Handa's Surprise

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The story is full of questions. Look at the use of question marks in the story. Can you write your own questions and put a question mark in the correct place?

The location of the story is unknown to most readers and this opens up lots of discussionbetween children and adults: 'Where is it set?' (Kenya, in Africa), 'What's different to whereyou are?, 'Any zebras around?', 'Why is Handa carrying a basket on her head?' and 'Whydon't you carry things this way?' One of the most enjoyable elements for me has been discovering some of Kenya's animalsand fruits and this enthusiasm seems to have passed on to children and teachers. It'shumbling to visit schools and witness the wonderful work produced around this story –thedramas, fruit tastings and fabulous wall displays. So the book probably endures with thecombination of humour, the discovery of a different location and its capacity to inspireextended learning, including the tasting of delicious fruits. Handa puts seven different delicious fruits in a basket to take to her friend Akeyo as a surprise. But Handa’s walk takes her past a variety of animals, and the fruits do look very inviting...” Handa's Surprise is a lovely story by Eileen Browne about a girl who wants to treat her friends to delicious fruit but her plans go awry as several pesky different animals steal the fruit from her basket! A monkey takes the banana, an ostrich the guava, a zebra the orange, an elephant the mango, a giraffe the pineapple, an antelope the avocado and a parrot the passion fruit.All the Handa books needed extensive research. For Handa's Surprise, the well-knownanimals were mostly found in library books, zoos and safari parks. I love drawing from lifeand until I looked at a real giraffe, hadn't realised what long tongues, whiskers andeyelashes they have. Finding nocturnal south-west Kenyan creatures for Handa's NoisyNight was more difficult. Zoos and wildlife parks had a few, but in daytime they were usuallyasleep. In London Zoo's "Twilight Zone", bush babies and bats tore around so fast in thesemi-dark, that I couldn't draw them. The book uses relatively simple language and could probably be read independently by a six or seven year old. This said, it uses a variety of punctuation marks which could possibly used as a platform for a more advanced lesson. Collect some fruit and vegetable into a basket and draw it. What colours / textures will you need to show? The book ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne tells the story of a girl named Handa, who decides to take seven tasty fruits in a basket to her good friend, Akeyo. I'm thrilled that Handa's Surprise is still going strong and have been asked what I think is itsenduring appeal. It's probably a combination of several different elements. The key to thebook is the "Look behind you!" joke running through the pictures, where the text pays noheed to the visual story of animals stealing fruit from Handa's basket. Young children delightin being in on the joke and probably want to warn her. Discovering Kenyan culture

As she carries the basket on her head to her friends house, various animals steal the fruits, piece by piece but an accident results in her arriving with a basket full of tangerines which are incidentally Akeyo's favourite fruit. You can help bring the magic of Handa’s Surprise into your KYFS or KS1 classroom with Twink’s range of colourful and engaging support materials.Gender and race must be intrinsically reflected in all children's media. If it isn't, childrengrow up seeing inequality as normal. So yes, diversity in picture books is very important. Created in collaboration with the book’s publisher, Walker Books, this EYFS Reception Topic Planning Web: Handa’s Surprise is a perfect resource for practitioners who are planning work around this wonderful book.

Are you looking for activities to support reading ‘Handa’s Surprise’ with your children? We’ve teamed up with Walker Books to bring you a wealth of learning resources. You could combine these resources together and plan a whole topic based on this lovely story. Here are just a few to get you started: There are ways to help with Maths skills too, Addition Sheets make a lovely themed activity to practise this key skill. You can make all kinds of Handa's Surprise activities for early years maths, having fun counting each of the fruits and seeing how that changes in the story. Explore Eileen Browne's sequel with Handa's Hen Activities for Early Years Children. What is Handa's Surprise? It has lovely illustrations and could be used to introduce children to different types of fruit or animals as part of an art or geography lesson.

In this picture book classic, a delightful surprise colourfully unfolds when a little girl called Handa puts seven delicious fruits in a basket to take to her friend. Retell the story in the form of a storyboard with captions and speech bubbles for each character / animal.

Here are a few resources you can use to whip up some educational activities based around the story: You could also ask your children to call out the different fruits and count them to help our children with their counting skills and fruit recognition too. This book encapsulates the idea that ‘less is more’. The simple text and the descriptive pictures, are what I believe are the key features that lend to the brilliance of this book. This book tells the story of Handa and her friend Akeyo. At the beginning of the story Handa puts seven different fruits in her basket to take to her friend Akeyo. As Handa makes her way to Akeyo’s village she tries to imagine which fruit Akeyo would like best. Every time Handa describes each of the fruits in her basket; an animal native to Handa’s part of the world takes it out of the basket. Eventually when Handa’s basket becomes empty a goat breaks free from its rope and runs in to a tangerine tree which results in the tangerines falling in to Handa’s basket. Still unaware Handa arrives at Akeyo’s village telling her that she has a surprise for her. When she takes the basket of her head Handa is the one who is surprised as her basket which originally had 7 different fruits is now full of tangerinesRichly-illustrated, brimming with luscious fruit and cheeky wild animals, this mouth-watering story is for the youngest of readers. In the best pantomime spirit, children will long to tell Handa what's happening right behind her! This year I'm celebrating the 25th anniversary edition of Handa's Surprise and thepublication of Handa's Noisy Night. You’ll find a vast collection of resources for you to use, including display items, word cards, activities, worksheets and more. Based on the latest guidance for reception, this topic planning web provides a range of exciting activities for all seven Areas of Learning. These ideas will enhance your provision and help your children explore the story and extend their skills and knowledge at the same time. There are suggestions here both for adult-led sessions and for continuous provision.