Part zoo, part circus, part mall with a food court, Mack is the human who runs it and does his best to tend to the animals he keeps there, which include Stella, a retired circus elephant, and a few assorted animals like sun bears and birds and a dog named Snickers who jumps on Stella's back as part of the show. Ivan is the main attraction at the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. He has a laid back yet philosophical view of the world, despite his less than ideal circumstances. It is Ivan who narrates his story and his voice is immediately enthralling and charming. This sentiment perfectly sums up the experiences of Ivan, the great silverback gorilla who has learned to adapt to his domain.

It is everything that MacLachlan and Schmidt promised and so much more that is hard to distill into a book review.Īpplegate's book begins with a quote from George Eliot, 'It is never to late to be what you might have been,' and is followed by a glossary of gorilla terms. I have to be honest, I don't normally like middle grade novels with animals as characters and, even after I read the description on the back of the book, it was the author quotes and my esteem for their own books that prompted me to read this book. Read this.') While I think that these author quotes could be applied to MacLachlan's latest book, Waiting for the Magic, and Schmidt's, Okay for Now, they are also very apt when speaking of The One and Only Ivan. Katherine Applegate's newest book, The One and Only Ivan, comes with some very high praise from award winning authors Patricia MacLachlan ('Beautifully written, intelligent, and brave, this story is life changing') and Gary D Schmidt ('This book will break your heart - and then, against all odds, mend it again. Since I started writing book reviews I have become the kind of person who reads the quotes of praise on the back of the book, the dedications and always, always the author notes and acknowledgements.

The one and ivan book