MIDDLE GRADE REVIEW: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
by Katherine Applegate
Harper, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-199225-4
MG Animal Fantasy
Grades 3-6
Reviewed from purchased copy.

ABOUT THE BOOK

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. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Applegate was born in Michigan in 1956. Since then she has lived in Texas, Florida, California, Minnesota, Illinois, North Carolina, and after living in Pelago, Italy for a year, she has moved back to Southern California. She has an eleven year old son named Jake Mates, although she says the Animorph leader is not named after him. In 2003 she and her husband, Michael Grant, her co-author on many projects including Animorphs, adopted their daughter, Julia, in China.

Following the end of Animorphs, Applegate took three years off. She is back at work and has written a picture book called "The Buffalo Storm," a middle reader novel called "Home of the Brave," and an early chapters series "Roscoe Riley Rules" with Harper Collins. Her book "Home of the Brave" has won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, the Bank Street 2008 Josette Frank Award, and is a Judy Lopez Memorial Award honor book.

REVIEW

 I'd heard so many good things about this book that I was eager to read it. And now that I have I have to agree with the wonderful things that I've been hearing.  I loved it.  Not only was the writing lyrical and beautiful to read, but the characters were heart-warming and sweet. The story revolves around Ivan, a silverback gorilla who lives in a mall where he performs with other animals in a small circus-like show.  His best friends are a small stray dog named Bob and a former circus elephant named Stella.  Their pretty routine life is interrupted with the arrival of a baby elephant named Ruby. Stella is determined that Ruby will not spend her life in a cage and so Ivan promises to help Ruby get out of this dead-end life.  But how on earth is he going to do it? He is after all just a gorilla, or is he? 

This is definitely a story that makes you go, "ahhh" afterwords. But I personally love happy endings however realistic or unrealistic they may be.  One needs to keep in mind however that this is animal FANTASY and as such is bound to have elements that are more believable than others. I prefer however to give the characters the benefit of the doubt and animals are much better at communicating than we as humans sometimes believe. As for intelligence, I've long believed that animals are far more intelligent than they are often given credit for.  Plus, I love animals stories, so for me I found the story more than believable enough and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  This one would make for great shared reading as well. I can't recommend this one highly enough.