The Billboard above the Circus based Mall on the highway exit says – The One & Only Ivan – Mighty Silverback.

This sign used to draw the crowds, but now he is grown and content to sit in his enclosure, the crowds have lost interest and the owner is losing money.

A baby elephant arrives along with a cute new picture on the billboard. Ruby is thin, very wrinkly and way cuter than the sign. She is scared to begin with, but with the help of Stella the circus elephant and Ivan’s calm ways, Ruby begins to settle. Stella and Ivan are close, and when an old foot injury reoccurs and she gets sick, he and the other animals are worried.

The caretaker and his daughter finally notice Stella’s pain and alert Mac the owner. He brushes it off, claiming he can’t afford a vet. When he finally does book one, it is too late. Before Stella dies, she makes Ivan promise to make sure Ruby doesn’t suffer the same endless fate of three shows a day and pain and misery of a small cage.

Ivan isn’t sure he can keep his promise, but using his love of drawing, (he used to draw on his mother’s back with mud, and has been using paint and crayons for years, which Mac sells in the giftshop), he gets an idea. He just has to get someone to realise what he is trying to do, to give Ruby a better life.

A multi-award winning story and a must for animal lovers.

Based on a true story of a ‘Shopping Mall Gorilla’ that lived in a tiny cage for 27 years before being moved to Zoo Atlanta.

This wonderful story is written in a way that doesn’t lose the real nature of a gorilla. Ivan’s intelligence isn’t humanised – it’s a gradual process, bringing the story alive.

Author – Katherine Applegate

Age – 9+

Read reviews on other Katherine Applegate books (Click on a cover)

(Zoo, Gorilla, Art, Friendship, Elephant, Cage, Animals, Circus, Cruelty)