The One And Only Ivan By Katherine Applegate
The One and Only Ivan is the 2013 Newbery award book written by Katherine Applegate. It’s remarkable and unusual writing style and sentimental approach does more than just send a message that animals have feelings. It also renders a novel attitude towards concepts such as freedom, responsibility, and aspiration, which makes the book worthy of a Newbery medal.
The One and Only Ivan is a novel, based on a true story, from the first person point of view of Ivan, a gorilla who spent most of his life in a mall cage. He lives with his friends, Stella (an old elephant) and Bob (a stray dog), and makes paintings, which are sold at the mall. The distinctive writing style implemented in this book helps focus on Ivan’s relationship with a newly captive baby elephant called Ruby, whose wellbeing Ivan becomes responsible for. Ruby, coming from the wild, makes him see his captive life from a new perspective and he begins to remember what his life before the cage was like and how it felt to truly be free. He sees Ruby being ill-treated by the ringmaster and realizes that living at the mall was not what he thought it was. So, he paints a picture of a zoo and gets it put up outside the mall, with the help of a friendly little girl named Julia. People then begin to take notice of the maltreatment of the animals at the mall and so, the …show more content…
exhibit is shut down and Ivan and Ruby are sent to the zoo, which has a much larger enclosure with more of Ivan’s kind. The book closes with Ivan falling in love with another gorilla and settling into his new home.
The Association for Library Service to Children considers six criteria to resolve whether or not a book deserves the Newbery medal (or honor). To begin with, the first criterion is “Interpretation of the theme or concept”, which The One and Only Ivan achieves through Ivan’s assessment of the concepts of freedom and responsibility. Children not only love stories about animals, but also tend to relate to animals extremely well. Ivan’s amiable and caring personality is highlighted by the first person point of view employed by the author and a major theme in the book is about aspiration of a brighter future and learning to take responsibility like a grown up. To children, the themes of this book are also relevant in understanding the way their parents care for them or in the case that they have younger siblings, engender a sense of responsibility for and appreciation of their younger siblings.
The second criterion is “Presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization”.
Applegate helps us probe into the life of a captive animal and the conditions it faces and creates a dense and emotional plot around the major themes of the novel, which a child (and parent) would really appreciate. She enables the readers to experience first-hand what it is like to be in the place of the gorilla, which plays as a powerful and emotive tool to convey the themes in the novel across to its readers. The accuracy and organization of information, although not clear throughout the book, are justified by the writing style Applegate
uses.
The third criterion is “Development of a plot”. The plot centers on Ivan’s life at the mall, showing a clear progressive transformation of the characters and setting as his attitude towards his and Ruby’s captivity changes over time. The writing style implemented not only makes this story more realistic but also allows for the plot to revolve around Ivan.
The fourth criterion is “Delineation of characters”. Being that this story is told from Ivan’s point of view, the reader only gets a limited insight into the other characters. Applegate makes up for it by allowing her readers to closely examine the development that Ivan experiences under the influence of the other characters in this novel. Ivan goes from being a satisfied, nonchalant gorilla to questioning his entire life, beginning to hope for a better future for Ruby and himself, and showing true grit and initiative.
The fifth criterion is “Delineation of a setting”. The One and Only Ivan stands out in this criterion as it takes a well-known setting that children can already relate to, but shows it from the other side of the glass. The description of the setting from Ivan’s perspective changes gradually, which has a direct impact on the way the plot shapes up. It is in the scope of most children’s imagination and experiences to comprehend the difference between a small cage and a large zoo enclosure, which makes the setting of this book the backbone that strengthens the message in the plot.
The sixth criterion is “Appropriateness of style”. Although the chapters seem to come across as not having the conventional flow of a novel, the writing style used by Applegate through this unique first person point of view is justified. This writing technique allows for a good flow of events in Ivan’s life and filters out the rest, which helps children fully witness Ivan’s transformation and relate it to their own lives.
In conclusion, it seems evident that Katherine Applegate outdid herself with The One and Only Ivan for a children’s novel, taking into account these six criteria, which therefore, deserves to be a Newbery award book.
The One and Only Ivan is a novel, based on a true story, from the first person point of view of Ivan, a gorilla who spent most of his life in a mall cage. He lives with his friends, Stella (an old elephant) and Bob (a stray dog), and makes paintings, which are sold at the mall. The distinctive writing style implemented in this book helps focus on Ivan’s relationship with a newly captive baby elephant called Ruby, whose wellbeing Ivan becomes responsible for. Ruby, coming from the wild, makes him see his captive life from a new perspective and he begins to remember what his life before the cage was like and how it felt to truly be free. He sees Ruby being ill-treated by the ringmaster and realizes that living at the mall was not what he thought it was. So, he paints a picture of a zoo and gets it put up outside the mall, with the help of a friendly little girl named Julia. People then begin to take notice of the maltreatment of the animals at the mall and so, the …show more content…
exhibit is shut down and Ivan and Ruby are sent to the zoo, which has a much larger enclosure with more of Ivan’s kind. The book closes with Ivan falling in love with another gorilla and settling into his new home.
The Association for Library Service to Children considers six criteria to resolve whether or not a book deserves the Newbery medal (or honor). To begin with, the first criterion is “Interpretation of the theme or concept”, which The One and Only Ivan achieves through Ivan’s assessment of the concepts of freedom and responsibility. Children not only love stories about animals, but also tend to relate to animals extremely well. Ivan’s amiable and caring personality is highlighted by the first person point of view employed by the author and a major theme in the book is about aspiration of a brighter future and learning to take responsibility like a grown up. To children, the themes of this book are also relevant in understanding the way their parents care for them or in the case that they have younger siblings, engender a sense of responsibility for and appreciation of their younger siblings.
The second criterion is “Presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization”.
Applegate helps us probe into the life of a captive animal and the conditions it faces and creates a dense and emotional plot around the major themes of the novel, which a child (and parent) would really appreciate. She enables the readers to experience first-hand what it is like to be in the place of the gorilla, which plays as a powerful and emotive tool to convey the themes in the novel across to its readers. The accuracy and organization of information, although not clear throughout the book, are justified by the writing style Applegate
uses.
The third criterion is “Development of a plot”. The plot centers on Ivan’s life at the mall, showing a clear progressive transformation of the characters and setting as his attitude towards his and Ruby’s captivity changes over time. The writing style implemented not only makes this story more realistic but also allows for the plot to revolve around Ivan.
The fourth criterion is “Delineation of characters”. Being that this story is told from Ivan’s point of view, the reader only gets a limited insight into the other characters. Applegate makes up for it by allowing her readers to closely examine the development that Ivan experiences under the influence of the other characters in this novel. Ivan goes from being a satisfied, nonchalant gorilla to questioning his entire life, beginning to hope for a better future for Ruby and himself, and showing true grit and initiative.
The fifth criterion is “Delineation of a setting”. The One and Only Ivan stands out in this criterion as it takes a well-known setting that children can already relate to, but shows it from the other side of the glass. The description of the setting from Ivan’s perspective changes gradually, which has a direct impact on the way the plot shapes up. It is in the scope of most children’s imagination and experiences to comprehend the difference between a small cage and a large zoo enclosure, which makes the setting of this book the backbone that strengthens the message in the plot.
The sixth criterion is “Appropriateness of style”. Although the chapters seem to come across as not having the conventional flow of a novel, the writing style used by Applegate through this unique first person point of view is justified. This writing technique allows for a good flow of events in Ivan’s life and filters out the rest, which helps children fully witness Ivan’s transformation and relate it to their own lives.
In conclusion, it seems evident that Katherine Applegate outdid herself with The One and Only Ivan for a children’s novel, taking into account these six criteria, which therefore, deserves to be a Newbery award book.