The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

 From Goodreads, 

"Bob sets out on a dangerous journey in search of his long-lost sister with the help of his two best friends, Ivan and Ruby. As a hurricane approaches and time is running out, Bob finds courage he never knew he had and learns the true meaning of friendship and family."

Goodreads - The One and Only Bob

I was so excited to learn that Katherine Applegate was releasing a new companion book for the book The One and Only Ivan.  I read it six years ago and did a reread just recently.  (My reread review was posted last week!)

The One and Only Bob follows a wiry little dog named Bob who first appears in The One and Only Ivan.  Bob now lives with Julia and is pretty content with his comfortable life and bed.  But he soon feels that something is coming.  Julia and George both say that a hurricane is coming.  Julia decides to go with George to the zoo to see Stella and Ivan before the hurricane hits.  But soon everything is a mess because a tornado makes landfall right on top of the zoo.  Habitats are destroyed and animals are everywhere.  But Bob thinks he hears a familiar bark.  He thinks he hears his sister.  He soon takes off to try to save her and save the rest of the animals. 

This book had emotion like The One and Only Ivan, but it was a different kind of emotion.  Bob really talks about his past and the demons he faces with the decisions he's made.  He is presented as a rough and tough street dog in the first book, but he definitely morphs into a very caring dog in this book.  I loved that he talked about how he felt bad for leaving his siblings behind when he was just a puppy.  They were thrown out of the car while it was driving down the road.  He thought he heard a whimper, but he thought only about food and shelter, and ultimately only thought about himself.  He faces this and has to learn how to sort it out and even apologizes to his sister when he finds her.  I love that this was brought up and he had to learn how to forgive himself.  I think so many people have made similar decisions and they've struggled with the decision that they made because they were only thinking of themselves.  You have to learn to forgive and move on.  This is something that Bob has to learn to do, and he makes amends in the best way possible. 

This book had a much different feel to it than the first.  It had a more upbeat feeling even though a tornado and hurricane happen in the book just moments apart.  I enjoyed it and give it 4 stars.  It was missing something, but I can't put my finger on what.  If you've read the first book I absolutely advise you read this!

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

 From Goodreads, 

"Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope."

Goodreads - The One and Only Ivan

Awards and Nominations:

• California Book Award for Juvenile - Gold (2012)
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2012)
• SCBWI Crystal Kite Member Choice Award for California/Hawaii (2013)
• Newbery Medal (2013)
• Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Grades 3-6 (2014)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2014)
• Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Nominee (2015)
• Bluestem Book Award (2015)
• Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for Children (2015)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Nominee (2015)

I tend to jump on and off the reading list bandwagon.  I've been working on reading through multiple award-winning lists for a while now.  I figured it was time to jump back on for a book or two before I lead astray and read random books.  

The One and Only Ivan is told by a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lives at a mall right off of exit 8.  His best friends are an elephant named Stella, a wiry dog named Bob, and a girl and her dad who clean at night named Julia and George.  But one day a new animal arrives to hopefully become the star of the show.  A baby elephant named Ruby arrives.  Soon Ivan makes a vow to get her out of the big top mall by hopefully painting a sign asking for help.  

I absolutely love that this book is based on a true silverback who lived a very similar life to the Ivan in the book.  This book has an overall sad feel to it.  You can tell that Ivan isn't happy in his domain at the Big Top Mall.  He experienced tragedy very young when his twin sister died after they were captured.  I think the emotion in this book was such a big piece of the story.  After Stella dies Ivan is determined to get Ruby to the zoo so that she can be happy and safe.  Even when trying to get George and Julia to pay attention he had to be aggressive to get them to realize what all the paintings they had meant.  I find it so intriguing to read about animals who have emotions and feelings.  I've heard so many people say that animals don't have emotions or feelings, and I absolutely disagree.  This book is a great example, especially since it is based loosely on a true story. 

In August 2020 this book turned movie was released on Disney+.  I watched it and felt it was only fair to give a good review of it as well with this book review.  The movie and the book have very little in common.  Mack was portrayed in the book as being a terrible human who didn't care about his animals.  In the movie, Mack cared for them to an extent.  He never used the claw stick in the movie which was kind of a pivotal point in the book.  In the movie, the animals all made a grand escape to go live in the wild.  That never happened in the book.  While I was watching I was quite confused as to what was happening since it was a turning point in the movie.  The movie was cute and it was well put together, but the book was way better in my opinion.  

This is a wonderfully cute book that has a good story.  I'm excited to read the sequel to this book which is told by the wiry dog named Bob.  This would be a perfect read in a classroom.  Especially since students could go research the real Ivan and his story.  I give this 4 stars.  

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

From Goodreads,

"Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this "wishtree" watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever."

Goodreads - Wishtree

Awards:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2017)
• NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Nominee (2018)

Every town has traditions that have existed for years.  Sometimes they are parades, sometimes they are festivals, and sometimes they are just a silly event that takes place one day out of a year.  In my hometown we have October Daze which happens typically the first weekend of October.  Local businesses and organizations set up booths where you can buy hand crafted goods or delicious greasy food.  I have worked at October Daze and I have been a visitor.  I have plenty of good memories with friends and family while attending October Daze.  Traditions are important and this book really focuses on that.  

This book is told from the unique perspective of the tree.  Red, the wishtree, is 216 years old and is a part of an important tradition in town.  A wishtree is a tree where people write their wishes on a scrap of paper or fabric and tie it to the tree in hopes of their wish coming true.  This tradition has been a long and well known tradition in this town, until someone threatens that by vandalizing the tree.  One woman, who has a long connection to the tree, must make the decision on if the tradition should continue or if the tree should be cut down for good. 

There are so many amazing things I have to say about this book.  First I would like to focus on the artwork that was incorporated into the book.  The cover of the book was absolutely stunning with vivid and realistic colors.  I was honestly pulled in by the cover of this book more than anything.  But only once I started reading the book did I realize that there were illustrations throughout the book.  Most of the illustrations were leaves or branches, but there were also pictures of the animals that lived in the tree.  However, humans were nowhere to be found in the book.  I think Applegate chose to do this for a couple reasons.  I think she excluded humans so that the reader could visualize themselves in the book, but also because the focus was supposed to be on nature.  I think it is great that the focus was on nature because I feel like everywhere is turning into a concrete jungle.  We are constantly clearing land to make room for more housing complexes or shopping centers.  Most people don't think about the fact that trees put off oxygen for us to survive and they take in our carbon dioxide.  Life on earth would cease to exist if we didn't have trees.  I love that Applegate focused on the nature aspect of things instead of focusing on the humans.

Another thing I loved in this book was the whole idea of May Day and a wishtree.  In this book the wishtree is Red, who is decorated with scraps of fabric and paper one day out of year.  People write their wish on these slips of paper and they hang them on the tree in hopes that they will come true.  I love this tradition and I honestly wonder if there are any locations in the United States that does this.  One of the things that was important about this tradition was where and how it all started.  I think that many of our traditions continue without us ever remembering why they started in the first place.  Every tradition has a story to it, and I think it is important to hear the story every now and then to remind yourself why you do something.  Applegate made sure to include the back story on how and why the May Day wishing event got started.  

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the slightly far fetched idea that trees can talk.  (When the tree started talking I definitely thought about Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas.)  In the book Red talks to two children and tells them the story of how it became a wishtree.  That's a little far fetched and I think it took away from the book a little bit.  I think that many children who read this would see this as a magical tree, while it was really just a regular tree.  As Red was telling the story it mentioned that we should listen to the tree because it might talk back to us.  I took this more as a message of we should listen to the leaves rustling or the critters playing in the trees, instead of listening for the tree to tell its life story.  

This book was very interesting and well written.  I give it 4 stars and will definitely be including this in my classroom library.