The books in this award-winning and New York Times bestselling series are all incredible animal stories about the true meaning of friendship, family and home. We recommend them all for middle grade readers aged 9+.
While all the animal characters of the books' stories are interconnected, each title in the series focuses on one of them in particular. We meet Ivan, a captive gorilla living in a mall, Bob, a stray dog living with Ivan, and Ruby, a baby elephant new to the mall. Together, these animals remove themselves from captivity and find solace in a wildlife sanctuary.
This is a great series to read if you're a fan of The Last Bear Series or the Historical Animal Stories. If you enjoyed this series and would like to find more books like this, do check out our Best Animal Stories for 9 and 10 year olds blog post.
All The One and Only Ivan books in order:
Book 1: The One and Only Ivan (2012)
Book 2: The One and Only Bob (2020)
Book 3: The One and Only Ruby (2023)
Book 4: The One and Only Family (2024)
On the fourth and final volume, we end up back with Ivan - and his new family. While the gorilla in volume 1 was still stuck in a small cage, he now l...
These One and Only books are brilliant and ideal for reluctant readers. I found this one really moving as it tells you Ruby's backstory.
Soon it w...
Thought this was a very touching story. Really felt for the characters. All very likeable. Really enjoyed the simple style of writing used. ...