This book is precious and the perfect story for upper elementary aged children. I hope there are tons of schools that teach this story. My teacher heart gets excited thinking about all the effective domain work that could be done with this book, as well as the nonfiction research and opinion writing that could come from it. If your child doesn't read this in school, it could be the perfect summer book and lead to tons of explorative learning activities.

The One and Only Ivan is based off of the true story of a gorilla who spent 27 years without ever seeing another of his own kind. He was captured as an infant, raised in a home until he became unmanageable, and then put in cage a roadside mall.

That's where this story picks up. The cast of characters is well developed, both animal and human. Ivan lives with Bob, a scruffy mutt who sleeps on his belly, Stella, an injured former circus elephant, and Ruby, a baby elephant the roadside mall purchased to try to sell enough tickets to stay afloat. You'll cheer for all these characters and for the humans too.

This book does tangentially explore whether or not Max, the owner of the roadside mall, is evil or just a person doing what he thinks is best. For older students discussing the humans in the story would make for great thought.

This was a lovely book and I'm eager to read the sequel, [b:The One and Only Bob|48613333|The One and Only Bob|Katherine Applegate|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572990860l/48613333._SX50_.jpg|73884028].