The One and Only Ivan
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50 free The One and Only Ivan trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan is told by its hero, a silverback gorilla who has spent most of his life behind glass at a shopping mall off the highway. He draws, he watches the humans who watch him, and he tries not to think about the jungle he came from. Then a baby elephant named Ruby arrives, and Ivan makes a promise that changes how he sees everything around him. This quiz follows the story from start to finish: Ivan's friends Stella and Bob, Julia and her drawings, Mack and his struggling animal show, the plan Ivan paints into being and the new life that follows. It also covers the true story of the real Ivan, the author and the sequels, and the 2020 film with its all-star voice cast. It suits students who have just finished the book, teachers and librarians looking for a multiple-choice comprehension check, and families who read it or watched it together. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so a wrong guess still teaches something about the story.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In The One and Only Ivan, which word does Ivan add to his giant painting for Ruby's sake?
Home
Home is the word, and Julia only works it out when the dropped pictures land spread across the floor and she spots an H.
Q 02In The One and Only Ivan, what are the me-balls that Ivan throws toward visitors who mock him?
His own dung
His own dung, rolled into balls, is what Ivan flings when children spit and throw pebbles at his glass, wishing the glass were not in the way.
Q 03In The One and Only Ivan, where does Bob, the stray dog secretly living at the mall, sleep?
On a gorilla's stomach
On a gorilla's stomach is where Bob beds down, and once the mall closes for good he trades it for life with Julia's family.
Q 04In The One and Only Ivan, how long has Ivan lived in captivity among humans when the story begins?
27 years
27 years have passed without Ivan meeting another gorilla, and he counts the time in days, by his own tally more than nine thousand of them.
Q 05In The One and Only Ivan, what is Not-Tag, the gift from Julia that Ivan sleeps beside every night?
A stuffed gorilla
A stuffed gorilla, Not-Tag is named for Ivan's twin sister Tag, who was captured with him as an infant and did not survive the journey.
Q 06What does Ivan call his glass enclosure in The One and Only Ivan before admitting it is a cage?
His domain
His domain is the name Ivan prefers, and the moment he finally calls it a cage is the turning point that sets him on saving Ruby.
Q 07In The One and Only Ivan, what does Julia first pass Ivan through a gap in his glass?
A crayon
A crayon and a slip of paper were Julia's gift, and Mack soon began selling the drawings Ivan made with them for twenty dollars each.
Q 08In The One and Only Ivan, where do Julia and George put Ivan's giant painting for drivers to see?
On a billboard
On a billboard that advertises the mall's animals, the painting soon draws reporters, protesters and finally inspectors who close the mall.
Q 09The One and Only Ivan won which prize in 2013, the world's first award created for children's books?
The Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal honors the most distinguished American children's book of the year, and this win came the year after the real Ivan died aged 50.
Q 10The real gorilla behind The One and Only Ivan was finally moved from a shopping mall to which zoo?
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Atlanta took Ivan in on permanent loan, and in spring 1995 he stepped outdoors there for the first time in more than a quarter of a century.
Q 11In The One and Only Ivan, the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade is named after which highway turnoff?
Exit 8
Exit 8 is where the mall sits, close enough to the road that Ivan can watch the cars pass from behind his glass.
Q 12Which ailment kills Stella in The One and Only Ivan after Mack says a vet costs too much?
An infected foot
An infected foot, an old injury that keeps flaring up, weakens Stella until the night Mack finally agrees to call a vet, which is one night too late.
Q 13In The One and Only Ivan, why does Mack buy Ruby, a baby elephant, from a circus?
To pull in bigger crowds
Q 21In The One and Only Ivan, which gift from Julia does Ivan use for the pictures meant to save Ruby?
Finger paints
Finger paints, in three pots of yellow, red and blue, let Ivan work at night while the mall sleeps, hiding each sheet before Mack arrives.
Q 22In The One and Only Ivan, which name did Ivan's gorilla parents give him before humans renamed him?
Mud
Mud was the name he earned as an infant who made pictures with it every day, even on his own mother's back.
Q 23In The One and Only Ivan, Stella describes which real gorilla who guarded a boy fallen into his pen?
Jambo
Jambo lived at Jersey Zoo, where in 1986 he stood guard over an unconscious five-year-old, placing himself between the boy and the other gorillas.
To pull in bigger crowds is Mack's plan, and it works for a while once a baby elephant is added to the sign beside the road.
Q 14In The One and Only Ivan, the dying Stella asks Ivan to promise he will do what for Ruby?
Find her a better place
Find her a better place is the heart of Stella's request, and Ivan agrees before he has any idea how a caged gorilla could manage it.
Q 15Which household item in Ivan's enclosure shows him an advert for a zoo in The One and Only Ivan?
A television
A television keeps Ivan company, and the zoo advert he sees on it gives him the scene he later paints from memory for Ruby.
Q 16In the novel The One and Only Ivan, Mack leads the mall's daily animal shows dressed as what?
A clown
A clown is Mack's costume for the shows, while the 2020 film changes the act and makes him the circus ringmaster instead.
Q 17How does Ivan stop Julia and George from carrying off his paintings unread in The One and Only Ivan?
Beats his chest
Beats his chest, screeches and bounces around his cage: Ivan keeps a silverback's fury for protecting others, and now he has Ruby to protect.
Q 18When Julia visits the zoo at the end of The One and Only Ivan, Bob pops his head out of what?
Her backpack
Her backpack hides Bob, who lives with Julia now that George has agreed to keep him, partly because her mother enjoys the dog's company.
Q 19In The One and Only Ivan, how does Ivan first feel when Julia and the visitors fuss over Ruby?
Jealous
Jealous of the baby elephant's cuteness, Ivan sulks when Julia sketches her instead of him, but he is soon entertaining Ruby with pictures.
Q 20Which Oscar-winning actor voices the title gorilla in the 2020 film of The One and Only Ivan?
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell voices Ivan, with Danny DeVito as his best friend Bob, the stray dog who keeps sneaking into the mall.
Q 24In The One and Only Ivan, which tool does Mack use to threaten Ruby, outraging protesters?
A claw-stick
A claw-stick is what Mack swipes at Ruby, and news footage of it, along with her chains, brings animal-rights marchers to the mall.
Q 25In The One and Only Ivan, what does helping to display Ivan's painting end up costing George?
His job
His job is the price: Mack dismisses George, although the woman from the zoo hints that there may soon be work for him there.
Q 26In The One and Only Ivan, the Big Top Mall's roadside sign wrongly shows Ivan looking how?
Angry and fierce
Angry and fierce is the mall's picture of him, but Ivan says a silverback only rages to warn his family of danger, and he has nobody to protect.
Q 27Snickers, who rides on Stella the elephant in The One and Only Ivan, is which breed of dog?
A poodle
A poodle, Snickers has a larger part in the 2020 film, where she is Mack's spoiled pet and chooses to stay behind when the others escape.
Q 28In The One and Only Ivan, Ivan finally joins a family group of gorillas, known by which name?
A troop
A troop is led by one silverback, whose task is to protect it, which is the role Ivan must prove he can fill at the zoo.
Q 29In The One and Only Ivan, why does Julia spend her evenings at the Big Top Mall beside Ivan?
Her father cleans there
Her father cleans there at night, and while George works Julia does her homework and draws next to Ivan's glass.
Q 30The 2020 film of The One and Only Ivan skipped cinemas and premiered on which streaming service?
Disney+
Disney+ released it on 21 August 2020 after the pandemic cancelled a cinema run, and the film was later nominated for an Oscar.