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. Here are a few resources you can use to whip up some educational activities based around the story: 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?

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 Rewrite the story from Handa’s point of view. What does she think happened to the original fruit in her basket?

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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. You’ll find a vast collection of resources for you to use, including display items, word cards, activities, worksheets and more. 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. 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.

A modern classic named one of the best culturally diverse picture books in the UK, this is the story of Handa, who's part of the Luo tribe in south-west Kenya. Handa decides to take seven pieces of delicious fruit to her friend, Akeyo, who lives in the neighbouring village. But as Handa wonders, I wonder what fruit Akeyo will like best?, a series of sneaky animals steal something from Handa's basket, which she's carrying on her head... When Handa reaches Akeyo, will she have anything left to offer her friend? 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! 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.

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The ideas in this wonderful EYFS Reception Topic Planning Web: Handa’s Surprise will be perfect for you if you're looking for enjoyable and engaging learning activities for your reception children based on this much-loved book. Draw a map showing Handa’s route to see Akeyo and add pictures which shows the events which took place along the way. 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. 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 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?

For your younger children, you could use these themed worksheets to help your children with their pencil control. 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.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. 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. 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: This year I'm celebrating the 25th anniversary edition of Handa's Surprise and thepublication of Handa's Noisy Night. 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.

Handa is carrying a basket of fruit to her friend Akeyo. She is carrying it on her head and doesn’t notice that animals she is passing are taking fruit out of the basket. Eventually the basket becomes empty but an antelope chasing her runs in to a tree as Handa walks beneath it and fills the basket with tangerines. When Handa reaches Akeyo with her surprise she is surprised herself. The children in nursery found the book quite funny as all these animals were able to steal fruit from Handa without her even realising: ‘silly Handa!’ It is accessible as a video story, which is even more enjoyable and engaging given the moving visuals and soundsGender 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. 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...” Retell the story in the form of a storyboard with captions and speech bubbles for each character / animal. 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 Reading this classic story together is a brilliant activity for circle time, and a great way to keep children focussed and attentive. It's wonderful for literacy skills, with handy Word Mats to boost children's vocabulary. And Caption Writing Activities to help children practise handwriting and forming sentences.