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Eileen Browne has written and/or illustrated many books, probably her most well-known is Handa's Surprise.
~ Handa's Surprise ~
Handa is an African girl who is part of a tribe in Kenya.
At the beginning of the story Handa puts seven delicious fruits in a basket for her friend ... Read review
Advantages: Great multi-cultural book. Brightly illustrated Disadvantages: None
...probably her most well-known is Handa's Surprise.
~ Handa's Surprise ~
Handa is an African girl who is part of a tribe in Kenya.
At the beginning of the story Handa puts seven delicious fruits in a basket for her friend Akeyo.
As she sets off for Akeyo's village with the fruit basket on her head, Handa wonders which fruit her friend will like best.
'Will she like the soft ... ...by an animal, native to Handa's part of the world.
When there is nothing left in her basket, a goat breaks free of it's rope and hurtles in to a tangerine tree. The tangerines clatter down and Handa ends up with a basketful of tangerines.
Still totally unaware of this, Handa arrives at her friend's village and tells Akeyo that she has a surprise for her.
When she takes the basket down, it's actually Handa ... more
This is a very good multi-cultural book for young children.
~ Eileen Browne ~
Eileen Browne worked as a teacher and a youth worker before becoming an author and illustrator.
She once said that "certain groups of people are not well represent in books. Females only feature as main characters in around a third of children's books, because of this I give them priority."
She has written and illustrated some 'ground-breaking', different books, e.g. 'Through my Window' (1986) was the first ever picture book in Britain to feature a child with a black mother and white father.
Eileen Browne has written and/or illustrated many books, probably her most well-known is Handa's Surprise.
~ Handa's Surprise ~
Handa is an African girl who is part of a tribe in Kenya.
At the beginning of the story Handa puts seven delicious fruits in a basket for her friend Akeyo.
As she sets off for Akeyo's village with the fruit basket on her head, Handa wonders which fruit her friend will like best.
'Will she like the soft yellow banana..............' at this point, there is a picture of a monkey leaning out of the tree who picks out the banana without Handa realising.
'or the sweet -smelling guava?' This time an ostrich reaches out it's long neck to grab hold of the guava, again Handa has no idea.
This continues with the different types of fruits, each one being taken by an animal, native to Handa's part of the world.
When there is nothing left in her basket, a goat breaks free of it's rope and hurtles in to a tangerine tree. The tangerines clatter down and Handa ends up with a basketful of tangerines.
Still totally unaware of this, Handa arrives at her friend's village and tells Akeyo that she has a surprise for her.
When she takes the basket down, it's actually Handa who gets a surprise as the 7 original fruits have been replaced with tangerines!
~ Illustrations ~
This book is beautifully illustrated, each page glows with the heat of the African sun.
The animals are so life-like and I particularly like the parrot with it's rich and vibrant colours.
~ Style and Format ~
This is great for children from 3 upwards. The text is very limited, generally just one sentence per double page whereas there is an illustration on each page.
I find the first and last pages very useful as it names all of the fruits and animals in the book, very handy, if like me you aren't great with fruit and animal knowledge!
Children particularly like the idea that they know what is going on, i.e. the animals stealing the fruit even though Handa doesn't.
~ Educational Value ~
Great for counting, especially subtraction as you ask how many are in the basket now as each piece of fruit is taken.
Good for naming more unusual fruits: banana, guava, orange, mango, pineapple, avocado pear, passion fruit & tangerine. I actually took in some of the fruits mentioned in the book so that the children could have a taste of them if they wanted to.
Great for naming animals: monkey, ostrich, zebra, elephant, giraffe, antelope, parrot & goat.
A multi-cultural theme. Looking at the clothes Handa and her friend wear, how Handa carries the fruit etc....
~ Additional Info ~
Handa's surprise is also available in big book format which is great for reading to a large group of children. There is also an audiobook available on CD. This has music, games and activities based on Handa's surprise and Handa's Hen.
~ Price ~
My paperback was £4.99 ISBN: 0-7445-3634-0 but amazon are selling used and new copies from 23p!
~ My verdict ~
This is a beautifully illustrated book with a simple story line. The drawings and bright colours really appeal to children. However some of the children I have read it to have questioned how Handa didn't realise that the basket was getting lighter as more and more of the fruit was being stolen and how she didn't feel all of the tangerines falling in to the basket!
Despite this, if you are looking for a multi-cultural book then look no further.
Advantages: Good story, great use of colour Disadvantages: None
_Handa's Surprise_ I was working in the school library, when I stumbled across this book - it brought back memories of when I used to read it both to my own children and also the children in my class. ===What is it all about?=== This is a beautifully illustrated picture book published by Walker Books. It starts with a foreword that says " The children featured in this book are from the Luo tribe of South West Kenya. It tells the tale of Handa. She ... ...her she carries 7 fruits which she thinks Akeyo may like. Now the journey is long way and she carries the fruit on her head in a basket. Along the way she passes many animals, who help themselves to the fruit out of her basket and it looks as if she will have nothing by the time she arrives to see her friend. However, all is not lost and something surprising happens to mean that she does not arrive empty handed. ===Opinion=== This is a beautiful ...
LAURALILIA 26.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne
Advantages: brightly coloured, Multi-cultural and educational Disadvantages: Simple tail perhaps not for older kids
...books but Eileen Browne include Handa's Hen, (the sequel to Handa's Surprise) Through the Window, Tick Tock and No Problem and Where's the Bus?
What's Handa's Surprise About?
Handa, a young girl from an African village decides to bring her friend Akeyo, who lives in a neighbouring village a surprise. She puts seven delicious fruits into a basket to take to her friend and sets off with the basket perched on top of her head, on the walk to her friend's ... ...will be Akeyo's favourite, Animals peek out of various hiding places to steal the pieces of fruit one by one without Handa noticing. We meet a monkey, ostrich zebra, elephant, giraffe, antelope and parrot along the way. As Handa gets closer to her friends' home and oblivious to the empty basket she is now carrying, Handa luckily crosses under a tangerine tree just as a goat charges the tree filling the basket with juicy tangerines. As she greets ...
ally2kc 19.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne
Advantages: Very colourful with plenty to talk about Disadvantages: Story is quite basic
Handa's Surprise
Like many people who work or live with children Eileen Browne thought that she would be able to write a successful children's book. After all, all you need to do is write a couple of lines per page, create an attractive central character and throw in some moral or life lesson and bob's your uncle, royalty cheques by the busload. The reality is somewhat different, and when something looks deceptively easy it's because it is anything ... ...well as an accomplished illustrator) and has now produced several very good books. Her publications include 'Through the Window', 'Tick Tock' and 'Where's that Bus?' but probably her most famous book, and certainly her most successful, is 'Handa's Surprise'. With many years educational experience behind her she had very clear ideas about the books she wanted to produce. She had expressed concern that characterisation in children's books was very ...
brereton66 21.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne
Advantages: Lovely story set in Kenya Disadvantages: none
Handa's Surprise-Eileen brown
Handa's surprise is a really simple story set in Kenya. It is a great multicultural book that is often used in pre-school, nursery and early years settings. It introduces children to different cultures with different animals, foods and ways of life through words and pictures.
The Story Handa put seven delicious fruits in a basket for her friend, Akeyo. She will be surprised thought Handa as she set off for Akeyo's ... ...the sweet smelling guava?
Handa's surprise is great to read in a group, children enjoy looking at the large colourful pictures and large text. At the back of the book are suggestions for useful and enjoyable ways of making the most of reading together:
Describing food
In the book, each fruit is described "soft yellow bananna", "round juicy orange" ...Children can take it in turns to chose a fruit or vegetable and describe it.
Shops
Children ...
debmercury 03.03.2008 (13.03.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne
Product Information for "Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Children's
Title
Handa's Surprise
Author
Eileen Browne
ISBN
0744525411; 1852694718; 1852694750; 1852694769
Manufacturer's product description
This picture book is about a small girl of the Luo tribe in Kenya walking from one village to another, carrying on her head a bowl of different fruits which, one by one, are stolen by assorted wild animals.
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