The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
Recommended by Kelly Wickham Hurst and Rob Go
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Should I read this?
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in For 9 Year Olds, For 10 Year Olds, and Fiction.
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he?s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephan...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in For 9 Year Olds, For 10 Year Olds, and Fiction.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Kelly Wickham Hurst
“@CodyMillerELA I still can’t believe she also wrote “The One and Only Ivan” which is such a beautiful book that I can tear up just recalling the writing.”
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Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Reading this moves like a chain of small, eerie vignettes: lively openings set up a boy raised in a graveyard and then the narrative alternates between short adventures and quieter, reflective passages. Its useful part is a strong, child-centered mood and highly readable chapters that suit aloud reading and younger audiences. The main limitation is an episodic structure that can feel fragmentary if you prefer sustained plotting or continuous suspense.”
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How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.