HANDA'S SURPRISE

This story is about a little girl, Handa, who lives in an African village carrying a basket of fruit on her head to her friend Akeyo who lives in a neighbouring village.  She does not notice the succession of animals who, one by one, take a piece of fruit from her basket until there is nothing left!  Fortunately there is a last minute twist in the plot which means that Akeyo is not disappointed.

The story would make a great starting point for learning about the needs of living things linked to diet and the specific needs of humans.  This could be compared to the diets of the other animals in the book and would be a relevant context for secondary research.  Children could also find out which African animals are carnivores to compare with the ones in the story.  A lot of the resources suggested here are specifically linked to human dietary needs, specifically the need to eat plenty of plant based foods.

Children could also be supported to write a different version of the story set in another continent.  What animals could feature in a UK based story?  What fruit and vegetables might be found in the basket?  

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Before reading the story, look at the title and cover. Predict what the surprise might be. Then, read the blurb on the back cover? does this give any more clues about the surprise?
• The story is full of questions. Look at the use of question marks in the story. Can you write your own questions and put a question mark in the correct place?
• Retell the story in the form of a storyboard with captions and speech bubbles for each character / animal.
• Rewrite the story from Handa's point of view. What does she think happened to the original fruit in her basket?
• Make a list of vocabulary to describe the animals and / or fruit that appear in the story.
• Write a review of the story, giving your opinions about what you liked / didn't like.
• Try to make a similar story where a child organises a surprise for somebody else, but there is a surprise for them at the end of the story.

Maths

• Weigh a selection of different fruit and vegetables. Can you put them in order from lightest to heaviest?
• Gather some fruit and use this for data handling activities… What is the favourite type of fruit in the class? Make a graph to show how far each type of fruit has travelled from its country of origin. What is the average number of grapes in a bunch?

Science

• Find out about the fruits Handa gathered for her friend. What vitamins do they have in them?
• Find out about the animals that appear in the story. Where do they live? What do they like to eat?

Computing

• Could you act out the story and take digital photos to retell it?

Art

• Collect some fruit and vegetable into a basket and draw it. What colours / textures will you need to show?

Geography

• Draw a map showing Handa's route to see Akeyo and add pictures which shows the events which took place along the way.
• Research where the fruit in Handa's basket comes from. You could also look at the packaging / labels of fruit in your local shops. Where is the country of origin for each type? Can you plot these on a map?
• 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:

Languages

• Can you find out the names for each fruit or animal in a different language?

THE RAINBOW FISH

The Rainbow Fish

By Marcus Pfister

Summary

The most beautiful fish in the ocean is asked to share one of his shining scales with a little blue fish, and to which he refuses. All the other fish in the sea leave him alone, and he wondered why. He goes to the wise octopus for advice, and she tells him to give away his scales. Rainbow Fish reluctantly does so, except for one. In the end, he is less beautiful then he was before, but he has new friends and is now the happiest fish in the sea.

Before reading

• How many of you kids have ever owned an item that you didn’t want to share?
• If you were made to, did it make you happier or sadder?
• Would you rather do the right thing or do the thing you want to do?
• Would you rather have something really special all to yourself or have friends?
• Is being unique more important than being liked?

During reading

• When Rainbow Fish refuses give the blue fish one of his scales
• Was Rainbow Fish wrong?
• Was the blue fish acting out of line for asking for something so dear to Rainbow Fish's heart? Was he asking too much of Rainbow Fish?
• What’s the point of being beautiful if you have no friends to admire them?
• The Octopus tells Rainbow Fish to give away his scales
• Is the octopus right in saying having friends is more important than being beautiful?
• When the octopus says, “… You will discover how to be happy,” is she saying that what Rainbow Fish thought of as happy before wasn’t actually true happiness?
• The blue fish receives a scale
• Is it selfish of the other fish to demand Rainbow Fish of all his scales?
• The book says that Rainbow Fish grew more and more delighted as he gave away his scales. Is this true in all cases? If not, give examples.

Questions after reading

• Was Rainbow Fish's decision to share worth it?
• Rainbow Fish was happy with his scales, and he was happy with his new friends. Are there different kinds of happiness?
• Are they true friends if one of the main reasons they like Rainbow Fish is because he gave them something pretty?
• If Rainbow Fish refused to give the blue fish the scale politely, would this have changed the other fish’s perception of him?
• Do you share with your friends? Do you share everything with them?

MONKEY PUZZLE

Monkey Puzzle or Where’s My Mom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is full of delights for young children. You will find Julia Donaldson’s brilliant rhymes and Axel Scheffler’s wonderful illustrations along with repetition, clues, jungle animals and a great big hug. We have read it over and over again and never tire of it. If you don’t own a copy it is a great addition to your bookshelves at this time of year as Mother’s Day approaches and it is also a fantastic story to read in the Spring as an introduction to the lifecycle of a butterfly.

The story begins with a little monkey, alone and lost in the jungle. This little monkey has lost his mum.

Fortunately the little monkey isn’t alone for long. A well-meaning and friendly Butterfly appears and comforts him, then they set out to find the little monkey’s mum, together. Poor Butterfly keeps finding animals that fit the little monkey’s description but they aren’t quite right.

Elephant might be bigger than the little monkey and the snake might coil around trees but they are not the little monkey’s mum. The spider has more legs than a snake and the parrot lives in the treetops but neither of them fit the bill either. Before you turn the page there is always a clue as to which animal is next, so as you read you can guess what’s coming up next. Each time Butterfly gets it wrong the little monkey chimes “No, no, no!” and this repetition is quickly picked up by little ones.

Eventually the little monkey becomes exasperated with Butterfly. Why does she keep getting the wrong animals? Then, the penny drops. The little monkey never gives Butterfly the key information – the little monkey’s mum looks like he does!  This seems obvious to the little monkey but it isn’t to Butterfly because none of her babies looks like she does: her babies are caterpillars!

Once the misunderstanding is ironed out Butterfly is more successful and they find Dad and finally Mum!

TALK ABOUT

The story is wonderful to read and enjoy simply as it is, or if you want to use the book to inspire some conversation I have always found Burt is quite happy to talk about the friendly characters that Axel Scheffler brings to life in the illustrations.  You could use the story to talk about different animals, introduce some mathematics by counting each animals’ legs or do some biology and talk about metamorphosis and the lifecycle of a butterfly. You could also explore language together by describing each other or thinking of a better description for little monkey’s mum.

You could also read the story before a trip or a holiday to discuss with a young child what they should do if they ever do become lost (not a comfortable idea to entertain but it is certainly an important subject to discuss if you feel your little one is old enough).

1. How would you describe little monkey’s mum so that Butterfly could find her easily?
2. How would you describe your Mum?
3. Why doesn’t Butterfly understand that the little monkey’s Mum looks like her?
4. What do Butterfly’s babies look like?
5. How does a caterpillar change into a butterfly?

CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

Monkey Puzzle is a cleverly crafted sequence of meetings and you will be surprised how quickly children can pick up the order of the encounters with each animal. Learning to put together and remember a sequence is an important skill and helps children to develop their own abilities to tell stories and recount events. We made a felt board so that Burt could act out the story as we read it and then play with the characters and retell the story in his own words.

PRINCESS SMARTYPANTS (BABETTE COLE)

Princess Smartypants is an example of a children’s picture book which uses gender reversal to tell a story that would never really happen. What if women of high socio-economic status could choose their own marriage/non-marriage partners?

Princess Smartypants has been talked about quite a bit by children’s literature critics, though I personally feel it’s not as successful as it looks at first glance. It’s still notably, however, as an early example of reversal as a way of highlighting inequality.

Types of Archetypal Journeys

Heroes in stories will set out to accomplish one of the following 10 things. Here, of course, we have a story about number five:

1. The quest for identity

2. The epic journey to find the promised land/to found the good city

3. The quest for vengeance

4. The warrior’s journey to save his people

5. The search for love (to rescue the princess/damsel in distress)

6. The journey in search of knowledge

7. The tragic quest: penance or self-denial

8. The fool’s errand

9. The quest to rid the land of danger

10. The grail quest (the quest for human perfection)

Babette Cole subverts the reader’s expectation that the prince and princess will end up married. These days it doesn’t seem such a radical story at all, but that’s only because we’ve seen it before.

Not only that, but the scene in which the prince is made to go shopping with the Queen mother shows him humiliated, not just because of his crawling position, but because he is in the lingerie department, weighed down by a load of female undergarments. It’s impossible to view this scene as humbling without also acknowledging at some level that female undergarments are inherently funny and shameful.

However, back in the mid 1980s when Princess Smartypants was published, the world was seeing feminist inversions of classic tales for the first time.

WEAKNESS/NEED

Princess Smartypants has been born into a life with a rigid path; she must marry into royalty (and produce heirs).

DESIRE

However, she doesn’t want that life. She wants to remain single and buck conventional gender roles.

OPPONENT

The parents, who represent the entire culture of marital expectations

PLAN

She’ll vet some suitors, but she’ll set such enormous tasks that there’s no way they’ll be able to accomplish them.

BATTLE

The battle scenes comprise a large proportion of a picturebook, and sure enough the princes are put through a series of tasks which involve her scary pets or scary rides.

But ultimately, Princes Swashbuckle is able to accomplish all of these tasks. Princess Smartypants has lost the battle.

SELF-REVELATION

Except Prince Swashbuckle is not interested in her.

A ‘swashbuckler’ is an idealistic hero archetype. He rescues damsels in distress, defends the downtrodden, and in general saves the day

NEW EQUILIBRIUM

PERFORMING A PLAY WITH CHILDREN

It has been acknowledged that there is a strong link between play and learning for young children, especially in the areas of problem solving, language acquisition, literacy, numeracy and social, physical, and emotional skills. Young children actively explore their environment and the world around them through learning-based play. Play is a vital part of a child’s optimal social, cognitive, physical and emotional development.Researchers agree that play provides a strong foundation for intellectual growth, creativity, problem-solving and basic academic knowledge.

As children learn through purposeful, quality play experience, they build critical basic skills for cognitive development and academic achievement. These include verbalization, language comprehension, vocabulary, imagination, questioning, problem-solving, observation, empathy, co-operation skills and the perspectives of others.

Through play, children learn a set of skills: social skills, creativity, hand-eye coordination, problem solving and imagination. It is argued that these skills are better learned through play than through flashcards or academic drills.

USING STORYBOOKS: READING OR TELLING STORIES?

Both reading and telling are great ways to communicate stories to children but the differences between the two are quite considerable for both the parent/teacher and the children listening.

When reading stories, the reader must always be focused on the printed words while occasionally looking at the audience.

In contrast, telling a story gives the teller freedom to speak directly to the children, remaining in eye contact while having the opportunity to watch for their reactions to the story.

It is the teller who makes the story come to life through the sound of their voice and personality combined.

The storytelling becomes almost a personal experience for all involved.

However, an experienced teller can learn any story and make it their own (and reading and practicing the tips and hints in the free storytelling technique course will set you on the right path).

The beginner may feel more comfortable with a traditional well-known story like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or Little Red Riding Hood.

Personal stories however, usually hold the greatest interest for a teller and have the potential to produce the inner most enthusiasm while reciting remembered events – plus: The audience will enjoy the story just as much as the teller enjoys telling it.

Some people are natural born storytellers, but anyone who is willing to practice and devote time and study can become a good one.

In order to become a great children's storyteller, there are various skills you master and attributes you must gain.

There are certain characteristics that a natural storyteller may possess that gives them an advantage.

A creative imagination and a flair for drama will help bring a story to life so the children will be able to visualize in their own minds the characters and setting of the story.

It is also better to be prepared for the sometimes-unexpected tidbits the children will want to add to the story themselves.  Including their ideas and engaging with the audience will truly make for a successful storytelling session.

There is clearly more to telling children’s stories than one at first thinks and indeed the same can be said of reading stories, but you have to start, somewhere right?