The one and only Ivan
About the book:
The novel that ranked first in book sales according to the New York Times evaluation, and won the annual Newbery medal for the most distinguished emerging books in America, which Disney turned into a movie in 2020, it is the novel of the only and unique Evan (The One and Only Ivan)
Evan spends twenty-seven years of his life alone between the walls of his glass room inside a small shopping center outside the city, during which he gets used to the human gaze staring at him while he is bent on white papers, drawing his paintings with crayons, to be sold later in the souvenir shop for a few cheap dollars. Evan also gets used to forgetting, forgetting to think about himself and wonder about his life and what it really means to be a majestic silverback gorilla, living among his own kind, having a small family that he gives love and protection.
All these years, Evan has occupied himself with drawing and watching cowboy movies from his small TV screen, until he meets Robby, the little elephant who does not yet know the life of families and the circus, and does not stop asking questions, to find himself in confrontation with his past, and suddenly remembers what he was created for and what he was. It could be.
With intelligent realism and sincere emotion, and from the perspective of Evan himself, this novel makes us a window and a mirror, a window through which we look at the other, and a mirror in which we see a reflection of ourselves. While the reader thinks that he is going to read a story about the life of a desperate animal in a small circus, he is surprised by its ability to delve into our human nature, and how our decisions and actions affect ourselves and others.
Inspired by the true story of captive silverback gorilla Ivan, acclaimed author Catherine Applegate celebrates the art, hope, and transformative power of true friendships.
A great novel from a great writer for a great reader.
Written by: Catherine Applegate
Illustrated by: Patrick Castillo
Translated by: Dr. Nusseibeh Al-Azibi
Age: 10 years and over