Author Description

Inspired by a true story, this charming tale follows two friends on a trip to visit the ancient island churches of Lake Tana in Ethiopia. But what they expected to be a smooth ride across the large lake in their little boat turns into an adventure when they are stranded in the water with the hippos! Written by mother-daughter team Ellenore and Leyla Angelidis, whose love of Ethiopia and passion for books inspired them to found Open Hearts, Big Dreams, a nonprofit devoted to increasing literacy in Ethiopian indigenous languages. Side by side text in Portuguese and English supports bilingual readers, and charming illustrations by Ethiopian artist Eyayu Genet bring the beautiful landscapes of Lake Tana to life. 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 titles or languages are added monthly; follow our author page