by the cruelty and neglect of Stella and Ivan and Bob: Ivan’s relationship with the old elephant Stella; Stella’s love as an adoptive Auntie of the poor new baby Ruby; Ivan’s love of the budding artist Julia; and the unlikely love of the stray dog Bob. The book is bursting with love in the middle of much hardship, and in the end, love triumphs even with immense sadness and loss along the way.
What was interesting . One of the things that was most interesting to me is that reading the story of the actual Ivan who really did live in a mall and [Spoiler Alert] really was released after public protest was the climax of the story. In the book, the most unbelievable thing that Ivan is able to do through his art is be able to ask for help and get it. It’s the moment when the talking animal world and the talking human world mix for a moment, and that seems like the most unlikely thing that happens in the whole story. Yet in the real story somehow public opinion shifts and people begin to protest Ivan’s living situation. Of course the details in the story are not real, but it fascinates me how the most unreal part of the fictional story is able to capture the most real part of the real story. Stories can be like that, capturing truth in unexpected ways. It’s pretty awesome.
What were some limitations. This is not really a limitation, more of just a heads up: I will say that the beginning of this story is very sad, like very, very sad. That’s not a bad thing; cruelty, whether to people or animals should be something that makes us sad, and reading a middle grade story that deals with it honestly and judiciously helps to make the world a better place. Plus, this story has a very happy ending, or as Ivan himself puts it, “I like colorful takes with black beginnings and stormy middles and cloudless blue-sky endings” (p.63). Or as Kathrine Applegate said in her Newbery acceptance speech about a parent who was worried about children reading the book for an upcoming school visit because it “‘might make the children cry. ‘ The bookstore, to its credit, reassured her thusly: absolutely it will make them cry. And, oh, by the way–that’s a good thing” (p. 311). This was a re-read for me and I remember thinking a few chapters in, I think I really liked this book in the end, keep going. So my encouragement is for people to keep going!
Similarity to other Newbery winners. In terms of talking animal stories there have been The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (1923) Smoky the Cow Horse (technically he doesn’t talk to other animals, the but book is from his perspective), Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon, Rabbit Hill, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and The Tale of Despereaux. Also with the presence of Bob the dog, The One and Only Ivan joins a number of books with beloved dogs: Bandit (from Dear Mr. Henshaw) Prince Terrien (from Bridge to Terabithia), Nick (from Adam of the Road), Uri (from Call it Courage), Fortinbras (from Wrinkle In Time), Cafall (from The Grey King), Ramo (from Island of the Blue Dolphins), HMS Beagle from (The Higher Power of Lucky), Sounder, Ginger Pye, and Shiloh. Interestingly, still all these dogs are male dogs.
What it teaches me as a writer. The stakes in this book for the main character are pretty high for a middle grade novel: continued neglect and cruelty for the main characters, maybe even a life or death situation. Some of this I think comes from being an animal story; for some reason having animals threatened with death in a story isn’t the same thing as people. But I think also why this story works better than other straight historical fiction Newbery books that have very bleak parts (like The Slave Dancer, or MC Higgins the Great, but even to some extent Kira-Kira and Out of the Dust) is that there are really strong and good friendships and a really happy ending that anchors the whole thing. A historical fiction Newbery that I think does this well is Number the Stars. Other fantasies like Wrinkle in Time and Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH do high stakes with warm friendships and happy endings really well too. In writing my own fantasy book, it’s helpful to remember that for middle grade kids it seems that fantasy can mean higher stakes if really good friendships and really hopeful endings are there as well.
Have you read The One and Only Ivan? What are your favorite talking-animal novels?
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