Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate illustrated by G. Ivan’s story will live on because of Katherine and you. All I can do right now, dear reader, is encourage you to put Ivan’s nonfiction book into your students’ hands on October 7, 2014. I could not find the right words to express how deeply it touched me. I stood next to Anne Hoppe, Katherine’s amazing editor, while reading it during the ALA Midwinter meeting. One I will forever recommend one I will forever hold in a special place inside my heart.įor all of these reasons and many more, I am honored to share with you the book trailer for Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla.

You never know when Ivan’s next reader might enter your life. I always carry a copy in my car because you never know when someone might need one. Ivan’s story and Katherine’s capacious ( thank you, Kate DiCamillo) heart have impacted my life unlike any reading experience before or since the publication of The One and Only Ivan. From where I’m sitting right now, I can see the copy of The One and Only Ivan that Ivan autographed. If you read my blog, follow me on Twitter, or have ever visited my school library, you have heard me talk at length about the time I spent an hour with the real Ivan and his caretaker, Jodi. Here we see the first instance of the novels motif of animals adopting human habits, and the major theme of confinement. It is safe to say I have become a relentless and self-proclaimed ambassador for Katherine’s masterpiece. Ivan, a silverback gorilla, has lived in among humans so long that he has adopted human habits and has learned to understand human speech. I must get this book into as many hands as possible” Nine hundred twenty-three days later, those words are still bouncing around inside my head. I must get this book into as many hands as possible. I can still hear the reverberating refrain that ran through my head on that cold winter’s day: “I must get this book into as many hands as possible. It tells the story of a gorilla named Ivan who lives in a research center run by scientists. I can still see the tears that soaked the pages of my advanced reader’s copy. The one and only Ivan is a children’s book written by Katherine Applegate.

I read Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan on January 4, 2012.

Book ivan the gorilla