Plot Summary
In Chapter Three of My Father's Dragon, Elmer Elevator's stowaway journey reaches a critical turning point as he arrives at the Island of Tangerina and makes his way toward Wild Island. After hiding in the ship's hold for six days, Elmer learns the next port is Cranberry, where the wheat cargo will be unloaded. Resourcefully, he climbs inside an empty grain bag labeled "Cranberry," sealing it with a rubber band to disguise himself as cargo. When a suspicious sailor feels the lumpy bag, he mistakes Elmer's elbow for dried corn on the cob, and Elmer is dumped into the cargo net and delivered ashore. The punctual merchant who ordered the wheat spends an entire day searching fruitlessly for the mysterious bag of corn, but Elmer has already slipped away under cover of darkness.
Waking hungry the next morning, Elmer is struck on the head by a falling tangerine and realizes he has landed on the Island of Tangerina, where tangerine trees grow wild everywhere. He picks thirty-one tangerines and sets off along the shore to find Wild Island. Along the way, a fisherman warns him that everyone who has attempted to explore Wild Island has been eaten by wild animals, but this does not deter Elmer. On the following clear day, he spots a line of rocks stretching out to a distant patch of green. Remembering the old alley cat's advice to cross at night so the wild animals won't see him, Elmer puts on his black rubber boots and begins the treacherous seven-hour crossing, slipping, climbing, and leaping from rock to rock. He even accidentally lands on a sleeping, snoring whale wedged between two rocks. Finally, while it is still dark, Elmer steps off the last rock and onto Wild Island.
Character Development
This chapter highlights Elmer's defining traits: resourcefulness, courage, and determination. His quick-thinking disguise inside the grain bag shows a child who can improvise under pressure, turning ordinary items from his knapsack into tools for survival. When the fisherman's terrifying warning about Wild Island fails to shake his resolve, readers see Elmer's bravery is not recklessness but quiet, steady determination rooted in his mission to rescue the baby dragon. His willingness to cross the dangerous rocks alone at night, following the cat's careful instructions, reveals a boy who listens well, plans ahead, and does not give up despite fear and difficulty.
Themes and Motifs
The chapter develops the theme of resourcefulness and cleverness as Elmer uses everyday objects—a rubber band, a grain bag, rubber boots—to overcome obstacles that would stop most adults. The motif of journey and transformation is central, as Elmer moves from hidden stowaway to independent adventurer navigating an unfamiliar world. The contrast between the safe, mundane world of merchants and sailors and the mysterious, dangerous Wild Island reinforces the theme of courage in the face of the unknown. The tangerines, freely given by nature, suggest a world that rewards bold explorers.
Literary Devices
Gannett employs dramatic irony throughout the cargo scene: readers know the "bag of dried corn on the cob" is really a boy, while the sailors remain oblivious. The frame narrative continues, with the narrator referring to "my father," creating a storytelling warmth that softens the tension. Foreshadowing appears through the fisherman's ominous warning about Wild Island, building suspense for chapters ahead. The imagery of the dark, slippery rocks and the snoring whale "making more noise than a steam shovel" uses vivid simile to bring the nighttime crossing to life. Gannett also uses humor—the punctual merchant, the corn-on-the-cob misidentification, the accidental whale encounter—to keep the tone light and accessible for young readers despite the genuine dangers Elmer faces.