The One and Only Ivan

May 27, 2013
“Hello, I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It’s not as easy as it looks.” This is the introduction that readers receive to Ivan, who lives in confinement at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. But Ivan doesn’t mind living there. In fact, he doesn’t miss his previous life in the wild—until a young elephant named Ruby arrives and changes his outlook. Narrator Adam Grupper is gruff in his portrayal of Ivan, capturing the ape’s voice and unique perspective. Although there is no measurable shift in Grupper’s delivery to match the transformation of the book’s protagonist, his approach will delight young listeners. Ages 8–12. A HarperCollins hardcover.

November 14, 2011
Inspired by a true story, Applegate (Home of the Brave) offers a haunting tale told from the perspective of Ivan, a silverback gorilla who has been confined to a small “domain” of concrete, metal, and glass for 27 years. Joining Ivan at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade are Stella, an aging elephant, and Bob, a feisty stray dog. While other animals perform, Ivan makes art, watches TV, and offers melancholy assessments of their situation. When Ruby, an inquisitive baby elephant, arrives and Stella dies from neglect, her dying wish is for Ivan to help Ruby escape. The brief chapters read like free-verse poetry, the extra line breaks between paragraphs driving home the contrast between Ivan and humans, who in his opinion, “waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot.” As is to be expected, there’s significant anthropomorphism, but Applegate is largely successful in creating a protagonist who can understand humans yet feels like a gorilla. Although Ivan’s role in the events leading to their rescue reads as too human, readers will be left rethinking our relationship to animals. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12.

Starred review from June 1, 2013
Gr 3-7-Ivan the silverback gorilla has lived a solitary life as the star of the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade for 27 years, watching TV and painting still-life representations of objects in his domain. Separated from his family at a very young age, Ivan lived with Mack and his wife as one of the family until he became too large for their home. Now his companions are an elderly elephant named Stella and a stray dog, Bob. Although he forms an attachment to Julia, the daughter of the mall's custodian, Ivan views most humans with distaste, merely tolerating the crowds that come to stare at him daily. Life changes dramatically for Ivan, though, when a baby elephant, Ruby, is bought to replace Stella, who is dying of an old injury and neglect. Prodded by his urge to care for and protect Ruby, Ivan begins remembering what it was like to be a wild gorilla, and how he was violently taken from his family. He begins to see his "domain" as the cage that it is, and he vows to give Ruby a better life than he and Stella had. It is Ivan's art that sets him free, and his courage and resourcefulness that help him fulfill his promise. Adam Grupper gives Ivan a calm, pragmatic voice that aptly conveys his concise, descriptive sentences, while giving similarly unique voices to other characters. Applegate's Newbery winner (HarperCollins, 2012) is based on a true story. Ivan's heart-wrenching tale reminds us that every animal has the right to a safe place called home.-"MaryAnn Karre, West Middle School, Binghamton, NY"

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