Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla

I love this book! I ordered it to support my students' understanding of the story in the book and movie "The One and Only Ivan".

My oldest daughter is 7.5, and she read the Ivan novel over the summer. She thoroughly enjoyed it, and so when I saw that an Ivan picture book would be coming out, I preordered it. I did not tell my daughter, so she was pleasantly surprised by the book's arrival a couple of days ago.This picture book is not narrated by Ivan, which is a shame, because Ivan had such a unique voice and a wry sense of humor. Rather, this is a biography about Ivan the gorilla, from his infancy in Africa amongst the other gorillas, his capture by poachers and subsequent arrival in America, his childhood as a "human", his internment at the shopping mall, and finally, his new life at the zoo in Atlanta.The prose is light and airy, but it also has emotional depth. It conveys information about Ivan's life in an engaging and evocative manner. One part that struck me was that Ivan had been "ordered and paid for, like a couple of pizzas, like a pair of shoes."The illustrations by G. Brian Karas are phenomenal. I have enjoyed his work in other books, and I love the way he has brought Ivan's world to life.My daughter had some objections to details in the picture book that differed from those found in the novel. I explained the concept of "artistic license" to her, and she seemed satisfied with that.I think this picture book is a fine companion to the Ivan novel. It makes Ivan's story accessible to children on a lower reading level than the level of novel.I would absolutely recommend this book to others.

Don't stop to read this review, go buy this book, and when your finish, your heart will be warm with love. Ivan had the power to change but it was not until someone else needed help for him to have the courage to change and in the end all his animal friends ended up in a better place. With all my heart this author created a beautiful story that I went out and bought her second book. The One and Only Ivan Series, by Katherine Applegate and Patricia Castelao will steal your heart, break it to pieces, and put it back together in one sitting. A must-read. Happy Reading.

I realize this is a children's book and I bought it for 2 reasons 1 my grandson who is 3 and to own a bit of history see I remeber Ivan as a small child in 1971. We would go to B&I every Saturday, this is when they first brought him there and he was up high n a cage we climbed stairs to get to him back then it was just glass between us he was sometimes scary very angry(of course don't blame him) there were years later protests and picketers. Guess I just expected more history maybe Katherine should look up some of us old Tacoma ppl and ask us what we remeber so as more facts could be put in those books think I'll skip the others. On another note the "shopping mall" she spoke of is wrong back when Ivan was put In B&I it was a small store that consisted of discount clothes and a pet store (that was also picketed because of the bad care of the animals there) now it is no more than a small arcade and a carousel the reason we went there often as kids and a few shops. As far as "food court" some Hispanic food is served there but that didn't come in til the 90's. when Ivan was there on display there were other animals also, more oddities like 2 headed snakes. In late 70's and until finally Ivan received his freedom, it was because of hard work of animal lovers picketing and fighting for all the animals at B&I. When Michael Jackson was going to buy Ivan for his personal zoo it was those same people that stopped that sale and made sure he was put in a proper safe place to be shared by all people until he passed away when I believe he was finally somewhat free and happy with other apes. I wish hard work of a community was told in her book and that it was NEVER accepted by the Puget Sound community but because of a different time there were not many laws to protect exotic animals nor domestic for that matter. I'm glad Katherine wrote a book about Ivan but look at other reviews and it makes it seem no one cared when all along people fought for him and his freedom. Sadly Scamps the pet store is still there but under better management and B&I closes and changes hands frequently scamps is same building different owner. I hope this helps for before and after you read her book. Ivan has always been in our hearts here in Tacoma then and always for those of us who grew up with him.

We partnered this book with the one and only Ivan in then in my reading classroom. The students really enjoyed it especially the page in the back with notes from one of Ivan's caretakers.

I’ve followed Ivan’s story since it began. It was quite a thrill to see a child’s story book about him. It’s a quick easy read for adults to learn his story. And a wonderful story to read to my 5 year old granddaughter. It’s captures the immediacy of taking care of our wonderful creatures.

I really love the book about Ivan and wanted to share the story with my 5-year old grandson. This children's book is beautiful written and illustrated and allowed us to talk about keeping animals in captivity. He asked me questions about why the men took Ivan away from his family and took him in a box to America. We were able to talk about so many topics and I am grateful for this book. Hopefully, he will want to read the full book when he is older and learn all the details about Ivan.

I grew up in Tacoma where Ivan was kept at a store called the B&I. I was so glad when he could finally leave his small cage after all those years! I love this book. I got two to give one to my great-granddaughter, and one to my niece.

Wonderful

I was a big fan of the book from where I thought it was going but then I realized Ivan did not have the best of endings even though it's portrayed that way. He goes from being a shopping mall gorilla trapped in a small room to being the prisoner of a zoo (though they make it sound like going to a zoo was a wonderful thing). I know this is a true story... I just kinda wish he would've been able to end his life in a sanctuary (or that the fact that a zoo is still a prison for animals would have been expressed somehow).

A wonderfully done piece of non-fiction on the subject of animals being used as entertainment. There is that element that isn't so comfortable but it is well presented and a good way to talk about this with children.

Beautiful illustrations and a sad but beautiful story. I am going to use this to go along with the novel in my class.