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    The One and Only Ivan
    The One and Only Ivan
    The One and Only Ivan
    Audiobook3 hours

    The One and Only Ivan

    Written by Katherine Applegate

    Narrated by Adam Grupper

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The #1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Award-winning novel The One and Only Ivan is now a major motion picture streaming on Disney+

    This unforgettable novel from renowned author Katherine Applegate celebrates the transformative power of unexpected friendship. Inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, this illustrated book is told from the point of view of Ivan himself. 

    Having spent twenty-seven years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.

    In the tradition of timeless stories like Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create an unforgettable story of friendship, art, and hope.

    The One and Only Ivan features first-person narrative; author's use of literary devices (personification, imagery); and story elements (plot, character development, perspective).

    This acclaimed middle grade novel is an excellent choice for tween readers in grades 5 to 8, for independent reading, homeschooling, and sharing in the classroom.

    Plus don't miss The One and Only Bob, Katherine Applegate's return to the world of Ivan, Bob, and Ruby!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 6, 2013
    ISBN9780062283474
    The One and Only Ivan
    Author

    Katherine Applegate

    Katherine Applegate is the Newbery Medal-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers, including the One and Only series, the Endling series, Crenshaw, Wishtree, the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter books series, and the Animorphs series. She lives with her family in Nevada.

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    Reviews for The One and Only Ivan

    4.5/5

    561 ratings198 reviews

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    • 5/5
      When I read The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate my heart went out to Ivan. As a young gorilla he was taken from the wild, along with his sister, Tag, and brought in a box to America. Tag couldn't take being out of the wild, but Ivan decided to forget all about the wild. Forgetting helped him enjoy TV shows, yogurt covered raisins, and other human treats. It made me think about how hard it would be to be separated from my family and put in a totally different environment. I loved hearing Ivan’s thoughts and his opinions about what the humans were saying. Stella was so sweet, and I felt sorry for her and the pain she had to go through in or order to perform. Ruby enchanted me with her questions and curiosity. I would recommend this book to anyone in fourth grade and up. It is a book about friendship, risks, and thinking outside the box. This book is for anybody with a love for animals, art, or both. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is one of the most heartbreaking stories I've ever read. This should be required reading in schools. Also, the human race sucks and that's a fact.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow!
      This was a fantastic book! Heartbreaking and heartwarming story. How does a gorilla in captivity help an elephant in captivity? Will they both find happiness?
      I laughed and cried.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Used this book and local history of the B&I, children warmed up slowly but as they got halfway into the book they were wanting more .Played you tube videos of Ivan at the B&I and then at the Atlanta Zoo

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I'd wanted to read this for at least a year, but have been unproductive in my reading habits for a long time. After feeling bad that I wanted to buy this, didn't, buying [Crenshaw] instead, I got it from my library ASAP and devoured it in a couple of sessions. Unsurprisingly, it's short, if not a particularly easy read.I always find flaw with books I read, and especially the great ones that are well-wrought, I seem to find some niggling detail that I can't let go of. Frankly, I need to get over it, because I think One and Only deserves the hype. The world where other animals and humans cohabitate, or, rather, interact closely, is a difficult one, and the nuance of it is often overshadowed. Applegate has brought out wonderful and genuine, if somewhat slippery, sympathy for the captor of these animals, Mack. The period of introspection that Ivan finally allows himself with the introduction of the young elephant Ruby also shows us Mack's journey, if not as completely. Maybe I wasn't the only one who imagined Mack's financial hardship and his narrow future after the shuttering of his circus mall... Applegate manages to balance our cheers for the free as well as the weight money lays on the humans of her story. A theme she continued in Crenshaw...I like how Applegate formatted this, rendering Ivan's thoughts poetically, suiting his artist's soul. His sparse sentences and short use of words underlines a point he makes early on, humans use too many words, far more than gorillas ever need to. The illustrations as well are beautiful and tender, furthering illuminating the glimpses of emotion.It ends, of course, with a full look at the bright future of the animals, presumably to reassure and explain to precocious readers just how a captive gorilla becomes a natural leader of a pack. I thought the end lacked the emotional climax I would have wanted, but was by no means flat or unsatisfactory. I guess I just like things to end with something more...But I'm probably just being picky here, too.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The One and Only Ivan is partly based on a true story. It is a story that will make you feel all types of emotions before the book is finished! No, it is not just for kids! I loved it too. Very touching, sad, heartwarming, and read/listen with tissues. Narration was excellent!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      "Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot.” Ivan, a silverback goilla. Ivan is the voice of the marvelous and touching story.

      Ivan, is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 off I 95, 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, (he has a television in his domain), 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. Ivan paintings are sold in the gift shop along with ashtrays made from gorilla hands. Life is pretty sad for a lonely gorilla.
      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.

      The story is based on an actually gorilla named Ivan.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great. I read this as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that I recommended it to my husband.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      LOVED this book. Sad at times, lovely - including the illustrations. Really makes you feel the story!

      Reading this with our first-grader... Oh man, already made me cry a few times.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A sweet, soft, original voice with an important message about animal cruelty. Fiction, but based on a true story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Ivan is a silverback, a gorilla who has spent almost 30 years alone in a glass enclosure as a display in a mall off I-95. He and his friend Stella, an elephant, are the main attractions at the Big Top Mall. When a baby elephant is brought in to increase attendance at the show, Ivan promises Stella that he will find a way to get the newcomer a better life.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I remember a lot of excitement around The One and Only Ivan when it was released and later won the Newbery Medal (along with numerous other awards). As a result, it made it on my "to read" list...it just took me a while to get around to it.From a high level, there's an element of being "based on a true story" in that there was a real Gorilla on a billboard and in a less than happy zoo-life in an mall. There some opportunities for editorializing as we learn about the hunting and capture of animals and of the treatment of some animals...but mostly this is definitely a fictional account. That said, there are elements that are harshly real and could certainly trouble young readers (even though it is geared towards younger readers).Part of the hook, as you'll find early on, is that the book is narrated by Ivan, the gorilla. Ivan is a gorilla who was captured young and has virtually no memory of life outside of captivity. Through Ivan's eyes we see his understanding of himself and his world increase as he interacts with and observes friends/neighbors (an old elephant named Stella, a stray dog named Bob, a baby elephant named Ruby and the humans outside his enclosure). Ivan has a very unique voice that is sometimes heart wrenching, some times frustrating and often endearing. The author creates a wonderful voice of innocence, simplicity and curiosity.The main plot felt predictable to me at times but did have a few unexpected twists and turns that made me smile. And even as the plot moved along as I expected it to, I found myself enjoying the journey thanks to the wonderful narrator and the great characters. Even the human zookeeper, who you might think we are supposed to despise, was created in such a way that you feel compassion for him and the struggles he's going through. Although this story is told from the point of view of the animals, it is a wonderful exploration of emotions, kindness and human nature (or any other creature). Most of the "animal" stories that kids (and adults) interact with these days are slapstick silliness without getting into any depth. Ivan goes more than just skin deep and really stirs your thoughts and emotions.Sitting at around 300 pages, this could be a daunting read for a young reader and may be something worth reading aloud with them rather than having them read solo (especially because of the tragic elements in the story) but the simple narrative style makes it a fast and easy enough read that most grade-schoolers should be comfortable reading.Overall I really enjoyed this book and recommended it to my daughter as a reading book for her free reading time in class. The story is filled with humor, loss, growth and learning. All in all, it's a good read and makes me want to seek out more from Applegate.****4 out of 5 stars

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Katherine Applegate’s 'The One and Only Ivan' is a cry for animal rights that works on its reader in slow subtle steps. You won't find speeches or pontifications or long lengthy lamentations. Instead, it’s just a gorilla living what life he can, until the day he can't. Thanks to its restraint the book ends up being a gem. The One and Only Ivan is a work of fiction, but its inspiration lies with a true story. Ivan, a real gorilla, lived at Zoo Atlanta, but on the way to that happy ending, he spent almost three decades living in a small cage as the main attraction of an off-highway food court and video arcade without ever seeing another of his own kind. Ivan shares his life at the Mall with Stella - a mature elephant who is sold to Mack, the Mall owner, after outliving her usefulness as a circus performer. Money is tight at the Mall and business has slowed down. Medication for Stella's injured and infected foot is not a priority. In order to drum up business, Mack acquires a new attraction - a baby elephant named Ruby. Stella slowly succumbs to her injuries, but not before extracting a promise from Ivan that he would look after Ruby and get her to a zoo. What follows is a shining example of what happens when hope meets action. Ivan has to grow and change in the course of this novel (example - Ivan stops referring to 'his domain' and begins to call his surroundings what they are - a cage). He comes to realize that wishing alone will never change Ruby's destiny and begins to work on a plan, hoping almost against hope that someone with more power and ability will understand what he is trying to do. It is the temptation of every author to simplify ethics when they write for children. Bad guys are bad, good guys are good. This is particularly true of animal abuse stories. After all, who wants to dig up a heart of gold in a character that kicks puppies? Yet the best books for kids are often the ones that allow for at least a glimpse of the human inside the villain. It is one of the reasons why The One and Only Ivan distinguishes itself. Mack is the villain here, no question about it. You don’t go around hitting baby elephants with sharp objects. But there are depths to Mack as well. He’s a man who really did love Ivan on some level when the gorilla was a baby. Then his wife left him and he started hitting the booze to deal with his financial problems. There are a lot of Mack's in this world and it’s worth knowing you can feel sorry for someone but still hold them accountable for their actions. No matter how bad you feel for Mack, the author never lets you forget that he’s the reason for Ivan, Thelma, and Ruby’s imprisonment.Throughout the book, the author treats us to a lovely use of language. A seal has a “voice like the throaty bark of a dog chained outside on a cold night.” “Humans always smell odd when change is in the air. Like rotten meat with a hint of papaya.” “Human babies are an ugly lot. But their eyes are like our babies’ eyes. Too big for their faces, and for the world.” And a mop, “moves across the empty food court like a giant brush, painting a picture no one will ever see.”An excellent story with a wonderful use of the written word. It's a match made in literary heaven.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The only problem I had with this book was that it was hard to read aloud to the kiddos when I was tearing up on every other page. Such a great story - such beautiful characters. Perfection.Sophia rating - 4/5David rating - 5/5Mommy rating - 5/5

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Ivan is a silverback gorilla who has lived for many years in a tawdry shopping mall that tries to lure customers with their gorilla, elephant, and a few smaller animals on exhibit in tiny cages. Ivan is the narrator.Over the years, Ivan has grown to accept his life as just the way it is, and he passively makes the best of it. His friend Stella the elephant, remembers better places and better times, so she is perpetually sad. And when a baby elephant is brought to the mall, Stella makes Ivan promise that he will not let Ruby live out her life in a tiny cage the way she did. Ivan promises.Bob is a stray dog who sneaks into Ivan's cage every night, and is his good friend. His one human friend is Julia, the night janitor's daughter, who visits Ivan, and they share artwork, for both Julia and Ivan like to draw and paint. It is Ivan's artwork that finally gives him an idea of how he can fulfill his promise to Stella.Sad and happy, sweet and beautiful.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The One and Only Ivan is a wonderful story that takes place on a farm called the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. On this farm, animals of different species are able to communicate with one another, though they can't talk to humans. One of these animals is Charlotte, an old elephant full of considerable wisdom. And there is Ruby, a curious pig who seeks companionship from the other animals, but is quickly dismissed by all but Charlotte. Charlotte takes Ruby into her care. When the other animals realize that Ruby is being raised for the slaughter, they rally to save her. Eventually, Charlotte reaches the end of her life, so she magically transfers all her wisdom to a silverback gorilla named Ivan. Ivan is very talented: he can spin a web that spans the globe as though he were a giant spider. Despite being an ape who talks with geese, bears, and sheep, Ivan cannot speak to the humans, so he uses the worldwide web to express his concern for Ruby. 'TERRIFIC,' he writes in one. 'HOME PIG,' he writes in another… I’ll stop there to avoid spoiling the story.In addition to the main characters, there’s a dog named Templeton who obsesses over eating… or was it sleeping? He’s there mostly to give a few chuckles to a mostly sad story. Also, there’s a little girl named Julia… or was it Fern? And there are some sheep and a parrot that are mostly in the background, providing a little dialogue or comedy when needed… though it may have been a sun bear and a goose… I get confused.The One and Only Ivan is a wholly original story unlike any other. I liked it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow what a great story!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Another book to read with my daughter - quite charming really - an impressive writing style told from the point of view of the gorilla. I thouroughky enjoyed it and then talking to my daughter about it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I was hesitant to chose this book thinking an animal book would be too silly or something . . . but Applegate's Home of the Brave is one of my favorite books ever so I decided to take a chance. And I am SO GLAD I DID. This book was wonderful--heartbreakingly wonderful. I just loved every character--both animal and human. Ivan the artistic gorilla, Stella the stoic mother elephant, Bob the tough on the outside but not so tough on the inside dog, and of course Ruby the baby elephant who just wants to be loved. And the humans: George the sympathetic caretaker and his daughter Julie, a bit like Fern in Charlotte's web because she can almost understand Ivan--or at least understand his art. Every character was real--even Mack the owner of the menagerie, though we hate what he's doing, there is more too him than just badness. The situation was just so sad but so well done--the minute I finished the book, I immediately passed it on to my daughter . . . maybe not the best idea to give it to her at bedtime though because I could not get her to turn out her light, she was so immediately drawn into the book. I highly recommend this deeply moving book which teaches compassion towards animals.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This reminds me about how you can get through bad things in life with your friends and family beside you
    • 5/5
      I don’t know why I put off reading (listening) to this book for so long because now I just want to hear it all over again! This is a great story for all ages. I’m 63 and these days I enjoy stories that are in the YA and even Children’s genre more than any other books. This one had me laughing and even almost crying it’s a very touching story with great characters and narrations to all the animals. I love any stories and shows where the animals speak. I’m going to watch the movie now. This is a Thumbs up and ten star book. I’m very happy I read it I’m sure I will be talking about it for a long while. Thank you for writing this wonderful book from the point of view of the Silverback gentle gorilla The One and Only Ivan.
    • 2/5
      The voice reading of this novel was very good, but this is basically just a rip off of Charlotte’s Web, but with a gorilla and elephant instead of spider and pig. The most interesting part was at the end, when it was revealed that Ivan is a real gorilla. Compared with the true story of Ivan the gorilla, this story is very bland and dull. It doesn’t do him justice at all. I think a child would have difficulty with this book because it seems like it takes 18 chapters in for action to pick up, and the first few chapters are rote descriptions. I’m surprised because I have liked other works written by this author, but the writing here is really lacking. I wouldn’t recommend it.
    • 1/5
      Poop do not read SO POOOOOOP
      Grrrrr toooo pooop yay I’m pop
    • 5/5
      The One And Only Ivan is an unusual story about a silver back gorilla who lives alone in a cage in a shopping mall. Ivan interacts with his friends, the other animals at the mall, and a young girl who visits while she waits for her father, a custodian at the mall. Through these friendships we learn about Ivan and each of the characters and are drawn to read more about their interactions with each other.
    • 4/5
      Even though the story is written in a very simple manner, it deals with complex issues and emotions surrounding animals in captivity. Matters such as moral ambiguity and overcoming present & past obstacles are addressed maturely, accessibly, and actually rather realistically. The short sections make it an incredibly easy read, but at points this structure become redundant, frequently ending on a quote that is waxing profound. The subject matter is heavy at times for the recommended age range, but the tragic moments help magnify the power of the conclusion, making this a story that really sticks with you.
    • 5/5
      its rare that i agree with the newbery committee but this isnt one of those times. this story was wonderful!
    • 5/5
      Even if this book didn't win the Newbery it would become a classic. Simply beautiful! Katherine Applegate has created a truly moving work of fiction for children that will open their eyes and forever change them. I love, love, love it!
    • 5/5
      Good book. ( ^ω^ ) good for animal lovers.
    • 5/5
      Such a cute book I love this book it has a lot of awardness on animals being kept in captivity
    • 4/5
      This story has a really wonderful message and totally lovable characters. I would have rated it 5 stars had it not been so depressing and sad. That being said it was depressing and sad (and optimistic) in all the very right ways.