The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
Harper Collins Children’s Books
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. [Book Jacket Synopsis]
A Life Changing Story
Ivan is a mighty Silverback gorilla who’s grown up in captivity, at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall. Not exactly the best conditions. Ivan accepts his fate by blocking out memories of the jungle he came from and creating art with the crayons and paper given to him by the keeper’s young daughter.
Stella, an elderly performing elephant in the cage next to Ivan, is different. She remembers her past and longs for a better life. Her festering rage fuels her hope for a better life. The days at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall are all the same, until the owner brings in a baby elephant named Ruby to help boost the failing business. Stella cares for scared and lonely Ruby like a true elephant mother, until an untreated injury threatens her life. As Stella’s dying, she asks Ivan to save Ruby from a fate of performing four shows a day, 365 days a year. Ivan says he will, to make his friend happy in her final moments, but he doesn’t know how he’ll keep that promise.
I admit it. I was totally crying my eyes out at this point, and wondering if I could even finish this book. Let me just say “I’m so glad I kept reading!”
Stella’s death forces Ivan to remember his painful past and realize his purpose in life … protecting his family. Through the pain of his epiphany, Ivan sees the way to freeing Ruby. He works tirelessly on new paintings to this end, and his plan is carried to fruition with the help of the keeper’s young daughter. Ruby isn’t the only one Ivan saves, however. His selflessness takes him and the rest of the animals at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall to natural habitats where they can be with those of their own kind. By the end of this story I was crying again, except this time for a totally different reason.
It would have been easy for Katherine Applegate to paint all people as villains in this story, but she doesn’t. She alludes to the injustices done to Ivan and Ruby when they were taken from their families in the wild, but she also mentions the people who helped them. Even the owner of the Exit 8 Big Top Mall is cast in a sympathetic light, showing us that he cared about the animals in his charge and was doing the best he could.
Children will love with Ivan and his friends, connecting with their genuineness. Adults will be moved by the honesty, heart, and hope that shines through Katherine Applegate’s elegant prose.
I think the Newbery Honor author of The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt, describes the essence of this story best:
In cheering for Ivan and his friends, we cheer for our own humanity, and our own possibilities. Read this.
There is a real Ivan, a gorilla who now lives at Zoo Atlanta. Check out what Katherine Applegate says about the REAL Ivan here.
Elizabeth Fais 
This sounds like such a great book! Thanks for pointing it out. I’m going to see if my library has a copy and read it with my 12 year-old. 🙂
It is now one of my favorite books of all time. I revealed more of the story than I normally would in a review, because I wanted you to know it ends well … before you recommend it to a young reader. I don’t know about you, but I was always traumatized by stories where animals suffered or died when I was younger (and still am, pretty much). 😉
Yes, I still am traumatized by any animals getting abused, hurt or dying in a story or a movie. I cry every time. I haven’t read Water for Elephants or seen the movie for this very reason. I’m glad you pointed out that the story ends well. 🙂
In this story, what the animals remember from being taken from their homes in the wild is the hardest part. But the baby elephant also remembers a village of people who saved her from drowning in the river, which helps offset the rest. The fact that it’s the young girl who facilitates Ivan’s plan to get them all to a new home is a strong message to children. It shows them that they can make a difference. The zoo the animals end up in is one with natural habitat enclosures and they find families of their own kind. I know what you mean about Water for Elephants. I won’t read the book and I only made it half way through the movie on DVD, because of the way the animals (particularly the elephant) were treated. The animals are not mistreated like that at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall (in this story). No worries there!
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