"The One and Only Ivan" Wins Newbery Award

The One and Only Ivan, a children’s book inspired by the life of Ivan the Gorilla has been chosen for the 2013 American Library Association’s John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.

The book’s author, Katherine Applegate, lives in California, but was inspired by the story of the real Ivan, and his life in the Atlanta zoo, and before that, in Tacoma’s B&I shopping mall. The book tells the tale of a fictional Ivan:

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain.

Like the real Ivan, the gorilla in the story spends lonely years in a shopping mall cage. In the book, Ivan meets Ruby, a baby elephant, and his story takes a slightly different path, but like the real Ivan, he finds his way to a better home, with other gorillas. It’s nice to see that even after his passing last year, Ivan continues to inspire children and adults well beyond Tacoma.

Head over to King’s Books or buy the book now from Amazon.com

Read more about the award from the Washington Post or on the author’s website.

Previously from Exit133: other stories of Ivan the Gorilla.