The One and Only Ivan

leaving. The next morning, Maya and a bunch of other humans arrive. All of them seem busy. Ruby is the first to get into her box. From inside, she calls to Ivan that she’s scared and doesn’t want to leave him. Ivan knows he can’t tell Ruby that he feels the same way, so he suggests she think of all the stories she can share with her new elephant family. After a long pause, Ruby promises to tell her new family Ivan’s elephant joke about the refrigerator. Ivan suggests that she also tell them about him, Bob, Julia, and Stella. Ruby agrees, and then the humans roll her box out to a truck.

Now it’s Ivan’s turn. The humans don’t seem to notice Bob hiding in Ivan’s cage, so while they’re busy doing other things, Bob sneaks out to lick Ivan’s chin. Ivan whispers that Bob is “the One and Only Bob,” and he offers him Not-Tag to help him sleep. Bob is confused at first, but then he grabs Not-Tag and returns to his hiding spot.

good boy. Maya tells Ivan “Good boy” as Ivan gets into the box for marshmallows. Once he’s in the box, Maya gives him a drink that tastes like mango, but it’s also bitter. Quickly, Ivan becomes sleepy. He dreams he’s with Tag, swinging on vines while Stella watches.

moving. Ivan’s eyes open briefly. He can feel the box moving “in the grumbling belly of some great beast” before he falls back to sleep.

awakening. When Ivan finally wakes up, he’s in a new cage that’s little different from his old one. It’s just cleaner. Maya greets Ivan as Ivan looks around. There are three glass walls in his cage, and one wall of wooden slats. This doesn’t look like a zoo—there are no gorillas. Ivan is worried for Ruby. She might still be alone and cold in her own cage. Is there anyone with her to tell her stories and help her sleep?

missing. Ivan misses his cage, his art, and Bob. His belly is cold now.

food. At the zoo, the food is okay—but there’s no soda or cotton candy.

not famous. Here, Ivan doesn’t get any visitors aside from Maya and her human friends. Maybe Ivan isn’t famous anymore.

something in the air. After many days go by, Ivan feels something different in the air. He’s not certain what it is.

a new tv. One day, Maya brings Ivan a new, bigger TV. She turns it on with a smile. Ivan hopes it’s going to show him a romance or a Western, but instead, it’s a nature show. There aren’t any human voices or ads; just gorillas playing, eating, and sleeping. Ivan wonders why Mack never showed him this channel.

the family. Ivan watches the gorillas on TV every day. The family is small and strange: there are only three females and a young male. There’s no silverback to protect them. The family looks content and happy.

excited. This morning, Maya doesn’t turn on Ivan’s TV. Instead, she and her friends say, “Today’s the day” and act excited. Ivan has never seen humans look so happy. He watches Maya go to the wall of wooden slats and pull a string.

what I see. This reveals gorillas—the gorilla family Ivan has been watching on his TV. But this time, they’re on the other side of the glass, and they’re watching Ivan just like he’s watching them. Ivan sees himself.

still there. Ivan covers his eyes and then looks out again. The gorilla family is still there.

watching. Ivan spends his days watching the gorilla family through his window. It reminds him of how human visitors used to watch him. He watches the gorillas chase one another, groom one another, and play. They’re graceful like Stella, and they stare at Ivan. Sometimes they point and hoot, and it makes Ivan wonder if they’re as intrigued by him as he is by them.

she. There’s one female that Ivan admires most: Kinyani. She’s fast and smart, and she terrifies Ivan. She’s also “beautiful, like a painting that moves.”

door. This morning, the humans lead Ivan to a door. The other gorillas, including Kinyani, are on the other side. Ivan’s not ready to be a silverback—he’s just Ivan. He decides to try socializing tomorrow.

wondering. All that night, Ivan thinks about Ruby. He wonders if she’s already gone through a door like the one Ivan refused to go through today. Maybe she was scared, like Ivan. Ivan thinks of all the questions Ruby used to ask—and he knows that if she were here, she’d ask what’s on the other side of the door. Ruby is so curious that she’d have already gone through the door.

ready. The next day, Maya asks Ivan if he wants to try again. Ivan thinks of Ruby and tells himself he can do it as the door opens.

outside at last. Outside, there’s a sky, grass, sticks, dirt, flowers, and rain. It all belongs to Ivan.

oops. Ivan approaches the other gorillas and puffs himself up, but they’re not welcoming. Kinyani even chases Ivan, throws a stick at him, and corners him. Ivan knows this is a test of whether he’s a protective silverback, but he cowers anyway. After this, Maya lets Ivan go back into his cage.

what it was like. That night, Ivan lies awake and tries to remember how to be a gorilla. How did he move, and how did he know who was in charge? He tries to think about other things than the babies he held and the clothes he wore. Ivan tries to imagine what he might have been without all that.

pretending. When the juvenile male approaches and eyes Ivan’s food, Ivan imagines himself as his father’s son. He grumbles and beats his chest as Kinyani watches. When Ivan steps toward the juvenile, the youngster retreats. It seems like he believes Ivan is actually a silverback—even though Ivan is just pretending.

nest. Ivan makes a nest on the ground. His nest isn’t a good one, and the others clearly disapprove—but as Ivan climbs into his nest, he feels like he’s “floating on treetop mist.”

more tv. Ivan knows that Maya wants him to go back to his glass cage; she’s left a trail of marshmallows leading inside. Ivan ignores her since he wants to enjoy the beautiful day, but he gives in when Maya adds some yogurt raisins. The TV is on in the cage, showing Ivan another nature show. But instead of gorillas, Ivan hears a “toy trumpet” and sees Ruby on the screen. Ruby rolls in mud with two other baby elephants, while a huge elephant strokes Ruby softly. Ivan sees joy in Ruby’s eyes. Maya plays the video for Ivan several times and then takes the TV away. Ivan puts his hand on the glass and tries to tell Maya “thank you” with his eyes.

it. One day, Kinyani comes up to Ivan, taps him on the shoulder, and then runs away. Ivan doesn’t know how to respond. But when Kinyani comes back, shoves Ivan, and then runs away again, Ivan realizes that they’re playing tag.

romance. Romance looks easy on TV, but it’s hard in real life. Ivan has to make eye contact, grunt, and throw sticks. He’s not sure he’ll ever be good at it.

more about romance. Ivan wishes that Bob were here to give him advice. He thinks about all the romance movies he and Bob watched. Ivan isn’t good at romance, but he’s having fun with it anyway.

grooming. There’s nothing better than another’s touch—especially when she pulls dead bugs out of your fur.

talk. Unlike humans, gorillas don’t talk all the time. Sometimes they share stories though, and one day, Ivan tells his troop about his life. He tells them about his parents, Mack, Ruby, Bob, Stella, Julia, and George. They look away when he’s done, but Kinyani moves closer and lets her shoulder brush Ivan’s.

the top of the hill. The only place Ivan hasn’t been in his domain is the top of a hill at one end, where humans have been repairing a wall. Ivan leaves his troop to explore, enjoying his walk in the sunshine. There’s a tree at the top of the hill that Tag would’ve loved. The new wall is clean, white, and seems to go on forever. It’s tall and wide—it’s supposed to keep gorillas in, and humans out, since this is still a cage. It rained last night, so a pile of dirt nearby is soft and muddy. Ivan scoops up a handful and looks at the wall—which seems to wait for him like a blank billboard.

the wall. The wall is big, but that’s okay. Ivan’s dirt pile is big, and he’s a big artist. Ivan makes handprints, nose prints, and spreads mud over the white wall. He’s not sure of what he’s making, but that’s okay—he’s an artist. When he’s done, he steps back to look, but he has to climb the tree to get the best view. The climb is a struggle, but Ivan gets two limbs up and then settles himself. The troop is dozing down the hill, while Ivan’s wall is full of movement. Ivan thinks it looks like something Julia could’ve painted. From the tree, Ivan can see other animals—including elephants.

safe. Ivan can see Ruby, playing in tall grass with other elephants. In a whisper, Ivan tells Stella that Ruby is here—he kept his promise. Ivan calls for Ruby, but he knows she can’t hear him. He sees her pause for a second, though, and then continue through the tall grass.

silverback. One cloudy, wet evening, Ivan doesn’t care about dinner. Though the troop always sleeps in the den, Ivan has no interest in going inside. There aren’t many visitors at this point in the evening. When Ivan sees one of the keepers calling for him, he turns to go into the den. Then, he sees someone running out of the corner of his eye. It’s Julia, shouting for him. Ivan races for the wall, dances, and hoots as Julia and George wave. Then, from Julia’s backpack, Ivan hears Bob tell him to stop acting like a chimp. Bob pokes his head out of the backpack and compliments Ivan on the new domain. Ivan can’t form words.

Bob explains that George starts his job at the zoo next month. In the meantime, Julia is walking extra dogs to pay for Bob’s food—all of them poodles. Ivan notes that Bob didn’t want a home, but Bob says Sara likes him. He figures he’s doing Julia’s family a favor. At this point, Julia shoves Bob back into her backpack and reminds him that he’s not supposed to be at the zoo. George notes that Ivan looks strong and happy now, and Julia holds up a small picture. She says it’s of Ruby—Ruby is safe with the other elephants, all because of Ivan. Ivan wants to tell Julia that he already knows, but instead, he and Julia just stare at each other.

Finally, George tells Julia it’s time to go. Julia smiles at Ivan and tells him to say hi to his new family. Then she thanks George for everything. As they turn to leave, Bob sticks his head out of Julia’s backpack and calls that Ivan is “the One and Only Ivan.” Ivan nods, turns toward his new family, and whispers, “Mighty Silverback.”