Books › The One and Only Ivan › Books like it
If you loved
Books like The One and Only Ivan
A quiet, deeply moving exploration of captivity and friendship told through the spare, poetic voice of a gentle giant. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The One and Only Ivan.
- melancholy
- tender
- hopeful
- reflective
- 01
Wishtree
Katherine Applegate
A gentle, wise fable told from the perspective of an ancient oak tree who witnesses the quiet struggles and beautiful resilience of a changing neighborhood.
- 02
Crenshaw
Katherine Applegate
A gentle, bittersweet exploration of childhood anxiety and the magical coping mechanisms we conjure when the real world becomes too heavy.
- 03
The Tiger Rising
Kate DiCamillo
A quiet, misty exploration of bottled-up grief and the fierce, wild necessity of letting feelings out.
- 04
The Wild Robot
Peter Brown
A gentle, philosophical exploration of what it means to be alive, told through the eyes of a machine learning to love the wilderness.
- 05
The Magician's Elephant
Kate DiCamillo
A quiet, wintry fable about the impossible becoming possible through the sheer, stubborn force of hope.
- 06
Beatrice and Virgil
Yann Martel
A deceptively whimsical fable that slowly tightens its grip, pulling the reader into a devastating meditation on historical trauma.
- 07
The lions of Little Rock
Kristin Levine
A gentle but unflinching exploration of how a quiet voice can become the loudest in the room when friendship and justice are on the line.
- 08
The Old Woman Who Named Things
Cynthia Rylant
A tender, tear-jerking exploration of loneliness and the brave, vulnerable choice to open your heart to love again.
- 09
If I Ran the Circus
Dr. Seuss · 1956
A breathless, rhythmic celebration of a child's boundless imagination spiraling into joyful absurdity.
- 10
Oliver
HOFF SYD · 1961
A gentle, mildly absurd journey of an earnest outsider looking for a place to belong.
- 11
Pax
Sara Pennypacker
A tender, aching journey through a war-torn landscape that explores the profound, unbreakable bond between a boy and his fox.
- 12
Are you ready to play outside?
Mo Willems
A hilarious, high-energy rollercoaster of big feelings and rainy-day revelations.
