The One and Only Ivan

By Katherine Applegate

New York:  Harper (2012)

Although as a younger reader I loved fantasy novels--I could not get enough of Tamora Pierce or Phillip Pullman's series, not to mention Harry Potter--I have always had trouble connecting to animal stories.  So I opened Ivan not knowing how I would react.  And while I enjoyed reading Ivan's words, I had some trouble gleaning the main messages from them.  Still, I did think, repeatedly, as I read that I can see why children would love this story.

The One and Only Ivan is a story about a gorilla living in the "Big Top Mall" off of Exit 8.  He and a few other animals, like Stella the elephant and Bob the stray dog, live their lives much the same every day:  performing for the guests and shoppers and passing the time by talking and telling stories about their pasts.  In an effort to bring more guests in, the owner, Mack, purchases a baby elephant named Ruby.  However, Stella and Ivan are realizing how hopeless their lives are in the mall and want a different life for Ruby.  With the help of a young schoolgirl who inspires the artist in Ivan, the animals work together to try and break free of their glassed-in "domains," struggling to reconcile their pasts with their present lives.

Even though I did not connect with this book in the same way as I have with others this semester, I still enjoyed reading and studying it.  The simple sentence structure and language allow the reader to focus on the details within the story, and the modest illustrations pull out the important characters and events in the tale without distracting from the text.  I enjoyed the attention to detail in these illustrations.  For instance, whenever a new character is introduced, we see a sketch of that animal or person that tells us a great deal about him or her.  When we first meet Julia, for instance, she is sitting on a bench looking up from her sketch pad, smiling and contemplating what she is drawing.  These are important characteristics of her personality that are reinforced throughout the text, and the illustration can help young readers relate to her.

One of the main themes running throughout the narrative is that of animal rights, which I think is aided by the fact that it's told from an animal's perspective.  I think children will be able to relate more to the ways that animals should be treated if they can picture a character such as Ivan and imagine his feelings.  The power of art, too, is important to this story, as Ivan uses art to communicate his strongest desire to get out of the mall and into a zoo.

One final aspect of the story that I appreciated was that instead of ending the story when the animals left the mall and got to the zoo, Applegate took the time to show the reader how they adjusted to their surroundings.  For instance, Ivan saw that Ruby had a family, and he also gradually discovered his role in his troop.  Bob's story, too, wraps up nicely, and I felt happy that he finally had a home.  Taking that extra time to show how the animals adjusted to change, instead of just stopping the narrative when they left the mall, gives readers some closure and some insight into how humans can help take care of animals.

To sum up, although this novel is not one of my all time favorites, I did finish with that warm feeling you get when you read quality literature.  The characters are humanized and made relatable, and Applegate includes some important themes for young readers to consider.  I would definitely include this in my classroom library.

By the way, I found the trailer for this book very intriguing, as it included some of the artwork and text to pull together a creative introduction to the story.