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jenbsbooks 's review for:
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
I read this 12 years ago ... it didn't make a big impact on me (not much of a review, I left the original below). I remember watching the film adaptation and not being impressed with it at all. Last month, I did a re-read of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise (which I loved) and this is one of Coyote's favorite books, and she names her kitten Ivan because of it. A couple other books/favs are mentioned (Ghost/EsperanzaRising) so I gave them a read, and figured I'd give this another go.
I believe I read the book (probably e-book) in 2013. I went with the audiobook this time. Didn't love the narrator (like I did with the octopus voice in Remarkably Bright Creatures), just okay ... and this is one of the rare occasions when I think the read might be preferable to the listen. There are very cute illustrations, and the super short chapter presentation just comes across a little better in print.
Seriously - so much white space. No numerical chapters, just a word/phrase, and then thoughts on that, while moving the story along. One "chapter" was titled "sorry" and was just two sentences. There was a glossary of terms - which was more fun than informative (although it was that still).
1st person, Ivan's POV. Past tense. Very simple/conversationalist tone.
Definite similarities to Charlotte's Web ;)
The audio DID include the Author's note which explained that Ivan is a real gorilla, his basic storyline was based on fact (Kinyani and Jambo were also real) but all the other animals and story line at the mall zoo were created for the story. I wished the author had read the note herself, it would make it so much more personal.
Extras in the Kindle and print edition also included a little update "Ivan's Signature" which was a fun follow-up. My print copy (2015 printing) had some discussion questions too. I always appreciate having those, to make me think of things I might not have on my own (I had Googled and found several PDFs online, but I love when they are right there in the book). The print copy also has the author's Newberry acceptance speech.
I'm bumping my original 3* review up to 4* as all these extras made me appreciate the story more, and I'm sure if I had read this in MY middle-grade years, I would have loved it!
Original Review (08/2013) I'd heard so many rave reviews about this, perhaps I went into it will too high of expectations. I did like it, just wasn't blown away.
I believe I read the book (probably e-book) in 2013. I went with the audiobook this time. Didn't love the narrator (like I did with the octopus voice in Remarkably Bright Creatures), just okay ... and this is one of the rare occasions when I think the read might be preferable to the listen. There are very cute illustrations, and the super short chapter presentation just comes across a little better in print.
Seriously - so much white space. No numerical chapters, just a word/phrase, and then thoughts on that, while moving the story along. One "chapter" was titled "sorry" and was just two sentences. There was a glossary of terms - which was more fun than informative (although it was that still).
1st person, Ivan's POV. Past tense. Very simple/conversationalist tone.
Definite similarities to Charlotte's Web ;)
The audio DID include the Author's note which explained that Ivan is a real gorilla, his basic storyline was based on fact (Kinyani and Jambo were also real) but all the other animals and story line at the mall zoo were created for the story. I wished the author had read the note herself, it would make it so much more personal.
Extras in the Kindle and print edition also included a little update "Ivan's Signature" which was a fun follow-up. My print copy (2015 printing) had some discussion questions too. I always appreciate having those, to make me think of things I might not have on my own (I had Googled and found several PDFs online, but I love when they are right there in the book). The print copy also has the author's Newberry acceptance speech.
I'm bumping my original 3* review up to 4* as all these extras made me appreciate the story more, and I'm sure if I had read this in MY middle-grade years, I would have loved it!
Original Review (08/2013) I'd heard so many rave reviews about this, perhaps I went into it will too high of expectations. I did like it, just wasn't blown away.