Wednesday 26 February 2014

Book Review : Handa's Surprise

~Medha is 3 years old~

I must thank Devaki from Little Reader's Nook for recommending this book in her story sessions. Not only Medha, even I loved this book a lot. This is such cute and sweet story. You must not miss this book for your kids.

Author : Eileen Browne
Age : 2-6 years
Pages : 32
Publisher : Candlewick




Story?

This is a story set in an African village, is about a little girl, Handa, who decides to visit her best friend Akeyo with a basket full of  7 different fruits as surprise. But as she walks to Akeyo's village she has to pass through a jungle, carrying basket on her head, Handa contemplates which fruit Akeyo will like the best.


However, each time Handa thinks about a certain fruit an animal pops along and steals that particular fruit. 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. Handa walks on, wondering which of the fruits her friend will like best, oblivious to the fact that her basket is now empty.



Unaware that various animals have taken these tropical fruits, Handa continues along her journey, at which point a goat bumps into a tree and a bunch of tangerines fall into Handa's basket which was empty by then. After reaching Akeyo's village, she greets her friend and tells her that. she've brought her a surprise. But when she lifts off her basket, it's Handa who gets the biggest surprise. Much to Handa's Surprise Tangerines are Akeyo's favorite fruit.


What young children will like?

  • This is a great book to talk about multicultural theme. Eileen Browne does a wonderful job incorporating various themes of Africa into one book. Ex: She included tropical fruits such as guava and various African animals such as an Ostrich, Monkey, Parrot, Zebra and so on. And also the clothes that girls wear, walking to Akeyo's village instead of travelling by car and giving fruits as presents instead of toys.
  • The simple text and the descriptive pictures draws attention of kids. 
  • It promotes counting skills, and learning  7 fruit names and animals. 

Medha liked it ?

  • She loved each part of this book 
  • She giggles when she sees how animals stole the fruits from basket. 


Rating

5/5

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