A few weeks ago I bought two Amharic/English books for our new girls. The first is Silly Mammo - a retelling of a traditional Ethiopian folk tale written by Yohannes Gebregeorgis and illustrated by Bogale Belachew. The second is The Lion's Tail, a story by Jane Kurtz, which has been translated into Amharic by Yohannes Gebregeorgis.

I was pleased to learn this week that EthiopiaReads.org has some new books for sale!

The Fig Tree by Genet Araya, is described as a positive story for all children, but is especially interesting to girls. The book was illustrated by Senayt Worku, an Ethiopian artist residing in Addis Ababa. The Fig Tree is the third bilingual English/Amharic children's book published by EthiopiaReads.org.

The BeeKeeper of Lalibela is the fourth bilingual English/Amharic children's book from EthiopiaReads.org. It was written by Cristina Kessler, illustrated by Abebe Kassaye, and translated from English to Amharic by Rahel Mekuria.

Fafi's Sheep was written by Netsanet Kidanemariam, illustrated by Abeneser Mengistu, and translated by Aster Worku. Fafi's Sheep is the fifth bilingual English/Amharic children's book that has been published by EthiopiaReads.org.

Ethiopia Reads was founded to improve literacy in Ethiopia. Their mission is to:
- publish attractive books in local languages
- promote literacy and the importance of reading
- provide quality reading materials in accessible locations.

They support the Shola Children's Library in Addis, which was the first free children's library in Addis. It contains 20,000 books that were donated by organizations in the U.S.

Buying books from Ethiopia Reads will support this important campaign in Ethiopia, and having a few books in Amharic is a great way to welcome a child, especially one who is school-aged. You might also consider buying copies of these books for your child's orphanage.



More about:
Ethnic and Adoption-Related Books
Ethiopia Reads