I love visual jokes, and tried to incorporate one into the second Handa story, Handa's Hen. Ididn't manage to do this, but have been able to in Handa's Noisy Night. Handa's having asleepover at her friend Akeyo's house. She hears strange noises and can't see what's makingthem–but the reader can! Once I'd worked out the story, illustrating it was a mammothtask. I spent a lot of time looking at the sky's changing colours as day turned into night – andeven longer illustrating it! Drawing giraffes and bush babies Here are a few resources you can use to whip up some educational activities based around the story: Handa is part of the Luo tribe in South-West Kenya. One day, she decides to fill a basket with seven delicious fruits to bring to Akeyo, who lives in the neighbouring village.

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. 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. Try to make a similar story where a child organises a surprise for somebody else, but there is a surprise for them at the end of the story. Explore Eileen Browne's sequel with Handa's Hen Activities for Early Years Children. What is Handa's Surprise?Richly-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!

Handa's Surprise is a book about a Kenyan girl (Handa) who visits her friend with a basket full of seven different fruits as presents. Along the way to Akeyo's village, Handa contemplates which fruit Akeyo will like the best. However, each time Handa thinks about a certain fruit an animal pops along and takes that particular fruit. For example a monkey steals the banana. Unaware that various animals have taken these tropical fruits, Handa contiunes along her journey, at which point a goat bumps into a tree and a bunch of tangerines fall into Handa's basket. Much to Handa's Surprise Tangerines are Akeyo's favourite fruit. 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. 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. As the animals sneak out of the bush to steal Handa’s fruits, you could ask your children to shout out what animal it is as a fun activity whilst reading. However, along the way, the fruits in her basket are eaten one by one by some cheeky animals – a monkey, an ostrich, a zebra, an elephant, a giraffe, an antelope and a parrot.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.

Writer-illustrator Eileen Browne talks about the enduring appeal of Handa's Surprise, and all about her new Handa adventure: Handa's Noisy Night. 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: Handa carries seven delicious fruits to her friend Akeyo as a surprise But thanks to some hungry animals she meets along the way it's Handa who's in for a surprise! --cover The story is based in south-west Kenya. Can you find this on a map? Can you find out more about the country? How is it similar / different to where you live? Watch this travel guide about Kenya for some ideas: This book is a wonderful book to read to your children. It features some beautiful and colourful illustrations to help bring the story to life.

What other Handa’s Surprise resources can I find?

What surprises have people organised for you? Can you think of a nice surprise that you could arrange for somebody else? 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.

Handa’s Surprise is beautifully illustrated book for children in nurseries and reception classes. The story is set in a village in Africa, and the pictures are bold, traditional and bright coloured to capture the imaginations of little ones. This book can be used to cover a range of subjects across the early years curriculum e.g. numeracy (counting animals, fruits), art (drawing fruits, make displays), geography (discussed exotic fruits, wild animals, Africa), knowledge and understanding of the world (habitats, traditional clothes, culture), science (taste fruits, healthy eating). Your children can reinforce their understanding of the story by putting together these story sequencing cards. This would be great as an individual or group activity. Who is Eileen Browne? 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. The Handa’s Surprise book also has lots of opportunities to start a discussion about different cultures and countries. You can discuss with your children how people live in Kenya and more about the people’s culture and traditions. Handa’s Surprise book resources You could make a delightful display wall in the classroom and use this bright display banner as the heading. You could then put up other display items or show off some of your children’s work.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. 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. 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. As she is walking to see Akeyo, she is so busy thinking which fruit Akeyo will like best, she doesn’t even realise some animals are stealing her fruit! She’s in for a bit of a surprise when she gets to the village!