Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
p. 1 What kind of tent did Jack have? A Hubba tent.
p. 1 What campground was Jack at? Seawall Campground on Mount Desert Island.
p. 2 What was Jack’s first indication that his mother had left him alone at the campground? The rental
car and her tent and camping gear were gone when he woke up.
p. 3 How had Jack and him mom been able to get their camping space even though they had not waited
in line at dawn like most other campers? They were lucky. A family had just left because of a sick kid
freeing up a camping space.
p.3 What national park were Jack and his mother spending their summer vacation at? Acadia National
Park.
p. 3 How long were Jack and his mother planning on camping at Acadia National Park? 3 nights
p. 4 What model of car was the rental car? A Prius.
p. 5 What did Jack tell his mother that the Dallas Zoo said you could make energy from? Elephant poop –
they called it poo power.
p. 5 What was Jack an expert of? Elephants
p. 5 How much money did Jack have when he realized his mother had left him alone in the campground?
$14.63
p. 5 What was the nearest market to the campground? Seawall Camping Supplies just down the road on
Route 102A.
p. 6 What type of hot dogs was Jack looking forward to eating on their Maine vacation? Red snappers –
the neon red hot dogs that snapped when you bit into them.
p. 7 What was Jack’s mom’s name? Becky Martel
p. 8 What sign did Jack see at Seawell Camping Supplies that he thought was funny and wished his mom
was there to share the joke? “Coin-op Showers Inside Store. Change at the Counter.”
p. 9 How much did Jack pay for 2 hot dogs, chips and a small soda? Four dollars.
p. 10 What was Jack’s mom’s job? Shuttle driver for the Intown Inn.
p. 15 What was the name of the boy that Jack met on the beach after he ate the hot dog at Seawall
Camping Supplies? Aiden
p. 16 What did the huge rocks on the beach remind Jack of? A herd of elephants.
p. 17 When was the first time his mother had taken him to see an elephant? When he was four they had
gone to a circus which he had hated until his mother took him to a tent where an elephant tapped him
on the shoulder. It actually turned out it was Jack’s grandmother that took him to see the elephant.
p. 18 What was Aiden’s sister’s name? Julie
p. 20 In Germany, what holiday leftover did elephants eat? Christmas trees.
p. 22 What did Jack buy at the Seawall Camping Supplies for dinner? Salami, cheese, marshmallows. He
was going to buy some orange juice but didn’t have enough money.
p. 23 What did Jack get for free from the Seawall Camping Supplies? A book of matches. He wanted to
roast some marshmallows.
p. 24 Where was Jack from? Boston – Jamaica Plain.
p. 25 How much did the bundles of wood cost at the campgrounds? Two dollars but Jack didn’t have
enough money to buy it.
p. 23 Why couldn’t Jack start a campfire? Gathering firewood in the park was prohibited and he didn’t
have enough money to buy the $2 bundles of wood for sale.
p. 26 What had Jack’s mom hung in their dining room? A multi-colored hammock was hung from the
ceiling of the dining room.
p. 27 What adult book was Jack reading in the hammock with his mother? The Cowboy and His Elephant.
p. 28 How did elephants swim underwater? They snorkeled with their trunks above the surface of the
water to breathe.
p. 29 Who did Jack meet at the faucet where he went to get water to drink? Aiden’s mom.
p. 30 Where did Aiden’s mother invite Jack to go when he met her at the water faucet? To Echo Lake in
the morning.
p. 34 What was the name of the ranger that stopped by Jack’s campsite to confirm that the y were
staying until the next day? Stan
p. 35 What was the Island Explorer? A free bus that went all around Mount Desert Island.
p. 35 What did Jack find was a free way for him to get around the island to search for his mom? The
Island Explorer
p. 37 Where was Jack the last time his mom had gone off and left him? At home at their apartment.
p. 39 What did Jack tell Aiden’s family that he could see in the clouds after they ate at Echo Lake? A herd
of elephants. They saw the elephants in the clouds too.
p. 40 Why did Jack cry at Echo Lake? He ruined his phone battery by swimming with it and getting it wet,
now there was no way his mother would be able to contact him.
p. 41 Why were elephants able to walk quietly? The thick padding on their feet.
p. 41 What was Aiden’s mom’s name? Diane
p. 43 What excuse did Jack give to Aiden’s mom, Diane, when they returned to his campsite and his
mother was not there? He said she probably went to get some medicine.
p. 46 What question had Jack’s mother kept asking everyone at the station while waiting for the Forest
Hill train? “What can burn in space?”
p. 47 What had happened to Jack after the incident with his mother at the train station while waiting for
the Forest Hill train? His mother had become agitated asking her question about what could burn in
space. He tried to get her to get on the train but she accidentally knocked him down. The police came
and took his mother to the hospital. Jack was sent to DSS then to his grandmother’s.
p. 48 What did Jack pack in his backpack when he left the campsite because he didn’t want Aiden’s mom
to find him there without his mother when she returned? His sleeping bag, comic books, flashlight, the
leftover cheese. He took down the tent and wrapped it around his other belongings and hid them in the
woods.
p. 51 What was the name of the town at the end of the Island Explorer bus line? Bar Harbor.
p. 51 Where did Jack spend the night in Bar Harbor? In a patch of woods on Kebo Street.
p. 54 What woke Jack up in the middle of the night when he spent the night in the patch of woods on
Kebo Street? Raccoons – he at first thought it was a bear or wolves.
p. 54 What did the raccoons steal from Jack? His last bit of cheese.
p. 56 What was the difference between an African elephant’s and an Asian elephant’s trunk? The African
elephant had two lobes on the tips of their trunks while the Asian elephants had only one. Zoologist
refer to these lobes as fingers.
p. 58 Why didn’t Jack care to stay at bed and breakfasts? They never had swimming pools or cable TV
which to him were the best things about traveling.
p. 58 What was the name of the bed and breakfast that Jack went into to look for his mom? Aysgarth
Station.
p. 60 What did the man with the rake at the bed and breakfast do with Jack’s bottles and cans? Put
them in the recycling bin.
p. 62 What caused Jack to get his pinky smashed at the recycling bin? A black and white cat startled him.
p. 62 Where did Jack get the bottles and cans that he planned on redeeming for money to buy food? In
the recycling bin at the bed and breakfast.
p. 64 How much did Jack get at the bottle and can machine at the supermarket for his cans and bottles?
$1.90.
p. 64 Why did Jack go to the frozen food section of the supermarket? To use the frozen peas and other
cold items to ice his sore pinky.
p. 65 What did Jack purchase at the grocery store with the money he got for redeeming the bottles and
cans? Trail mix and a bottle of water.
p. 67 Why was Jack disappointed the first time he went to the library in Bar Harbor to use their
computer to try to get a message to him mom through her YouPage? The library was closed because it
was Labor Day.
p. 68 What was the name of Jack’s school? Curley Middle School.
p. 68 How had Jack broken his toe before? He had banged it at the swimming pool.
p. 68 What was Jack’s friend’s name? Nina
p. 69 What was the name of the library that was closed? Jesup Memorial Library.
p. 70 What did Jack call the times when his mother stayed away from him so much because she was so
crabby that she didn’t think it was fair that she was being mean? He pinwheel times.
p. 71 What flavor of ice cream did Jack and his mother determine was the best tasting when once during
a spinning time, she had bought all the flavors of ice cream the store had and brought them home so
they could do a taste test? Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
p. 71 Where did Jack and his mother go to try to find out what was the rarest of colors by tallying up the
number of times they saw each color? OfficeMax
p. 71 What color did Jack and his mother determine was the rarest color based on their visit to
OfficeMax? A Brownish purple.
p. 72 What did Jack’s mother call the brownish purple that they determined was the rarest color?
Sunken treasure.
p. 74 At Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium in Bar Harbor, what flavor of ice cream did most customers
want to try? Lobster ice cream.
p. 76 What did Jack see on a man’s tshirt in Bar Harbor that was like one that his mom had? Geddy’s.
p. 76 What was the name of the bar/restaurant that Jack went to in Bar Harbor because he saw a man
with the name on his shirt and recognized that his mom had the same shirt? Geddy’s.
p. 80 Who got Jack ice for his finger? Big Jack, the guy Jack met at Geddy’s, asked the bartender for ice in
a cloth for Jack’s finger.
p. 81 What kind of tattoo did Jack’s mom have and where was it? A tiny orchid tattoo between her
forefinger and thumb.
p.81 Who was Jack’s mom talking to a couple of days ago (Saturday morning) according to what the
bartender at Geddy’s told Jack? A guy who worked for Hinckley who sailed yachts.
p. 81 How did Big Jack describe the woman who was in Geddy’s that was Jack’s mom? She was a real live
wire.
p. 82 What did the word “mudo” mean? Thank you in Ewe which is what they speak in parts of Ghana,
Africa. Big Jack had been there a long time ago.
p. 83 How had Jack heard of Ghana before? The country had lots of African-elephant conservation
programs.
p. 83 What did Big Jack make the splint out of for Jack’s pinky? He got a pencil and some gauze and tape
from a first aid kit that the waitress, Laurie, brought to him at Geddy’s.
p. 83 What did Big Jack tell Jack that his job was? It was helping kids who needed help.
p. 84 Where did the bartender think that Jack’s mother had gone after she left Geddy’s? On a charter
boat to the Bahamas.
p. 84 What did Big Jack offer to buy Jack to eat a Geddy’s but Jack refused it? A cheeseburger.
p. 85 What was one reason why being alone in his apartment didn’t freak Jack out? He loved to read and
could usually lose himself in a book or in comics.
p. 86 What were the type of toys that Jack had liked best when he was younger? Plastic animals.
p. 88 What did Jack steal from Shermans, the bookstore? A small plastic, baby elephant.
p. 90 What did farmers in Africa plant around their crops to keep elephants away? Chili peppers.
p. 91 What book had Jack’s third grade teacher read the class that made Jack want to look down from a
loft in a barn? Charlotte’s Web.
p. 92 Where did Jack spend the night after stealing the small plastic elephant and running away from Bar
Harbor? In the loft of barn that was on a dirt road.
p. 94 What did Jack’s mother do after her spinning time left her tired? She would come home and crawl
in bed, close the shades, and pull up the covers. She’d stay in the bed for days sometimes even weeks.
p. 96 What did Jack eat from the garden near the barn when he was caught by Mrs. Olson? A tomato.
p. 97 From what row in the garden did Mrs. Olson say that Jack had eaten from? The pantry row. They
planted one row of vegetables for the food pantry for those in need.
p. 98 What was the deal that Jack made with Mrs. Olson? That he would pick the rest of the vegetables
in the pantry row and deliver them to the pantry since she could no longer drive. In return, she would
give him some vegetables to take to his family.
p. 99 What did Mrs. Olson want Jack to bring her back from the pantry? A box of dried milk.
p. 103 At what age did elephant bulls leave their mothers and the rest of the herd to wander alone? At
around 12 years of age.
p. 105 What did the librarian call the room where the computers were located as well as several more
book stacks of books that the library didn’t want to part with but had no room for upstairs? The treasure
trove.
p. 106 What did Jack look up on the computer in the Bar Harbor Library? For any recent news articles
about his mother, Rebecca Martel, to see if she had gotten into some trouble. Also he checked his
mom’s and his YouPage to see if his mother had tried to send him a message but there was no recent
activity.
p. 108 Who did Jack get a message screen from while he was on his YouPage? Nina, his friend from
school who wanted to know why he wasn’t in school.
p. 109 What was the name of the elephant in Maine that Jack had argued with his mother about seeing?
Lydia
p. 111 What lady walked into the computer room while Jack was at the library that scared Jack at first
because he thought it was the lady from the bookstore who saw him steal the elephant? Laurie, the
waitress from Geddy’s.
p. 111 How long would it take Jack to walk home to Jamaica Plains from Bar Harbor according to the
library computer? 3 days and 13 hours but he would have to stop and sleep too.
p. 112 How did Jack plan to get to the mainland to begin his walk home? The Island Explorer could take
him to Trenton which was the town on the other side of the bridge for free.
p. 112 Where did Jack find the food pantry with help from the library computer? In the basement of the
YWCA.
p. 113 What did the man at the food pantry give to Jack to bring back to Mrs. Olson? A bag of food
containing pancake mix, syrup, spaghetti, toilet paper, canned tuna, turkey, and salmon, and fruit
cocktail. He said she would need it now that growing season was over.
p. 114 What did Jack ask the man at the food pantry to include in Mrs. Olson’s bag specifically so Jack
could eat them? Cereal bars.
p. 116 How many miles was the walk back home going to be for Jack? 248 miles
p. 118 What stop did Jack decide to get off the Island Explorer on his journey home? The Narrows Two
campground but it seemed too wide-open for him, a place for RVs rather than for small tents.
p. 120 Which state’s license plate did Jack really like? Tennessee because it had an elephant on it.
p. 125 Where had Jack left his bag of vegetables when he caught a ride in the truck with Massachusetts
plates? Under the picnic table at the lobster shack.
p. 126 Where did Jack end up when he caught a ride in the bed of a truck with Massachusetts license
plate that he thought was returning to Mass.? He ended up at the couple’s summer cottage in a faraway
place in Maine which now he didn’t know where he was.
p. 129 Where did Jack get some leftover lobster to eat? From the trashcan of the couple in whose truck
he hitched a ride.
p. 129 What news did Jack hear on the news report on TV? About a missing boy thought to be on Mount
Desert Island.
p. 132 What were elephants sometimes known to do to people who laughed at them? Squirt water at
the people with their trunks.
p. 137 Where had Jack’s mother taken him one day when she checked him out of school saying he had a
doctor’s appointment? To Canobie Lake Park to ride the Corkscrew Coaster.
p. 138 What excuse did Jack come up with in the town of Lamoine as the reason why he was not in
school? He was homeschooled.
p. p. 144- 147 What did Jack do in the L.L. Bean outlet store? He took some dry clothes off the rack then
went into a fitting room, changed into dry clothes, hung up his wet ones and sat there on the bench of
the fitting room waiting for his clothes to dry. He ended up spending all night in the store.
p. 146 What did an elephant keeper say that an elephant would do if you blew softly into its trunk? It
would never forget you.
p. 152 What did Jack find to eat in the L.L. Bean outlet store? At first he only found gummy worms to eat
but then he found the employee’s break room with a refrigerator and microwave and he ate half a
turkey sub, an apple, some lasagna, and a frozen Panini that he cooked in the microwave.
p. 153 In the L.L. Bean store when he saw a video on a Bangor news website, what prompted his
Grandmother to call the Maine State Police? She got a call from a man en route to the Bahamas who
told her enough that she determined that Jack’s mother was on her way to the Bahamas but Jack was
not with her. She got info from Nina that Jack and his mother had gone to Maine so she called the police
there for help.
p. 158 What happened with the elephants in the Japan zoo who were to be poisoned so they wouldn’t
be a threat to the city when it was bombed? The elephants refused to eat the poisoned food.
p. 162 What did Jack take from the L.L. Bean store to help him travel? A bike and a used helmet.
p. 163 What were elephant ears designed to act as? An air conditioning system – as blood passes
through an elephant’s thin ears, it’s cooled by the air and then moves on to cool down the whole
elephant.
p. 168 In the town of Bucksport , what structure did Jack stop to explore? Fort Knox, he snuck in past the
booth where you had to pay since it was a state park.
p. 173 What bad news did Jack get after he explored Fort Knox? Someone had taken his bike, helmet,
backpack, and sleeping bag – everything he had except for what he carried on him.
p. 174 What did Jack do first when he found out his bike had been stolen at Fort Knox? He laid on the
ground and cried.
p. 174 What happened to Jack at Fort Knox that made him cry and want to give up? Someone had stolen
his bike and everything he had left with the bike when he went exploring the fort.
p. 178 What was the name of the neighbor lady who always had odd jobs for Jack to do? Mrs. Harris.
p. 176 What made Jack get up and start walking again after his long cry about his bike being stolen? The
mosquitoes were biting him and the sun was setting.
p. 182 What had Jack’s mom swapped a necklace she was wearing with a kid in the apartment building
for? An elephant key chain.
p. 183 How had Jack discovered Lydia’s existence as the one and only elephant in Maine? He and Nina
were goofing around on the internet and he had typed in a search “elephant and Maine” and discovered
Lydia.
p. 183 Where in Maine was Lydia? York’s Wild Kingdom. She performed in a show and gave elephant
rides to children.
p. 183 Why wouldn’t Jack’s mother take him to visit Lydia? If they went to see her, they would be
supporting the keeping of an elephant in captivity, elephants who were forced to give people rides.
p. 185 What had Jack and his mother argued about the night before she left him in the campground? He
wanted to go see Lydia and wasn’t interested in the other things on her list of things to do. They called
each other selfish. He sensed that she was becoming more agitated, the way she often did before things
went crazy.
p. 186 What song did Jack hear the Safe Harbor choir sing that his mom used to sing when she was
feeling good? “Morning Has Broken”.
p. 188 What plan did Jack make while he was lying in the balcony listening to the Safe Harbor choir? He
planned to go see Lydia.
p. 188 Where did Jack spend the night after his bike was stolen at Fort Knox? In the balcony of the Safe
Harbor Church.
p. 191 What did Jack take from the lost and found box at the Safe Harbor Church? A baseball cap that
said Searsport Vikings. He wore it to cover most of his face.
p. 192 What was the only thing Jack found to eat at the Safe Harbor Church? Sugar cubes.
p. 201 What happened to Jack in the bookstore when he was trying to hide from Sylvie Winters, the girl
who kept chasing him in Searsport? There was a vault in the bookstore and he got locked into the vault
with Sylvie Winters.
p. 204 What did Jack tell Sylvie to try to make her not turn him in? He said that if she told anyone about
him, he would be taken away from his mother.
p. 207 Why did Sylvie think it would be difficult for Jack to get to York to see Lydia? Everyone had heard
the news about him and was looking for him now. It’s all anyone could talk about – the missing boy.
p. 209 What did Sylvie tell Jack was the last thing that she would want to do with her mother if she knew
she would be taken away from her mother and would never live with her again? Sylvie said she would
play Monopoly with her mom because her mom was always trying to get Sylvie to play with her.
P. 209 What was Sylvie’s mom’s (as well as Jack’s mom’s) favorite Monopoly piece? The shoe.
p. 211 What was the name of the owner of the bookstore that had the vault in it? Mrs. Magillicutty.
p. 210 What did Jack feel his Monopoly was? Seeing Lydia.
p.213 In Thailand, what did some people do for luck? Walk under an elephant’s body.
p. 216-217 Where did Jack hide in Searsport to wait until it was dark so that he could travel without
being seen? First he hid behind some lobster pots on the beach but after being nearly found out by a
dog, he moved into a shed in the neighborhood and read the mystery magazines he found there until it
was dark.
p. 222 Who was the guy in the ancient van who picked up Jack just outside of Searsport? Wyatt, Sylvie’s
cousin. Sylvie had told Wyatt about Jack and asked him to pick Jack up and take him to York.
p. 225 What two things did Jack promise Sylvie when she called Wyatt and Jack talked to her while riding
in Wyatt’s van? That he would find a way to call her when he saw Lydia and he would never tell anyone
that Sylvie and Wyatt had helped him because their fathers would kill them if they found out.
p. 230 Why did Jack run away from Wyatt at the Citgo convenience store? He overheard Wyatt talking
about a reward on the phone and two women behind the counter seemed to recognize him.
p. 233 Where did Jack hide at the Citgo convenience store when he returned to look for Wyatt and
found the police had been called to the store? He hid in the Dumpster until Wyatt and the police left.
p. 237 Where did Jack spend the night after he left the dumpster at the convenience store? In an old
abandoned turquoise car behind the store.
p. 242 Where did Jack hide in the drugstore after the policeman found him as he walking through a
small town? In the basement of the drugstore.
p. 250 Who stopped Jack as he was trying to flee the drugstore after climbing down the fire escape? Big
Jack.
p. 252 When Jack found out that his mother had been found, he felt ashamed at all he had done – the
lying and the stealing, but what was he most ashamed about? That his mother had left him.
p. 255 Why did Big Jack think that Lydia would not be at the York wild-animal park? Her owners took her
back to Florida after Labor Day. But it turned out that Lydia had not left yet.
p. 258 Why had Jack been reluctant to call his grandmother for help? He said his grandmother hated his
mother. Jack’s mother had said his grandmother was evil, that she was trying to take Jack away from his
mother.
p. 258 What did Jack come to realize that he and his grandmother had in common and that maybe Gram
would understand that his mom did her best but her best sometimes wasn’t nearly enough? His mom
had left Gram as well, that was what he and his grandmother had in common.
p. 260 Who did Jack find waiting for him at Lydia’s pen? His grandmother.
p. 263 Who had gotten the man in the boat to call Jack’s grandmother to tell her about Jack? Jack’s
mom.
p. 265 Why did Jack’s grandmother come to Lydia’s pen? It was the only place in Maine that she thought
that Jack might come to.
p. 265 Who had taken Jack to see the elephant in the circus rather than his mother which was what he
had always remembered? Gram had taken him to see the elephant in the circus.
p. 267 What type of bed did Jack remember that his grandmother had? An elephant bed. The posts
reminded him of elephant’s legs.
p. 267 What was Gram’s plan for her house in Cambridge? She was thinking of selling it and buying a
smaller one in Jamaica Plain so that Jack could continue to go to the same school.
p. 267 Where did Gram say that Jack’s mother would go rather than to jail? To the hospital so that she
could get better. She was not in her right mind when she left Jack alone.
p. 268 What did Jack want Big Jack to give to Sylvie in Searsport? The small elephant Jack had been
carrying and the 10 dollar bill that Wyatt had given to him.
p. 269 What did Jack want Big Jack to tell Sylvie? Tell Sylvie that Jack got his Monopoly.
p. 269 What did Jack say to tell Sylvie that the name of the small elephant that he carried around was?
Mudo
p. 271 What were the names of Lydia’s two trainers? Victor and Belinda.
p. 275 What did Jack do with Lydia’s trunk? He softly blew in it because if you blew in an elephant’s
trunk, it would never forget you.
p. 274 Did Jack ride on Lydia? No, he didn’t think his mother would approve.