HANDA'S SURPRISE
Author: Eileen Browne
Illustrator: Eileen Browne
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Number of pages: 28
Publisher: Walker Books (UK) First published in: 2006 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? No Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Handa) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
A modern classic named one of the best culturally diverse picture books in the UK, this is the story of Handa, who's part of the Luo tribe in south-west Kenya. Handa decides to take seven pieces of delicious fruit to her friend, Akeyo, who lives in the neighbouring village. But as Akeyo wonders, I wonder what fruit Akeyo will like best?, a series of sneaky animals steal something from Handa's basket, which she's carrying on her head...When Handa reaches Akeyo, will she have anything left to offer her friend? Richly-illustrated, brimming with luscious fruit and cheeky wild animals, this mouth-watering story is for the youngest of readers. In the best pantomime spirit, children will long to tell Handa what's happening right behind her! |
“Handa put seven delicious fruits in a basket for her friend, Akeyo. [...] I wonder which fruit she'll like best?”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Set in a village of the Luo tribe in south-west Kenya, Eileen Browne’s ‘Handa's Surprise’ (2006) is a story about a girl, Handa, who wants to surprise her friend, Akeyo, with seven delicious fruits. Handa put the fruits in a basket, which itself sits on Handa’s head. Along the journey to see Akeyo, seven different mischievous animals take the fruits one by one from the basket without Handa knowing, until there is nothing left. As she is walking past a tangerine tree, lots of tangerines fall onto the basket on top of Handa’s head (presumably very gently and very quietly!). By the time she sees Akeyo, Handa is herself surprised to see lots of tangerines in the basket instead of the seven different fruits she picked for her friend. This story provides a meaningful context for very young readers to learn and consolidate their understanding of subtraction. The story also provides a perfect opportunity for pre-school children to engage in role playing whereby one child could be Handa with a certain amount of fruits (e.g. Unifix cubes or plastic fruit toys) in a basket sitting on their head, and a few other children could play the role of the different animals who stealthily take the fruits from Handa’s basket in different amounts, and at the end the whole class has to work out how many fruits would be left, if any, in the basket, for example. Overall, we recommend ‘Handa's Surprise’ to teach the concept of subtraction to children, aged 4+ years old.
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Set in a village of the Luo tribe in south-west Kenya, Eileen Browne’s ‘Handa's Surprise’ (2006) is a story about a girl, Handa, who wants to surprise her friend, Akeyo, with seven delicious fruits. Handa put the fruits in a basket, which itself sits on Handa’s head. Along the journey to see Akeyo, seven different mischievous animals take the fruits one by one from the basket without Handa knowing, until there is nothing left. As she is walking past a tangerine tree, lots of tangerines fall onto the basket on top of Handa’s head (presumably very gently and very quietly!). By the time she sees Akeyo, Handa is herself surprised to see lots of tangerines in the basket instead of the seven different fruits she picked for her friend. This story provides a meaningful context for very young readers to learn and consolidate their understanding of subtraction. The story also provides a perfect opportunity for pre-school children to engage in role playing whereby one child could be Handa with a certain amount of fruits (e.g. Unifix cubes or plastic fruit toys) in a basket sitting on their head, and a few other children could play the role of the different animals who stealthily take the fruits from Handa’s basket in different amounts, and at the end the whole class has to work out how many fruits would be left, if any, in the basket, for example. Overall, we recommend ‘Handa's Surprise’ to teach the concept of subtraction to children, aged 4+ years old.
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
