Reading 4 · change to tricks · The One and Only Ivan

Copywork

Gently but firmly, using her trunk, she nudges Ruby into her domain. Only then does Stella enter. Mack slams the door shut with a clang. I see two trunks entwined.

“To break her spirit,” Stella says. “So she could learn to balance on a pedestal. So she could stand on her hind legs. So a dog could jump on her back while she walked in mindless circles.”

Read both passages aloud. In the second one, three sentences start with the same word. Why might the author keep repeating “So”?

Discussion

Narration Tell back what happens from the moment Stella says she hears the baby to the talk under the full moon.

Ivan hears only cars and sun bears. He tells Stella, “You’re just hoping,” and she answers softly, “not hoping. Not at all.” Why might Stella say she is not hoping? Character
Stella says a good zoo is “how humans make amends.” Bob asks why she and Ivan are not in a zoo. Stella smiles sadly. “Just lucky, I guess,” she says. Why might she call it luck? Theme
Inside the truck, Ruby makes a noise “like one of the little trumpets they sell at the gift store.” Why might the author compare that noise to a toy? Author's choice
Bob tells Ivan, “You’re old news.” Later Julia rolls a pencil across his floor. “You can draw the baby elephant too,” she says. Why might Ivan bite the pencil in half? Character
For the educator The bitten pencil is funny. The question asks the student to hear the hurt under it too, on the day Stella is busy with Ruby.

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone knew something sad that the people around them did not. What did that person do about it?

Vocabulary

amends: A good zoo is how humans make amends. Something done to make up for a wrong or a harm.
incline: At the top of the incline she stops. A slope that goes upward, like a ramp.
bankrupt: “Not the greatest specimen,” Mack says, “but I got her cheap from this bankrupt circus out west. Out of money and unable to pay what is owed, so a business has to close.
usher: Stella ushers Ruby toward her domain. To lead or guide someone to a place.
consider: Stella stares at Mack, considering. To think carefully about something before deciding what to do.
entwined: I see two trunks entwined. Twisted or wrapped around each other.
dignified: I grunt again, a dignified, indifferent grunt. Calm and proud in a way that asks for respect.
benefit: I always try to give humans the benefit of the doubt. A help or advantage given to someone, as when Ivan trusts humans even though he is not sure of them.
mindless: So a dog could jump on her back while she walked in mindless circles. Done over and over without any thought or purpose.

Critical thinking

In Stella’s story, Jambo “stood watch” over a fallen boy. The crowd waited, “expecting the worst.” Then Jambo “led his troop away.” Was leaving part of guarding the boy, or the end of it?
Stella says the circus chained Ruby to the floor, “All four feet. Twenty-three hours a day.” Ivan looks for a reason it could be a good idea. He always tries to give humans “the benefit of the doubt.” Is that a wise habit for Ivan, or a risky one?
Stella limps up the ramp to bring Ruby out of the truck. When Mack raises a broom, she steps in front of Ruby, and then she nudges Ruby into the cage. Was Stella protecting Ruby, or helping Mack?