The One and Only Ivan, with its cast of loveable animals as main characters, will appeal to upper elementary audiences and animal lovers alike. Ivan, an intelligent, protective silverback gorilla makes a vow to care for Ruby, the surrogate daughter of long time fellow circus friend Stella before she dies from an aggressive foot infection. When Ivan observes the neglectful owner of the circus, Mack, beating Ruby with a stick to train her to replicate Stella's act, he uses paints secured from Mack's daughter, Julia, to communicate his concern. The gorilla's painting becomes a magnetic draw and event attendance increases. When the media reports and depicts the instruments used to train the animals, they are rescued and a home is made for them at the zoo where they are exposed to other animals within their species and are safer than they were with Mack.
This would be a wonderful class reading preceding a field trip to the local zoo. Students could learn and prepare questions to ask zoo keepers about animals in captivity especially those mentioned in the book. Research projects on zoos, circus practices, elephants, gorillas, co-habitation, animal rights and the actual mall gorilla, Ivan, on whose experiences the text was based could easily be initiated following the reading of this sweet text.
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