Author Naomi Maina penned Taji: The Lost Heir to give African children a story that they could see themselves in and feel proud of who they are.
Set in the Taita Hills and the highlands of Murang’a, the children’s novel revolves around Taji, a young girl raised by her adoptive mother, Lala, in Taita.
Immersed in the Taita cultural traditions, she later discovers she is the princess of a royal family in Murang’a. She was separated from her biological family during devastating floods when she was a young child.
Lala, a Giriama woman, found the frightened child clinging to a tree and looked for her family to no avail. She returned to Taita with the child and raised her as her own. She named her Taji, meaning “the people”, because she believed the child belonged to all those who loved her.
Years later, Taji has a deep connection to the community that raised her. She loves a particular hairstyle without knowing why. She has a scar above her right eyebrow. Certain songs and rhythms evoke emotions she can’t explain.
She attends the Chande Festival with her Aunt Nina, a gifted dancer and cultural facilitator. The festival is filled with drums, colour, music, chanting and dancers from different communities. When Taji joins the dancers, she discovers that her body knows movements she has never been taught.
Her Agikuyu performance gets the attention of the crowd and, most importantly, of Gitonga, an elderly Agikuyu elder who once served the royal household of Murang’a.
Gitonga notices details that raise questions about the girl's identity: the six knots in her hair, the arrangement of gold beads, the scar above her eyebrow and her resemblance to Princess Njeri, the daughter of the Agikuyu royal family who disappeared during the floods a decade earlier.
For ten years, the royal family has mourned the missing child. Gitonga thinks that Taji may be the princess they had lost.
Through her journey, the book explores themes of identity, ancestry, belonging, leadership, African heritage and the meaning of home.
Maina discloses that the six royal knots are connected to the Athamaki royal clan. They represent six qualities of leadership: wisdom, courage, patience, justice, generosity and knowing when to listen. She wants children to understand that leadership isn’t about having a title.
“I wanted to talk about leadership because it’s important for children to see themselves as leaders and to grow into the skills of being a leader,” she says.
She advises that children should learn these values early because they eventually influence how they behave when they gain power or influence.
“I want children to embrace such qualities when they are in places of power and influence and do the right thing. We should teach children early so that society can change,” she says.
She notes that society pressures people to conform to certain identities, titles, and expectations. Her journey over the past three years has helped her rediscover herself.
“There is pressure in society to adhere to certain titles. It gives us pressure to be seen, and we start seeing ourselves through the lens of what is acceptable and admired in society. It should be about the person before the titles,” she says.
Maina reveals that the book was inspired by her daughter, who is turning 10. She wanted a story that would inspire her and celebrate her, one she could relate to as an African girl with her hair and skin tone. She wanted girls to see themselves as beautiful.
“I wanted children to see themselves as royal. African stories usually focus on children going to fetch water or firewood. I wanted children to imagine themselves becoming kings, queens and leaders,” she says.
Taji is an African princess, and her name comes from the name for “crown”. This is depicted in Taji’s hair, which she has always worn in six knots decorated with beads. The six knots later reveal a connection to the royal clan of Murang’a.
“It’s about children wearing their crown. The crown doesn’t have to be physical. It is about walking in your purpose and identity and living a courageous life,” she says.
Taji has two homes, in Taita and Murang’a. The novel showcases the two cultures to celebrate diversity.
The Taita Hills provided an opportunity to portray the natural environment and conservation. The illustrations and setting celebrate wildlife.
Maina incorporates indigenous and popular foods such as pilau and nyama choma, as well as milk served in calabashes. Taji decorates her home with pebbles and calabashes. These details are intended to make African culture visible in ordinary, beautiful ways.
Researching the book became a journey into her own heritage. Though she grew up in Nairobi, Maina says that she knew little about Kikuyu traditions and language.
“Murang'a is my birthplace, and Kikuyu culture is the one I know best. Even so, I wanted to celebrate Taita culture, especially the chakacha dance and the beauty of the Taita Hills through illustrations and settings,” she says.
She turned to family members, especially her mother, while listening to stories by relatives and elders. She did this to understand what communities were like before colonialism and how children were raised.
While the stories told by elders in the novel are fictional, she intentionally gave women elders an important role. In the book, Taji’s adopted mother, Lala, is a voice of wisdom and leadership.
“We don't see women elders represented in African stories. Many African stories don’t bring in women elders, and I wanted to appreciate the place of women in leadership and community,” she says.
The book includes a workbook encouraging children to explore their own languages and cultures. Identity and belonging are among the novel's strongest themes, inspired by her own experiences. She says that identity has been a personal journey and that she has learned to appreciate herself for who she is, devoid of titles or what she does.
She believes that many people feel pressured to fit society's expectations, losing themselves in the process.
“Before we belong anywhere else, we need to belong to ourselves. Some aspects of culture serve us, and others don't. Children should learn early that their identity comes from within,” she says.
Taji grows up in Taita before discovering her biological family in Murang'a.
The story doesn’t make her choose one identity over another; it embraces both. It’s meant to show that home isn’t just one place. You can belong to two cultures and love both of them since life is multifaceted. She also portrays family as including non-biological members, like Lala. Family, she says, is also the people who show up for us, love us and embrace us.
“My love of stories led me to children's literature. I've always wanted to do something for children. I wasn't sure how, but I loved journaling. I realised my legacy is creating stories that help shape kinder people,” she says.
Growing up, she read titles such as Asterix and Obelix, Disney classics and the Sweet Valley series; however, she had few opportunities to read stories with African settings. She sought to write books that children can see themselves in so that they can appreciate who they are.
Maina also works in human resources and operations, a career that she says has influenced how she thinks about leadership and fairness.
“The workplace reflects society. Children should learn fairness, listening and kindness early because those are qualities that make good leaders,” she says.
She also founded Thrive Studioz with the goal of writing books, plays and films centred on leadership and values for children. Her vision is to build a collection of stories that help children cultivate strong values. Currently, she is working on a sequel which will follow Taji's brother, exploring the theme of leadership and positive masculinity.