Kirikou was born and learned about Karaba, the wicked Sorceress. He learned that all the men in his village had been captured and eaten by Karaba. Only one man remained, Kirikou’s uncle. Kirikou raced off to find his uncle. He hid under the uncle’s hat and was able to warn his uncle when Karaba sent her fetishes to attack.

Karaba sent her fetishes to burn down huts in the village to find gold. The villagers couldn’t put the fire out because Karaba had dried up the spring. Kirikou wanted the children in the village to be his friends. When all the children were playing, they saw a beautiful boat. Kirikou told them not to play on the boat, but they didn’t listen because he is so small.

Suddenly the boat began to sail away very quickly and the children were trapped. Kirikou grabbed a knife from an old woman sat on the river bank and raced ahead of the boat. He jumped on board and cut a hole in the bottom of the boat so that the children could escape. The children danced and sang, “Kirikou is small in size, but he’s very wise!”

As the children walked home, they saw a pretty tree. Again, Kirikou told them to leave it alone, but the children didn’t listen. They climbed up into its branches which then snapped shut, trapping the children. The tree ran off through the forest. But Kirikou grabbed another knife and chased after the tree. He cut down its trunk and the children were saved. They sang, “Kirikou is brave and through him we’re safe!”

Kirikou decided to do something about the dried up spring. He climbed inside and found a huge monster drinking all the water. Kirikou grabbed a poker and poked a hole in the side of the monster. All the water burst out of the monster and flooded the cave. Kirikou seemed to have drowned in the flood and his mother was very upset. But as she cradled him, his eyes opened. Karaba heard what had happened and was very angry.

Kirikou wanted to know more about Karaba and why, despite saving saved them twice, the other children didin’t like him. His mother told him that the only person who knew the truth about Karaba is the Wise Man of the Mountain, who was also his grandfather. Using a disguise, Kirikou decided to find the Wise Man. He was helped by the ground squirrels and other animals.

Once Kirikou got around the mountain, he was followed by a warthog. He jumped on the warthog’s back. He climbed down and entered the red termite mound. He had to travel down lots of passages until he reached the Wise Old Man.

The Wise Old Man told Kirikou the secret about Karaba. She wasn’t so mean after all. She behaved so badly because she was in constant pain caused by a poisonous thorn in her back. The thorn had been driven there by some men who had captured her. The thorn gave her magic powers.

Kirikou learned that Karaba hadn’t caused the spring to dry up. The monster had wandered into the cave and got stuck. The men hadn’t been eaten, Karaba preferred yams in spicy sauce! She had just turned the men into her fetishes. The Old Man told Kirikou that the thorn could be removed from Karaba’s back, but only if somebody used their teeth to do it.

Karaba decided to go and deal with Kirikou herself. She sent her serpent to find him, but Kirikou blocked the serpent’s way in the tunnels. She was so angry that she grabbed her poisoned spear and set out into the forest.

As Karaba bent over in the forest, Kirikou jumped down from his hiding place and pulled the thorn out of her back. Karaba cried in pain, but suddenly all the flowers began to grow and bloom in the forest. Karaba couldn’t believe it but she asked Kirikou if there was anything she could do to repay him.

Kirikou asked Karaba to marry him, but she said she couldn’t as he was too young. She kissed him and suddenly he grew into a man. They returned to the village, but the villagers ran at Karaba with knives. Kirikou tried to explain what had happened, but they were too angry to listen.

Just in time, all the men of the village appeared, dancing and banging drums. The Wise Old Man was carried in. He explained that Karaba’s spell had been broken by Kirikou and all the men were free. The whole village, including Karaba, celebrated their new freedom.

You are going to rewrite the story of Kirikou from Karaba’s point of view. Remember… There will be events in the story that she does not know about You need to describe how she feels at each point in the story – this is very important! Think about how her viewpoint is different to the other characters

Kirikou is born - how much of this will Karaba know? Kirikou saves the children - from the boat - from the tree What does Karaba think about Kirikou at this point? Kirikou kills the monster in the spring What are Karaba’s feelings? Kirikou sets off in disguise to find the Wise Old Man Will Karaba know anything about this if he is in disguise?

Kirikou finds the Wise Old Man Does Karaba know anything about this – how can you let the audience know she isn’t really bad? Kirikou saves Karaba by removing the thorn How does Karaba feel now?