Congratulations to Ethiopian children’s book author Yoseph Ayalew. His latest book, “Friends Forever”, has been nominated for the upcoming Gourmand World Awards, to be held in Riyadh in November 2023. This is a commendable achievement since only 1,000 stories were nominated out of 100,000 titles submitted.
Friends Banana and Tomato may be different in many ways; they provide different nutrients, they are grown, harvested and prepared in different ways, they have unique shapes and exteriors but regardless of their differences, they are two of Ethiopia’s favorite fruits and they are friends forever! Through these fruits, the book focuses on the issue of disability and acceptance.
Publisher Ready Set Go Books, an Open Hearts Big Dreams Project (OHBD), is focused on increasing the literacy rate in Ethiopia through giving readers books with stories in their native 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. The books are based on wise Ethiopian sayings that often rhyme.
Since late 2017, OHBD has published over 100 unique Ready Set Go 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. Each book purchased funds the creation, printing and distribution of books to kids in Ethiopia.
About the author
Yoseph joined Open Hearts Big Dreams specifically as a way to reach Ethiopian children. He believes that Ethiopian children want to read interesting and imaginative stories about Ethiopian children that they can identify with and in Ethiopian settings that they can relate to. Yoseph is also an entrepreneur having worked for many years in the non-profit sector in different capacities while always maintaining and pursuing his passion for education and literacy. He is a translator and OHBD country representative in Ethiopia. You can reach him on yosefayalewbiru@gmail.com. You can find his other titles on Amazon and his books are sold locally too.
You can learn more about Open Hearts Big Dreams here http://openheartsbigdreams.org/book-program/.
“Friends Forever”: Author Yoseph Ayalew’s Latest Book Up For An Award
