Handa's Surprise

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Rewrite the story from Handa’s point of view. What does she think happened to the original fruit in her basket? 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 sounds For more resources on the topic of healthy eating, have a look at our Healthy Eating: Food Word Search, which will help children expand their vocabulary and improve their spellings, and this Healthy Eating Sorting Activity. Fantastic facts about Fruit:This activity is based on the popular book by Eileen Browne, Handa’s Surprise. This colourful book tells the story of a young girl, Handa, who wants to take a basket of delicious fruits to her friend. Read the story, then have a look at this fun fruit printing activity. Collect some fruit and vegetable into a basket and draw it. What colours / textures will you need to show?

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: 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: Retell the story in the form of a storyboard with captions and speech bubbles for each character / animal.In the story Handa’s Surprise, written by Eileen Browne, we follow a little girl named Handa, who belongs to the Luo tribe in south-west Kenya. One day, Handa takes a basket of seven yummy fruits to her friend, Akeyo, who lives in a neighbouring village. She is sure this will be a lovely surprise for her friend and, on her walk to the village, she imagines which fruit Akeyo would like best. 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.