Monday, March 11, 2013

The One and Only Ivan ~ by Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ivan ~ by Katherine Applegate, 2012, middle grade, 9/10
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla who lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.  He is accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain and rarely misses his life in the jungle.  His friends are Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog.  But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.  Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home — and his own art — through new eyes.  When Ruby arrives, Ivan wants to make things change for the better.
Yesterday, I told you this was the next book I planned to read.  I finished it this morning, rating it 9 of 10, an excellent book.  And I immediately handed it to Donna, my roommate.  She took the book to her room and started reading it, while I got online to check email, read Yahoo news, and check my Facebook page.  I was astounded to discover this "Gorilla Encounter" video in a story on Yahoo.  I've watched the video three times now, once with Donna when I took my laptop into her room so she could see it, too.  Don't you think it's amazing when such synchronicity falls in your lap?  Yeah, you'll want to watch this feel-good video called "Gorilla Encounter."



If this video quits working, view "Gorilla Encounter" on YouTube.

1 comment:

Helen's Book Blog said...

What a coincidence! Just yesterday I was listening to NPR and heard a story about a couple who raised a chimp as their child only to release it into the wild when it turned 12 years old. It was the story of it's "nanny" who ended up staying in the Gambia helping chimps "relocate" for the past decade!