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Book Review of The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan
Kiki13 avatar reviewed on + 3 more book reviews


I love this book! This is a very emotional book. The beginning is sad when Ivan describes his cage at the mall. They are cirus animals that stay in one location and don't travel like a regular circus. We have all seen animals treated like this. Especially when we were kids and there weren't laws and regulations against wild animal enslavement. I'm defienetly not pro circus. Those animasl are treated just as horribly. Especially the elephants, who should remain in their jungles and African plains. But in many other countries they treat animals like this - a way to bring in revenue to their business ventures. And wild gorillas and elephants are being slaughtered at an alarming rate and they may soon be extinct in the wild. Now back to the book. I hope the book enlightens kids to the unjust animal conditions. As humans we should know better. I hope after children read this they will grow up to animal warriors and fight for animal freedom. It is a young girl who recognizes Ivan's plight and fights for his freedom. This is very little animal cruelty described in the book, mostly they just give you a little imagery and as an adult you fill in the rest. So I don't think it is too sad for children to read. The book starts out a little slow and simple. But keep reading. It gets better and better and races to a conclusion. I promise it doesn't have a sad ending.