Author Description

What happens when a jealous frog tries to outgrow an Elephant? Based on a traditional Ethiopian teret (a wise rhyming saying that adults begin and children finish), this teaching tale about the potential consequences of ambition and the importance of self-acceptance is illustrated by talented student artists. Side by side text in indigenous Ethiopian languages like Afaan Oromo, Amharic and Tigrinya and English support bilingual readers as they develop vocabulary and fluency. Ethiopia is home to many endangered animal species, including frog species that don't live anywhere else on Earth. One of them has the interesting name of the Ethiopian snout-burrower, which spends most of its time underground. Another species, the burrowing tree frog, has part of its habitat protected by the Bale Mountains National Park. 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 ti