The One and Only Ivan: A High-Energy School Story About Big Feelings, Friendship, and Learning Self-Control

Incredible sweet story -9yo 5 stars, this is the best -6yo Beautiful, fun for all of us! Thought provoking. -35yo

This book won the Newbery Medal for Children's Literature in 2013, and it was much deserved. Here's what the book has going for it: 1. The Targeted age of the reader: In recent years people have complained that the Newbery Medal was being awarded to books that were for an older demographic, like older teenagers. I'm not sure I agree with that, because when you read the earlier Newbery Medal books you can tell by the vocabulary and subject matter that the intent has always been for these books to enrich the young reader regardless of age. With that said, Ivan is a book that has a slightly younger age group in mind. Which is important as it will introduce the young reader to great stories spurring them on to try to read more Newbery Medal books. 2. The story is based on a true story. Ivan was real! The main parts of the story are true. This would be a great school book for a young, say 5th grade, class to read, and then research the true story. A simple Google search will turn up all kinds of information about the real Ivan, pictures and all. In turn this information could be used in projects and presentations. 3. I love the characters! I truly enjoyed getting to know every character presented in the story. From the animals to the humans, each one has a great personality that I really enjoyed. My two favorite characters were the young girl, Julia and the dog, Bob. The author could easily write more books about Ivan, and Julia and Bob. 4. The illustrations are nice, and very contemporary. What I didn't Like: 1. The book is separated out, but not into chapters. I wish she had done that. I really felt a "Charlotte's Web" vibe to this book. The plot and characters have some similarities that just made the book overall enjoyable to read. I recently heard that Disney has bought the movie rights to this story, and I hope that's correct. It would make a great movie!

Popular three book series get all three. Grandchildren absolutely love the stories

A surprisingly sad book but an easy read. The ending makes it worth it. The writing is poetic, so might be best for middle school kids.

The One and Only Ivan was just the bittersweet book I needed when I was dealing with a stressful week. I read it in about one day because I could not put it down. The whole story felt like a work of art about a gorilla who makes art. The voice was such a cute, appealing, and engaging one. The format it's told in is kind of a journal that makes you see the world the way Ivan, the gorilla, does. You really get to know him and how sweet he is which makes it all the more tear jerking when you learn some of the horrible things that happened to him. The One and Only Ivan is a book I could see kids liking. Ivan, the gorilla, loves to draw simple things and eat his crayons...and sometimes his art. But the writing was so poetic and beautiful I enjoyed it immensely as an adult. "He goes back to work. His mop moves across the empty food court like a giant brush, painting a picture no one will ever see." - Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ivan pg 233 It was the ultimate showing not telling and it sucked me right in. And the art inside was just as beautiful as the writing. It looked stunning even on my kindle and it looks even better in the print version. The animal characters are all full of personality. I found each of them wonderful and very caring - even the sarcastic homeless dog. I really liked Stella, the elephant, and she had my favorite quote from the book: "I always tell the truth," Stella replies. "Although I sometimes confuse the facts." - Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ivan pg 66 The impossible task that Ivan tries to achieve reminded me of Finding Nemo and how impossible it sounded for a fish to escape a fish tank and go back to the ocean. I was rooting for Ivan hard and hoping with everything I had that he would overcome. Just when I was teary eyed enough, I read the Author's Note about how The One and Only Ivan was inspired by a true story. She embellished of course, but definitely not as much as you'd think. Very much of this story is similar to what happened to a real gorilla. Someone get me some tissues. Was I really having a stressful week? I've forgotten what it was. Overall, this was a work of art about hope and the sad reality of animal cruelty that was brought up in a beautiful way that children could relate to and understand.

I bought "The One and Only Ivan" for my 7-year-old son, and it has quickly become one of the most meaningful books in his collection. As a young reader who loves animals, he was completely captivated by Ivan’s voice and his journey from a shopping mall enclosure to finding true friendship and hope. The story is beautifully written—simple enough for a Grade 2 student to read, yet profound enough to spark deep conversations about kindness, freedom, and how we treat animals. My son felt a real connection to the characters, especially the bond between Ivan and the baby elephant, Ruby. It’s rare to find a book that touches a child’s heart so deeply while also being such an engaging page-turner. This Newbery Award winner is a "must-have" for any child's library. Whether your kid is an animal lover or just enjoys a great story with a big heart, this book is a true treasure.

Anyone who grew up with Ivan, will never forget him. I was blessed to raise my kid about 5 miles from where he lived, in the B&I in Tacoma, WA. I bought this book for my kid, to share with my grandchild, and share memories and personal experiences about Ivan and his art. It warms my heart to see more than old newspaper clippings about him. His end years were very, very sad, but he had many a happy year in life, to be sure.

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.