The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan

By Katherine Applegate

349 ratings 456 reviews 465 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 2 - 5T3.626263

Winner of the Newbery Medal and a #1 New York Times bestseller!

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

Having spent 27 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.

The One and Only Ivan was hailed as a best book of the year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Amazon, demonstrating it is a true classic in the making. In the tradition of timeless stories like Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan's unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope. An author's note depicts the differences between the fictional story and true events.

Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
ISBN-13: 9781432864033
ISBN-10: 1432864033
Published on 3/13/2019
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 340

Book Reviews (441)

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I love this book, I love how it describes the emotions deeply and the illustrations are cute even though they are in black and white. But I love it even more because it is a true story and it doesn't have any violence and it is kid-appropriate !!! Thank you Katherine Applegate for making this wonderful book for us children!!

Me and my class are reading The One and Only Ivan, we only have a couple of chapters left on it! I SO love this book!

it is a good book a girl named stella died and its sad.

Fun fact the one and only Ivan is based in a true story!!

I loved the book it was very very very great good not have Been better the only thing was it really made me sad lol 😂 but overall I recommend the book I am literally obsessed with the book. Genre: Family

I loved this book. It is about a gorilla named Ivan. Everyone thinks he’s a huge flesh-eating, dangerous wild animal, but he’s really a nice gorilla who likes to paint. I really recommend this book to everyone because it is SO good! I hope you like it. It’s a book you don’t want to miss!

Ivan’s story is so inspiring. I highly suggest this book, because it inspires me. I have the strength to do anything, and YOU do too!

This book was amazing! I really loved it and Ivan's story is incredible. I highly recommend

I love animals and I love Ivans story. I recommend this book to all animal lovers

????? GIRL ????? GIRL

I read this book and i loved it so much. I liked it so much i watched the movie to see the what happened in the movie and in the book. In the movie Ivan paints to say he wants to be free. in the book they get sent to a save and rescue place with ruby and the other animals.

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