I saw this book on display several times at bookstores, but didn't pay it much attention, other than to note that it was a new bestseller. When I found it as part of a bargain book package, I decided to pick it up and give it a try. Normally it annoys me when I find a book that is nearly 300-pages long when, with proper formatting, it could have been around 100. But somehow with this story it works. 
 I liked that it was told from the point of view of Ivan, the gorilla, and I liked it even more when I found out that it was based on a true story. The author managed to treat the story with dignity and sensitivity, while still appealing to a wide audience. The writing was, necessarily, simplistic, and I did get through it in a day, but I appreciated that it wasn't drawn out. 
 I'm not sure that this is a story that is going to haunt me forever, as some other reviewers have stated, but I do think that it presents an important moral, particularly for younger readers who may not have considered animals in this light before.