BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSIvan is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who has spent nearly 27 years living in a glass-and-cement enclosure at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade in a run-down shopping mall off a highway. He passes his days watching TV, making crayon drawings that sell for twenty-five dollars in the gift shop, and talking each night with his two best friends: Stella, an aging elephant with a bad leg and a gift for storytelling, and Bob, a scrappy stray dog who sleeps on Ivan's belly. When Mack, the struggling mall owner, buys a baby elephant named Ruby to boost ticket sales, Ivan finds himself making a promise to Stella that will push him to do something he never thought possible.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The One and Only Ivan
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about The One and Only Ivan. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a seal eat one hundred pennies that children tossed into her pool?
✓ Answer
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Ivan remembers a seal who used to be his neighbor at the mall. Children would wish on pennies and throw them into her plastic pool, and one day the hungry or bored seal ate a hundred of them. Mack said she'd be fine, but she wasn't.
- First half
In what book does a baby elephant not understand a refrigerator joke because she doesn't know what a refrigerator is?
✓ Answer
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Ivan tells Ruby the joke about knowing an elephant has been in the refrigerator by the footprints in the butter. Ruby has never seen a refrigerator and asks so many questions about it that Ivan has to draw her a picture of one. It's a sweet and funny scene about their different life experiences.
- First half
In what book does a dying elephant ask a gorilla to promise to protect a baby elephant?
✓ Answer
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Stella wakes Ivan in the moonlight and asks for a promise, saying promises are forever and forever is an unusually long time, especially in a cage. Before she can explain, Ivan already knows what she wants. He promises on his word as a silverback that he will get Ruby to a safe place.
- Second half
In what book does a hook on the end of a stick gleam like a sliver of moon?
✓ Answer
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
When Mack gets frustrated with Ruby's refusal to walk, he brings out a claw-stick with a sharp, gleaming hook on its end. Ivan describes the hook as almost beautiful, like a sliver of moon. The claw-stick becomes a symbol of the cruelty Ruby faces at the mall.
- Second half
In what book does a gorilla learn to paint the word "home" after hearing a girl practice spelling?
✓ Answer
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Ivan has been struggling to figure out what his giant painting is missing. When he overhears Julia studying the difference between "principal" and "principle," he suddenly realizes he needs a word. He leaps up so fast that Bob goes flying into the water pool. The word is H-O-M-E.
- Near the end
In what book do protesters carry a sign with a drawing of a gorilla cradling a baby elephant?
✓ Answer
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
After the TV news story airs, people begin gathering in the parking lot with protest signs. One sign has a drawing of a gorilla holding a baby elephant. The protesters want Ruby to be free, and some want the entire mall shut down. Ivan wishes he could read the words on the signs.
