Author Description

Celebrate all the ways that mothers and daughters share special time together in Ethiopia. They make injera and fir fir, they spin and knit cotton, they plant and harvest, they tell stories and laugh. They braid each other's hair and enjoy the beauty of nature, they dance and play games. Some mothers share their love of wildlife conservation to inspire their daughters. Others like to gaze at the night sky and look for shooting stars. Still others raise bees and snack on sweet honeycomb. But all of them come together for hugs and that special love that bonds mothers and daughters in Ethiopia, and around the world. Charming illustrations by artist Daniel Aklilu show the beauty and strength of Ethiopian women and girls with the colorful patterns and styles of Ethiopia. Open Hearts Big Dreams Ready Set Go (OHBD-RSG) Books were created to help increase the literacy rate in Ethiopia through giving readers books with stories in their heart languages, full of colorful illustrations with Ethiopian settings and details. Profits from book sales are used to create, print, and distribute more OHBD-RSG books to kids in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country. Ethiopia's population has a high percentage of children ages 0-14. Only a small percentage attend pre-school or kindergarten, and the adult literacy rate is around 50%. Some of our books are based on wise Ethiopian sayings that often rhyme in Amharic. If an adult says the first half, many children can chant the second half. Sometimes the meaning of these sayings is clear. Sometimes it has to be puzzled out and argued over. But sayings and idioms and proverbs help people express truths and beliefs in unusual ways. Other books are based on STEAM topics, cooking, colors, counting and more. Since late 2017, OHBD has published over 150 unique OHBD-RSG bilingual titles in a number of Ethiopian, African and global languages plus English and has plans to publish more titles and add more languages. New ti