The One and Only Ivan
By Katherine Applegate ,published in 2011 , 305 pages
Published by HarperCollins
Character description
1. Character Description
- Ivan
- Ruby
- Mack
- Julia
Ivan is the Main Character of the book. He is a silverback gorilla. His friends are Bob , Ruby , Stella , Mack , and Julia. He likes to make art and throw " me balls ". A.K.A. poop.
Ruby is a baby elephant that got brought to the Big Top Mall because they knew that Stella the amazing elephant was going to die. Ruby likes to listen and tell stories. Ivan and Ruby are related from being best friends and Ivan swore to bring Ruby to a zoo so she can be safe.
Mack is the owner of the Big Top Mall. He started to train Ruby after the elephant Stella died. Mack had Ivan since he was a baby gorilla. Ivan and Mack are related because Ivan lived with Mack when he was a baby. They went to restaurants and ate ice cream. Also Mack makes Ivan draw on pieces of paper to sell at the gift shop.
Julia is a nice girl who's dad works at the Big Top Mall as a janitor. Julia loves to draw and make art. She gives Ivan crayons and pieces paper to draw on. Julia and Ivan are related from being always there and for helping each other.
2. Plot Summary
The story is about and Gorilla named Ivan. Ivan's friends are Bob , Ruby , Mack , Julia , and Stella. Stella died from a accident a while ago from landing on her ankle after a trick in the circus. Then they get a new elephant named Ruby. Ruby asks Ivan a lot of questions. When Mack trains Ruby he rewards her if she is doing what she is supposed to and if she is doing bad Mack pokes Ruby with a claw stick. That day Ivan swore to Ruby that he would get her to a zoo where she would be safe. Then Ivan started to look at the billboard that said " Welcome to the Big Top Mall! Home of the One and Only Ivan! Mighty Silverback! " Then Ivan got a thought in his head and started to write down an H and then an O and then an M and an E. He was trying to spell out home so he could give it to Julia to see. When he was finished banged his hands on the window so he could get Julia's attention. She got up to go look at the papers. She called her dad to come here. Julia saw that there was part of a E on there. She and her dad went in the middle of the empty circus room and put them together like a puzzle. Then the finally figured it out. Julia begged her dad to put this picture on the billboard.He refused. Then she begged and begged and begged and then her dad finally let her. The next morning Mack's jaw dropped. Then the news came. They were on TV and protesters were arguing saying "Free Ruby! Animals are people too!". Then this woman came up to Mack and game him a piece of paper. Mack started to cry and walk away. Then next day this Ruby shaped box came. They let Ruby out of her cage. Every time Ruby moved close to the box the woman would make a click noise and would give her a treat. The next day Ruby asked Ivan were she was going and Ivan replied the zoo. Ivan knew that because Mack told him that he was also leaving to the zoo tomorrow as well. Ruby said that she didn't want to leave and she wanted to stay here with Bob and she will miss her old cage. Ivan said I know but I want you safe. The next morning Ivan woke up in a room. He had been taken to the zoo overnight. He thought to himself , I thought this was a zoo! Then the same woman appeared in the room and put on a show. It was a show about gorillas. One Alpha male and three females. He watched for a while until the next day. The woman brought him over to a curtain and pulled it open. It was the gorillas he was watching on the TV. The woman lead him to the door and she had the clicker. Every time he would step closer to the door he would get a yogurt rasin. Then he was finally out. All the gorillas looked at him. Later that day he saw Julia and Bob! He jumped around with excitement! Julia said that her dad got fired , but he got a job here at the zoo to clean cages. He starts in a month. After they were about to walk away Bob said " You Are the One and Only Ivan. ". Then Ivan said " And you are the One and Only Bob.". The climax in the story is when Stella the elephant dies and then they get Ruby the baby elephant. When Stella fell and hurt her ankle , she began to get sick and that is what lead to the climax. The setting in the climax was cloudy and everyone was very sad.
3. Conflict
The conflict of the story is how Ivan tries to get Ruby safe by being in a zoo. Ivan is involved in it because he made a promise to Ruby that she would be safe. So Ivan had to try to write down letters on a bunch of paper to spell out home.
4. Title Explanation
The One and Only Ivan means that he's just one thing.No one else could be him. He is the One and Only. He is special in his own creative way. The title of the book relates to the book itself by Ivan being such a hero and getting Ruby to a safe place like he promised. I think another title for this book would be " Ivan the Hero" because he saves Ruby from having to be poked with a claw stick and being forced by Mack to do his bidding.
5. Book review
I thought that the book was amazing. The way she described it just was perfect! What was good about the book was when she shared the feelings of the characters. Also she made the characters adventurous and funny. What the author could have done better was maybe to explain more about the other characters more so we could've learned more about them. Also this book is good for a child who loves to read. If I had to rate this book it would be a 9.13 out of 10!