The One and Only Ivan
Katherine Applegate (2012)
“Based on the true story of a gorilla who spent 27 years in a shopping mall, told in his own quiet, devastating voice.”
Why This Book Matters
Won the 2013 Newbery Medal. Based on a true story that helped catalyze the modern animal welfare movement. One of the most successful middle-grade novels to center animal consciousness without anthropomorphism. Adapted into a Disney+ film in 2020. Has become a classroom staple for teaching empathy, perspective, and the ethics of captivity.
Firsts & Innovations
One of the first major children's novels to narrate from a captive animal's perspective based on a documented real case
Pioneered a radically spare prose style in middle-grade fiction that proved literary minimalism could work for young readers
Among the first Newbery winners to explicitly engage with animal rights as a contemporary ethical issue
Cultural Impact
Raised awareness of roadside animal attractions and their conditions
Used in schools nationwide to teach perspective-taking and empathy across species lines
Disney+ adaptation (2020) brought the story to a broader audience
Inspired classroom projects on animal welfare and captive animal conditions
Helped shift public conversation about the ethics of keeping intelligent animals in small enclosures
Banned & Challenged
Not widely banned or challenged. Occasionally questioned for its depiction of animal death (Stella) and its implicit critique of captivity, which some communities find politically charged.