by Katherine Applegate
Amazon rating: 4.8/5.0, grades 3-7
Good Reads: 4.31/5
Common Sense Media: age 10+
4Rbooks: 5/6, Grades 4+
Synopsis:
One of my favorite books of the past few years has been The One and Only Ivan (highly recommend if you haven’t read it yet). So, I was excited to see that the author decided to continue the story, this time focusing on the Bob, the stray dog who was Ivan’s friend.
Ivan was inspired by a true account of a gorilla living in a cage in a circus themed mall. Bob is purely fiction. There are two parts to the book. In section 1, we are introduced to Bob, his life, and his friends. He is very opinionated and still getting used to being a pet after many years as a stray. In section 2, a hurricane hits while Bob is visiting his friends at the zoo.
Parental Guidance low
If your child is sensitive to descriptions of dangerous scenes involving animals, use this as a read together, or prep them ahead of time. There is nothing graphically detailed, and there was nothing that would keep me from recommending this book. Definitely good for 4th grade and up, and a strong 3rd grade reader could enjoy it, too. It’s over 300 pages, but half of that is spaces and drawings so it’s an easy read.
Recommendation: Medium High
The first section is interesting but drags a little. Things get exciting in section two with many dangerous and tense moments as Bob survives the hurricane and helps with rescue efforts throughout the zoo and city. He learns more about friendship and trust then he could have imagined.
Ivan was such a special book it was going to be hard for Bob to be as good. It’s not, but it’s still a worthwhile read. Following a “based on a true story” with a fictional account is difficult. It helps if you’ve read Ivan first. It’s always nicer when you already know the characters. On its own, I might have only given it a rating of 4, but I enjoyed continuing with the characters in a new story so as a follow-up book I gave it a 5.
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