Confession. I am the
person who didn’t want to read this book. I am the person who was monumentally disappointed
when it won the Newbery. I am the person who had thirty-eight books under her
bed - 38 books that various librarians nationwide had picked to be in the
serious running for the Newbery. Yes, Ivan was among them, but
several others had caught my eye. Several made my hands itch to acquire them.
Several demanded that I begin them NOW. And I would have except for the high
demand created for the actual Newbery winner. I had to read it and release for
the next patron.
I really don’t like
sad animal stories. I really don’t want to be made to cry. And it is a sad
animal story. And it did make me cry even though I tried hard to resist. But it
is more than that. I felt guilty for not liking it. I felt guilty for actually
disliking it. Now, this is nothing new. I rarely like the Newbery winner. I
usually prefer at least one if not more of the honor books. This is to the
point that I feel I actively choose to dislike the book. Lots of other folks
seem to love it. Why can’t I? Very simply, we all have different tastes. And
that is okay. So I am going to tell you what I think… honestly.
I found this book to
be boring and plodding. It proved very well how excessively draining it would
be to sit in a small enclosed cage day after day, year after year for a
lifetime. And how exhilarating it would be to be free of it.
I don’t like poetry.
Especially free verse. Who would have thought a gorilla would think in free
verse? Okay, so maybe it’s not actually free verse, but it is substantially
poetic. For an ape who thinks “Humans waste words… Humans speak too much… They
chatter like chimps, crowding the world with their noise even when they have
nothing to say,” he sure filled up 300 pages!
The illustrations.
Ugh. Anthropomorphic animals. I’ve come up with a new word because of this book…
Dumbosized. Not as in size – Ruby’s ears are not large. No, Ruby doesn’t look
like a real elephant. She has been given huge human eyes. To play upon our
emotions? Illustrations are few and far between and oddly chosen. And they are
probably my least favorite part of the book.
And finally. I know,
you’re begging me to stop. Animals are not people. I am not the only person to
sense it, but there seems to be an underlying message in this novel that humans
and animals are equal. A sign held in protest in the book reads, “Elephants are
people too.” Ivan goes on quite a bit about humans, gorillas and chimps all
belonging to the same family. Don’t get me wrong. Animals are important. They
are a part of our world. We are the caretakers of this world and its resources
(whether we do a good job or not.) But teaching our children that we are equal
to gorillas? After all, a gorilla didn’t really write/think this novel.
Another Newbery down. I
still think Bomb is the best in 2013!
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