A Birthday Surprise is a moving story about children who surprise their teacher on her birthday. The activities in the reader provide an opportunity for deeper participation in the areas of language as well as the content of the story. This story is part of the Boma reading scheme which offers young leaners enjoyable and interesting readers that allow them to practise the language structures of the primary syllabus in a step-by-step fashion. This story is part of the level 1 readers suitable for learners in their first year of school. An accompanying Teacher's Guide is available. Each reader in the Boma series focusses on specific language structures and vocabulary prescribed in the syllabus and required for learning at this level. The author of this series Izabella Hearn is a renowned author of children's readers and language books. She has published extensively. The Bomas series, as well as being true to the primary syllabus in a very structured and deliberate way, also provides the teachers and learners with a variety of activities which add richness to the texts and focus on the areas that are prescribed in the curriculum. The series as a whole has a very carefully thought out set of titles in order to give a pan world quality to the materials but without losing its quality and appropriateness to the child.