The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate

 

Genre: Middle Grade, Animals

Source: I purchased a copy.

This is the final book in the series. In this book we find Ivan and his mate Kinyani expecting a baby. They are excited. We are taken through Ivan's thoughts about what it takes to be a good parent. On one hand he things it will be easy. On the other hand he is afraid.  Any parent who reads this book could identify with  Ivan on the feelings of excitement and fear when dealing with their first child.  For Ivan, who ends up the father of twins it is even more emotional. He had a twin who made it from Africa to America, only to die of pneumonia. As his two children hit their terrible twos he is faced with several fears.  The biggest fear is that he won't be able to protect his children.  Along comes Bob, his dog friend to teach him what a wonderful father he really is. 

This was such a wonderful book.  It was just as emotional as the other three books in this series.  I can't wait to put it on my school shelves and recommend it to students.

The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate

 

Genre: Middle Grade, Animals

Source: I purchased a copy

The One and Only Ruby is the third book in the four book series written by Katherine Applegate.  The book tells the story of Ruby, the elephant we meet in the first book, “The One and Only Ivan.”  Ruby was a very small elephant when we was brought to the “The Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade”. She lived there with a larger elephant named Stella, Ivan the Gorilla and their friend Bob the dog.”

Ruby now lives in the zoo next  to Ivan.  She is not happy that she has tusks, even if they are small. She dreads having to give a speech about what Tuskday means to her. She sees no use for tusks. Maybe this is because she has seen what happens to elephants when poachers want those tusks. As she tries to work her way through her feelings leading up to Tuskday she tells her story to Ivan, his mate Kinyani, and Bob. Through this story we learn about Ruby and her life in Africa and the herd she was a part of. We learn of her joys and her sadness. Along the way we see Ruby mature and grow and actually become a part of the herd she is with at the zoo.

I was so excited when this book came out. Just as excited as when I read the first two books, “The One and Only Ivan”, and “The One and only Bob”. This book, like the others is an emotional read. It is one that I will never forget.

Student Saturday: Connecting Dots: Poems of my Journey by David L. Harrison

Genre: Children, Poetry
Student Reviewer: Aleah F.

"Connecting Dots” is a poetry book. The reason I like this book is because it is a book of poems about his life. He had lots of pictures he loved, and he always wrote poems about his life. His life was very difficult. His high school year was fun. He played basketball and always tried the best he could. He would always shoot the ball and miss the basket, but he never gave up. He kept going. He did not care who was in the crowd watching him. All he was worried about was if he was getting somewhere in life. 

The lesson he learned was that it's okay to miss the basket but never put that down on yourself. People would always laugh at him, but the lesson he learned was never to care what people thought about him.

After he was done with a basketball game, he was surprised with a puppy, and his teammates were so proud of him. The teammates told him to go outside right after the game, so he did. His coach was outside and told him to close his eyes; when the coach told him to open his eyes and when he did, his coach had a black and white dog for him. 

 After he did all of that, he went home and got puppy love from his new puppy named Freckles.

I would recommend this book to people who like basketball, and to those who believe they should never give up.