Fatiema Petersen, the daughter of the late musician, Taliep Petersen, and singer Madeegha Anders, has written a children’s book, Breathe In Breathe Out.
According to Ms Petersen, the 25-page, self-published book is about a tree that questions its purpose in the world. The insects and animals around the tree speak about how it benefits them, and with their help, the tree realises it can bring hope and blessings to the world and that with a good support system, anything is possible.
The 30-year-old mother of two from Crawford says that as a child struggling to come to terms with her divorced parents’ shared custody of her, she used reading as a form of escape, and at the age of 8, she wrote an unpublished book, Suzie’s Diary, about those experiences.
“Growing up, I developed a love for poetry during my high school years. I tried to write another book about my life, but my father died so it was not the right time to publish the book.”
Taliep Petersen was shot dead in his Athlone home on December 16, 2006, in a robbery that turned out to be a hit orchestrated by his second wife, Najwa Dirk, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
After high school, Ms Petersen studied social work and when she became a mother in 2019, she became increasingly interested in children’s development and started writing for children.
“I found my niche – positive affirmations for children,” she says.
In August last year, she self-published her first book, My Special Lens, about perspective changing in moments of self-doubt and tackling things one step at a time.
Her latest book, launched at the Al-Ikhlaas Academia Library and Resource Centre in Lansdowne, on Saturday, took her two years to write and is illustrated by her nephew, Muhammad Raadhi Damon, 11.
“The reason for writing the book was for my kids. To create a positive impact for them and make a difference in other children’s lives using the right words.”
Breathe In Breathe Out is available for purchase at the Al-Ikhlaas Academia Library and Resource Centre in Lansdowne for R180. For more information, call the library at 021 300 5572 or email fatiema.petersen@gmail.com