My dad and I read the book The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Ivan, a Silverback Gorilla at the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, was brought there as a baby.
My dad asked me to analyze each character in the story and learn more about it. For example, I found Stella to be a patient elephant. So, I did a research project on patience and how marmoset monkeys are more patient than tamarin monkeys.
We also found 4 themes in the book.
Theme 1 – Ivan’s loneliness.
I thought that Ivan longed for a family.
- That Ivan wanted his friends and family back
- Ivan was so sad that he let his emotions control him
- Ivan was so scared that he would not have any more friends
Theme 2 – Ivan’s Care for Ruby
I thought Ivan loved Ruby and was patient with her
- Ivan missed Stella, the elephant, so he had to take care of the new arrival, the baby elephant, Ruby
- Ivan promised Stella something so he has to keep his promise
- Ivan was so responsible for Ruby
Theme 3 – Bob, the dog, was a good friend to Ivan
I thought of my friends and how important it is to have good friends
- The story tells that Bob likes Ivan and they are best friends
- They used to watch TV together
- Bob likes to cuddle up and warm up next to Ivan
Theme 4 – Freedom
Ivan wanted to be free in the forest and I wanted him to get out of the glass box and live his dream
- Ivan liked it when he was free and could play with his sister
- Then he went to Mack’s house and liked it a bit. He had more freedom than at the mall.
- In the end, he didn’t have full freedom cause he was caged for so long. But he liked Kinyani and liked running in the fields.
I liked the story because it had a lot of interesting things about a gorilla. My favorite part of the story was when Julia and Bob went to meet Ivan at the new place. It was a good book to read because the story slowly introduces the each character, and builds on how they interacted as friends.
Crazy Critter Adventures 