writehollydavis
Written on Sep 25, 2021
Now a major motion picture available on Disney+!
Inspired by a true story, this is the beautifully written tale of how a mighty gorilla wins his freedom. A winning blend of humour and poignancy that will appeal to fans of Michael Morpurgo.
This #1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Award-winning novel is coming to the big screen this summer, with a star-studded cast including Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Bryan Cranston, and more!
Ivan is an easy-going gorilla who has spent his life performing for the crowds at the Exit 8 shopping mall. He rarely misses life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly thinks about it at all. But everything changes when a baby elephant called Ruby arrives and Ivan realises he must find a new life for them both.
Told from Ivan’s perspective, this is a stand-out novel with a pertinent message, ideal for readers of 9+.
- ISBN13 9780007455331
- Publish Date 1 February 2012 (first published 17 January 2012)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
- Imprint HarperCollins
- Format Paperback
- Pages 256
- Language English
- URL http://harpercollins.co.uk
Reviews
sstaley
Written on Dec 30, 2019
At this point, I'm still debating whether or not I'll be reading it to my class. I think I'll suggest to the parents of my students to read it together at home with their child. There will be many subjects brought up that would be better discussed at home with 7-8-year-olds.
I do want to say that I LOVED this story! It is told from Ivan's Point of View and he quickly stole this reader's heart. Each of the animals in this story from Ivan, to the elderly elephant Stella, the young baby elephant Ruby, and the gruff stray dog Bob all have such unique personalities. These wonderful animal characters are wrapped up in huge underlying subjects of poaching, animal trafficking, and inhumane living conditions. Even with such adult topics, this story is told so that children can understand the feelings of the animals and the situations they find themselves living in. There is humor in the story and the theme of friendship and sacrifice. This novel does make you think so much about humans and the way we have handled the treatment of animals in the wild and in captivity.
I know I will read this story again. It really touched my heart and I loved learning about the real-life Ivan, who passed away in August of 2012. He was 50 years old. He spent 18 years at the Atlantic Zoo in a wonderful environment with other gorillas. I highly recommend this book as a family read-aloud.
sa090
Written on Aug 26, 2019
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It’s not easy writing from the perspective of someone or something different than yourself, but I think that Katherine Applegate did a pretty good job of showing me the thought process of these animals. I like transition based stories where the characters accept the norm and then they realize that it’s not the norm at all, it shouldn’t be like this and a change needs to happen. The book is told from Ivan’s perspective who have accepted that his situation has always been the case given how long he’s been in it, before some things happen and he realizes that no, it’s not.
I would say that the way the change did happen had some fantastical elements, but then again, seeing the power media holds in the world at the current time, makes me think that some thing like the tale’s progression could easily happen if certain conditions were met. I’m personally not a big fan of animals, but I did enjoy the hell out of being in Ivan’s head and seeing how he will come up with solutions for the situation. The story’s chapters are very short, the longest is only a few pages long, but even then Katherine Applegate makes imagining the situations pretty fun.
I did listen to an Audiobook for this particular book because the prompt for an A in Herbology requires me to do so for the NEWTs of 2019, and thankfully it was pretty fun. The narrator does a pretty good job of delivering Ivan’s persona to me just the way I imagine it would be from Applegate’s description, to be very honest, the characters were easily the highlight of the book, both animals and humans. I especially liked Stella, she had some very badass pieces of wisdom to deliver, such as the below:
“They think I’m too old to cause trouble,” Stella says.
“Old age,” she says, “is a powerful disguise.”
I got literal chills when I heard that, Stella was easily the first character that interested me in the book and hearing that just sealed the deal for me. I did wish that I got to see the view from a human’s eyes, but I guess that POV is filled by my own eyes so I’ll be happy with what I got :)
Final rating: 4/5
brokentune
Written on Jun 7, 2014
4.5*
“Memories are precious,” Stella adds. “They help tell us who we are."
This was unexpected. There I was, sitting at work, checking BL updates, minding my own business, when - WHAM! - Martini exercised her Svengali-mind-control tricks. Next thing I know, I'm engrossed in the story of Ivan, the one and only.
Ivan is gorilla who is kept in a circus themed mall. He loves art.
There is not much more I can say without spoiling the story, so I won't.
Except, I cannot remember the last time when a visit to the mall filled me with so much rage, sadness, and just enough hope to keep from despairing over human stupidity.
"Humans.
Sometimes they make chimps look smart."