The 80/20 Librarian: Focusing on the 20% that matters

I really liked Katharine Applegate’s book The One and Only Ivan, an award winning children’s work.  This is really a morality tale completed with personification. Ivan, a gorilla, is living as an attraction at the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade conveniently located off of I-95. The real change that prompts Ivan to get out of the mall is the death of his beloved elephant friend Stella. The death occurred because the mall’s owner did not want to pay for Stella’s medical treatment. Just before Stella dies she asks that Ivan free a newly arrived baby elephant, Ruby, and take her away to a different place. That different place is a zoo, where according to the book humans make amends for their mistreatment of animals. To get out of the Big Top Mall, Ivan will have to rely on his artistic ability as a painter and help from a few good humans namely George (the mall’s maintenance man) and his daughter Julia. I recommend the book as it should be on any public library’s shelf.