about the book
The author of this book, Katherine Applegate, wrote chapter book entitled The One and Only Ivan. In it she tells a delightful story about a 400-pound silverback gorilla who has lived most of his life in a cage and takes on the responsibility of making a baby elephant’s life much better. This picture book reveals more about the real Ivan, a western lowland gorilla.
The first part of the book tells about Ivan’s life in the African jungles of Congo and how poachers came and took him and another baby girl gorilla away from their mothers in the 1960s. They were delivered to the B&I Circus Store in a mall in Tacoma, Washington. Cared for in the home of the store’s owner, the girl gorilla died shortly after arrival and Ivan soon grew much too big for the man to manage. From that point on, Ivan was housed in a small cage where he lived for the next 27 years!
When changing attitudes about more humane treatment of animals brought Ivan’s plight to the media’s attention, he was finally allowed to move into a much better environment at Zoo Atlanta. There he could be outside and interact with other gorillas.
The final portion of the book includes in-depth information and photos about Ivan’s life and experiences, and a note from Ivan’s head zoo keeper. Though Ivan died in 2012, we know that he found peace and happiness in his new zoo home. This gentle gorilla, who signed his finger paintings with his thumbprint, won the hearts of thousands of people…and a lot of young readers.
about the author
Whether you look for Katherine Alice Applegate, or A. K. Applegate or the pen name Katherine Kendall, you will find that this popular writer is very prolific. She has written more than 100 books, including the popular Animorphs series. She says if she could morph into any animal, it would be a dolphin!
Katherine graduated with honors from the University of Texas but she didn’t know what she wanted to do. She waited on tables, typed badly, and watered plants for a living. She wandered from Florida to California, from Minnesota to Italy. Tired of these boring jobs, she decided to become a famous writer. After all, it required no social skills or physical exertion and she could wear comfortable clothes!
Easily distracted, Katherine sets a strict writing schedule for herself. She also writes adult novels, but she is mainly interested in middle grade students. Katherine feels they are the most open-minded and imaginative and are the very best readers on the earth.
She was inspired to write The One and Only Ivan after learning about a real gorilla named Ivan. He was captured in the African Congo as an infant and ended up in an odd collection of animals housed at a circus-themed mall in Washington State. He spent 27 years isolated in a cage. When the pubic began to voice concerns about Ivan’s lonely state, he was eventually placed at the Atlanta Zoo, which has the largest group of western lowland gorillas in the nation. Living contentedly with the other gorillas, Ivan became a celebrity known for his paintings, which he signed with a thumbprint! Ivan died on August 20, 2012, at the age of 50. Katherine wanted to give Ivan his own voice to tell his story.
In her spare time, Katherine plays the cello, tends her ankle-biting cats, and travels with son Jake, adopted daughter Julia, and husband Michael. Michael is also a writer and co- authors some of Katherine’s books. Their home is in southern California.
Sources:
Author interview : School Library Journal
Book website
Author biography : Bookrags
Author page : Simon & Schuster
Author video interview
Book trailer: Ivan: The Remarkable True Story…
Also by Katherine Applegate:
The Buffalo Storm. Clarion. 2007.
about the illustrator
The prolific illustrator and writer G. Brian Karas (George) was born in Milford, Connecticut, in 1957. In his child’s imagination, the woods became an enchanted forest, stone walls morphed into towering castles, and unusual plants hid strange aliens.
Unfortunately his first forays into the art world were disastrous. His first 3-D project in kindergarten, a full-sized Native American teepee, proved too daunting. His teachers did not appreciate his sketches and caricatures in first grade, and his parents just didn’t support his drawing talents.
Luckily, in high school George found a teacher who did encourage him. He graduated from Paier School of Art with highest honors, knowing from the very beginning that he wanted to illustrate children’s books—though he first worked as a card designer for Hallmark Cards before moving to New York to work as a commercial illustrator.
After his first book Home on the Bayou was published, George went on to pen nearly one hundred books for young readers. He does most of his drawings in pencil (he says it’s the most expressive tool), and though he draws from real life, he keeps one foot in his own fantasy world.
He lives in the Hudson Valley in New York State with his family. He’s a bit of a map geek. He also enjoys doing tai chi and crossword puzzles.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator interview: Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Illustrator biography: Google Books
Also illustrated by G. Brian Karas:
A Poem in Your Pocket by Margaret McNamara. Schwartz & Wade. 2015.
Whale Trails : Before and Now by Lesa Cline-Ransome. Henry Holt. 2015.
Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle. Candlewick Press. 2014.
Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide! by Candace Fleming. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2014.
The Apple Orchard Riddle. Schwartz & Wade. 2013.
Lemonade in Winter : A Book about Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins. Schwartz & Wade. 2012.
Neville by Norton Juster. Schwartz & Wade. 2011.
Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming. Schwartz & Wade. 2010.
Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley. Richard Jackson Books. 2008.
Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide! by Candace Fleming. Ginee Seo Books. 2007.
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara. 2007.
A Place Called Kindergarten by Jessica Harper. Putnam Publishing. 2006.
Incredible Me! by Kathi Appelt. Harper Collins. 2003.
Oh No, Gotta Go! by Susan Middleton Elya. Putnam Publishing. 2003.
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