Katherine Applegate
Harper Collins Children's
2012
305 pgs.
When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.
Thought this was a good read; Ivan was a sympathetic narrator, and his emotions & thoughts seemed believable for a gorilla. Themes were relevant & moving for children & adults. Thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteI like this one too. The voice of Ivan & other animals seems plausible/real. Loved the way the books sentences were broken up into little paragraphs and the small chapters. Made for a feeling of living in the moment. I thought the ending was heartwarming and wonderful. The whole work touched my heart.
ReplyDeleteI love the simplicity of the writing (more like poetry than prose). Very heart-warming.
ReplyDeleteI picked this one up with some reluctance because I am not usually drawn to animal stories. I am happy to report, I was pleasantly surprised. The chapters were manageable, the illustrations were a nice touch, and the story will be adored by a large group of children. I appreciated the fact that the author did not make the human in the story a good guy or bad guy - he was just who he was. A beautiful story that would be a good read-aloud.
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