Bernardosaurus says:Bernardosaurus says:This book was my second contribution to Harcourt's series of Green Light Readers designed for first and second graders. I was one of the authors asked to participate in creating something for the Harcourt School Division's Signature series.
The year before, I created Catch Me If You Can for the same series. These were not easy assignments. I was given a list of words that had to be included. There had to be lots of repetition. I had to study lots of material from educational consultants about reading guidelines for the first and second grades. The story had to be built around some athletic or creative challenge and had to have a surprise ending.
The story I came up with was about a very boastful kangaroo who bragged, "I can jump so high! No one can jump higher than I can!" When I was a child there was a joke going around that said: "I bet I could jump higher than the Empire State Building!" Everyone would say, "You couldn't possibly jump higher than the Empire State Building." But the answer was, "Yes I can, because the Empire State Building can't jump."
This silly little joke is the basis for the challenge from a tiny, clever kangaroo that she can jump higher than the very boastful kangaroo. I hope you get a chance to read The Very Boastful Kangaroo to see how she outwits him.