Ivan's Promise

Ivan promises Stella that he will get Ruby out of the Big Top Mall. After seeing a commercial for the zoo, Ivan decides that's where Ruby needs to be. If you were Ivan, what would your plan be to break Ruby out?

Remembering Stella

Ruby asks a lot of questions about life at the Big Top Mall. If you had a conversation with Ruby, what would you ask her about living in the wild? 

Independent Novels

This question is for those reading an independent novel:

Tell us a little bit about your novel!! What's it about? How do you like it so far? Can you link us to a website that gives us a little more information on your novel?

Gorillas in the zoo

We know that neither Ivan or Stella have lived in a zoo. Stella was a circus elephant before coming to the Bog Top Mall, and Ivan has spent most of his life at the Big Top Mall. Stella describes a good zoo as "a large domain...a wild cage...a safe place to be. It has room to roam and humans who don't hurt."

Have you been to a good zoo? Tell us about it! If you can, provide a link to the zoo you are telling us about.

Independent Novel?

If you are reading a novel independently - this is for you! Discuss the connections you wrote about today in your journals. Did you find anything that was similar in the book to your life?

Sad gorilla?

So far, we have learned that Ivan lives pretty much by himself in his glass domain with his tire swing, baseball, plastic pool, and a TV. He does has a couple of close friends: Ellie the elephant and Bob the Dog. He also has a human that visits him - Julia. Julia is the daughter of the Big Top Mall and Arcade's custodian, George. Julia is an artist, and so is Ivan. Ivan loves to draw pictures with crayons, and Mack sells them in the gift shop. Julia draws pictures of Ivan, and as Ivan notes, she always draws him looking sad.

Do you think Ivan seems like a sad gorilla? Why? 

For more information...

You can visit the website: http://theoneandonlyivan.com/ to learn more about the book we are reading!