As I read through this book, there are many things I need to keep in mind such as the characters, theme, setting, and plot, among others. I believe that keeping all of these in mind helps the reader to better understand what is going on in the book.
We are introduced to the main characters in the book, Ivan, a gorilla, his friend Julia, a human, and Stella, the elephant. As we are introduced to Ivan’s life we find out where he lives, in a mall, and how he is “exposed” to the public. Ivan and Julia become great friends throughout the book, and it all started when Julia gave him a crayon to encourage his writing and art. One unfortunate day, Stella the elephant, one of Ivan’s friend, passed and this is when Ivan realizes he has to do something about his condition of living when all these time he had thought it was a good life until one day he saw on his television how other gorillas were living.
Later we are introduced to Mack, who is the owner of the display/cage where Ivan and the other animals live. After Stella passed, Ivan realized he had to do something about his situation, especially, after he had promised her he would do something about it. Ivan used his intelligence and pieced together several signs to spell home and with the help of many protestors, Ivan and the rest of his friends are re-homed at a zoo where their lives change in a positive way.
Once the animals were taken to the zoo, they learned to live a better lifestyle and much happier life.The setting at the zoo is completely different than how it used to be at the mall. In this place, everything is so much natural with grass, trees, dirt, rocks, flowers, etc. all around them. Even after the animals were placed at the zoo, Julia continued visiting her friend, Ivan, and the rest of the animals.
Mayra Pelayo 