Author Description

Explore the wonder of animals in this early-reader book as we learn about what animals do and the foods they eat. Each page of this book shows an animal that lives in Ethiopia, although not all the animals live in all parts of the interesting landscape. A herd of elephants, for example, lives in a protected area fairly near the ancient walled city of Harar, but the growing population in that area makes their lives difficult. Yirmed Demeke, a member of the African Elephant Specialist Group, is one of the biologists who has been working to figure out solutions for how people and elephants can exist together. 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 books sales will be 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. 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 focus is to support nonprofit organizations and their programs that provide literacy, K-12 education, and leadership as well as that support the parents and communities where the kids live, in Ethiopia.