A creative gorilla? What next? Ivan seems to be a very special gorilla, and he is. He is a silverback and a gifted artist. His friends, Bob the stray dog and Stella the elephant, live in a mall. Ivan lives in a glass domain and Stella lives in her cage. Mack is the owner of the mall they live in. It is because of Julia that Mack understood Ivan’s talent for drawing. She gave him crayons to draw with when he is bored. Mack also gave him a toy gorilla that Ivan named Not Tag. One day, a small, scared-looking elephant arrived at the Big Top Mall. It turned out her name was Ruby. She was an inquisitive young elephant. Here is a question she asked Ivan: Have you ever danced with a tiger? Is this even possible?! Have you ever imagined that you could win your freedom with just a huge painting? What fun you would have!

Katherine Applegate writes wonderfully. This beautiful story, One and Only Ivan, might be just too long for a beginner with around 1800 pages. It is still a great story that relates to the lives of some animals in this world. This story is written for the animals that are kept in cages and domains all over the world. I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you will, too.