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 just 1p!

~ 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.