Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne (Pan Macmillan South Africa) R55
In this beautifully illustrated book a little girl named Handa decides to surprise her best friend, Akeyo, with a basket of fruit. She fills the basket with a variety of fruit, including a pineapple, orange, guava and mango.
As she walks to the nearby village she contemplates what Akeyo’s favourite fruit might be. What she does not realise is that the basket, which she is carrying on her head, is being raided by animals, each picking their favourite fruit. A twist in the tale ensures that she does not arrive empty-handed, but what she presents to Akeyo is quite a surprise for Handa.
This is an enjoyable story presented in language that is accessible. Often children’s books are riddled with words that are age-inappropriate. This is not the case with Handa’s Surprise. The level of the language is consistent.
On the front cover and the inside pages are small illustrations of the various types of fruit that feature in the story, whereas drawings of the relevant animals appear on the last two pages of the book.
Children enjoy naming the fruits and the animals, an exercise that helps to expand their developing vocabulary. The book is available in South Africa’s 11 languages, which is a great plus. It can be recommended for foundation-phase classrooms.