A curious Ethiopian Wolf encounters a car in the Bale Mountains south of Addis Ababa and chases it all the way to the Bole district in Ethiopia's capital city. The thrill of the chase soon gives way to the urban realities, and the wolf longs to return to the trees and mountains of his home. Young children will identify with themes of competing urges to explore and the homesickness that connects us to our roots. The city streets of Bole bustle in animated illustrations by emerging young Ethiopian artist Abel Tekleyes, whose cartoon renderings of the curious wolf capture its changing emotions and encounters set against the backdrop of the beautiful Ethiopian landscape. Side by side text in Tigrinya and English support emerging bilingual readers in indigenous Ethiopian languages and engaging, dynamic illustrations help connect words to actions and vocabulary terms. Sales of Open Hearts Big Dreams books support the development of literacy in indigenous languages of Ethiopia, a gift beyond measure. Ready Set Go Books, an Open Hearts Big Dreams Project, is focused on increasing 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 Ready Set Go Books to kids in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country. Ethiopia's population is 44% children, ages 0-14 (43 million out of 97 million total). Only 5.5% of children attend pre-school or kindergarten, and the adult literacy rate is 49%. 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. Since late 2017, OHBD has published over 100 unique #ReadySetGo dual language titles in four Ethiopian languages plus English and has plans to publish another 100 titles and add more languages in the coming years. New titles and/or languages are added monthly; follow our author page to get new release announcements. Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund (OHBD) is a 501(3)(c) not for profit organization that believes the chance to dream big dreams should not depend on where in the world you are born. Our mission is to inspire and enable youth in Ethiopia through READY SET GO books, STEM and Innovation Projects in collaboration with individuals and organizations providing literacy, education, and leadership opportunities.
