A few months after the death of their mother, Tatu’s father makes her understand that she must take on the responsibility of caring for Maulidi, her younger sibling, before and after school, while he is at work. Maulidi, naughty and unruly as he is, disobeys and fights Tatu at every turn: he refuses to walk to school with Tatu and refuses to do the chores at home after school. Tatu complains to their father who gives her a sound scolding, but this does not help as Maulidi’s fights with Tatu get worse. One night, their father tells Tatu that he does not know what to do with Maulidi anymore. 

Concerned about her younger brother’s change of behaviour, Tatu leaves for the forest to seek counsel from MaMzuka, a mysterious spirit woman, singing Subira* as she goes along. Having charmed MaMzuka, the mysterious spirit woman, with her song, she agrees to help on the condition that Tatu plucks three whiskers from a lion on the clearing with the giant anthill. That same night, Tatu heads to the clearing MaMzuka had mentioned and decides to soothe the lion with her beautiful singing voice but her first attempt fails. Resolved to be courageous and above all patient, as the spirit woman had cautioned, Tatu gives another try and on the third night, accomplishes the dangerous task. 

The next day after school, she meets MaMzuka. But she is taken aback when the spirit woman blows the whiskers away. Then she tells her that she can bring back her brother to order in the same way she used to get the whiskers from the lion. Tatu returns home and begins to tame Maulidi with songs, as their mother used to do, while exercising a lot of patience. Finally, Maulidi becomes a good kid once again.

* The Swahili word for patience and the title of a song.

The story is an adaptation of a popular folktale found in many parts of Africa and Asia. This version of the story, though not very different from the other versions, exposes the circumstances under which Tatu must bear the burden of taking care of her kid brother and bringing him up to be responsible. In many African societies, adolescent girls are expected to replace their mothers in the home in case of the mother’s absence whether by death or otherwise. This is the case with Tatu in the story. Probably because of the trauma of losing his mother, Maulidi becomes stubborn and aggressive, pushing Tatu out of love to look for ways to bring him back to the rails. Their father, under an escapist excuse of working long hours, as typical of many traditional African fathers, leaves Tatu with this huge responsibility of mending the broken relationship with her kid brother. When Tatu uses her strengths, song, courage and patience, to win back Maulidi, it is mainly because Maulidi sees his mother in Tatu, since Tatu takes after their mother in singing. This highlights the importance of a mother figure in the life of a child and confirms the adage that music soothes the soul. 

The story suggests, not only to children and young adults but also to adults, that one can get whatever s/he wants if they exercise patience, courage, and determination. There is no task too difficult or too complicated for one to accomplish. It also underscores the fact that tolerance, calm and understanding are much more effective in solving conflicts and misunderstandings than bullying and fighting. Readers can share in Tatu’s experiences and learn these virtues from them. The author incorporates a song (Subira Subira of the title) in the narrative to accentuate these virtues while Linda Saport’s illustrations also speak along with the story.

Badejo, Deirdre L., “African Feminism: Mythical and Social Power of Women of African Descent”, Research in African Literatures 29.2 (1998): 92–111.

Gaskins, Suzanne, “Childhood practices across cultures: Play and household work” in L. A. Jensen, ed., The Oxford handbook of human development and culture: An interdisciplinary perspective, New York: Oxford University Press, 2015, 185–197.