Ethiopian Children's Books

I have been looking for children's books on Ethiopia. Most of these are for older children. Can anyone recommend any for younger kids? Maybe I'll have to write one!

	Ethiopia Children's Books Thanks to Adoption Advocates International for many of these recommendations.
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The Storyteller's Beads by Jane Kurtz During the political strife and famine of the 1980's, two Ethiopian girls, one Christian and the other Jewish and blind, struggle to overcome many difficulties, including their prejudices about each other, as they make the dangerous journey out of Ethiopia. Jane Kurtz is a prolific author who grew up in Ethiopia. Order Book from Amazon

Water Hole Waiting by Jane & Christopher Kurtz, Lee Christiansen A thirsty monkey waits as the larger animals drink from the water hole on the African savanna. Order Book from Amazon

Faraway Home by Jane Kurtz Desta's father, who needs to return briefly to his Ethiopian homeland, describes what it was like for him to grow up there. Order Book from Amazon

Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot (Girls of Many Lands) by Jane Kurtz Historical fiction about an Ethiopian princess from American Girl's Girls of Many Lands series. (Ages 9-12) Order Hardcover via Amazon (Out of Print) | Order Paperback via Amazon (Out of Print)

A Family from Ethiopia (Families Around the World) by Julia Waterlow "An introduction to the way a typical Ethiopian family lives for young readers." (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book from Amazon

Ethiopia (Modern Nations of the World) by Laurel Corona "Appropriate for middle school, more detailed information, black-and-white pictures, and current information.. Includes sections on Arts and Music and Sports as well as history and government." (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book from Amazon

Ethiopia (Cultures of the World) by Steven Gish Introduces the geography, history, government, economy, culture, daily life, and people of the country known as "the roof of Africa." Order Book from Amazon

The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird "Story of two children's survival in Addis Ababa after their mother dies. (young adult)" (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book from Amazon

Aida by Leontyne Price "The famous opera singer recounts the tale of an Ethiopian princess from the opera. Ages 4-8." (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book from Amazon

Fire on the Mountain by Jane Kurtz, E.B. Lewis A clever young shepherd boy uses his wits to gain a fortune for himself and his sister from a haughty rich man. Order Book from Amazon

Ethiopia (Countries and Cultures) by Allison Lassieur "Appropriate for upper elementary, maybe middle school, depending on reading level. Great color pictures, current information, all the information needed for a school report. Ages 8-12." (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book from Amazon

Welcome to Ethiopia by Neil Macknish, Elizabeth Berg Welcome to My Country series. Order Book from Amazon

Endurance "Disney film about the life of the famous Ethiopian runner Haile Gebreselassie." (Adoption Advocates International) Order DVD via Amazon

The Lion's Whiskers: An Ethiopian Folktale by Nancy Raines Day "A stepmother learns the secret of bonding with her stepson." (4-8) (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book via Amazon (Out of Print)

On The Wings Of Eagles: Ethiopia by Jeffrey Schrier "A children's book recounting the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the 1980's. Ages 4-8." (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book via Amazon (Out of Print)

When the World Began: Stories Collected from Ethiopia. Oxford University Press By Elizabeth Laird Ages 9-12 for independent reading, younger for read aloud. Beautifully illustrated keepsake book. (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book via Amazon (British Book, Out of Print)

The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia (Toucan Tales Series ; Vol. 2) by Frank P. Araujo The tale of a generous girl. (4-8) (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book via Amazon (Out of Print)

Teenage Refugees from Ethiopia Speak Out (In Their Own Voices) by Ladena Schnapper "Moving accounts by actual teens forced to leave their homeland. Relatively easy reading for ESL students. (young adult or mature 11-12 year old)." (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book via Amazon (May Be Out of Print)

Only a Pigeon by Jane Kurtz, Christopher Kurtz Ondu-ahlem carefully trains his pigeons and prepares them for the day when he and other Ethiopian boys test the homing instinct and loyalty of their precious birds. Order Book via Amazon (Out of Print)

Trouble by Jane Kurtz A retelling of a traditional Eritrean tale in which a young goatherd disobeys his father by inadvertently trading away the board game that was supposed to keep him out of trouble. Order Book via Amazon (Out of Print)

The Lion's Whiskers and Other Ethiopian Tales: Revised Edition by Brent K. Asbabranner A collection of tales from the 9 tribes of Ethiopia. (9-12) (Adoption Advocates International) Order Book via Amazon (Out of Print) (source: ComeUnity.com)

Ethiopia Reads in Good Housekeeping

This is pretty exciting!


"Ethiopia Reads featured in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING Magazine!

Ethiopia Reads is thrilled to be featured in the October issue of Good Housekeeping! The eight-page feature story, "Hope Volume I," was written by the wonderful Melissa Fay Greene, with photos by J Carrier. Look for your copy on newsstands now.

This spring, Melissa spent a few weeks in Addis Ababa and Awassa, getting to know Yohannes Gebregeorgis, Ethiopia Reads' co-founder and Executive Director. Melissa also spent lots of time with children at Shola Children's Library and the Awassa Reading Center, and saw first-hand the power of books in the lives of children.

As Melissa reports, books for children are a rarity in Ethiopia, as are so many educational resources and opportunities that Americans take for granted. Yet Ethiopian children -- like children everywhere -- love books and stories, as well as the sanctuary of a library. Literacy is the tool that will improve their lives and the lives of future generations of Ethiopians.

As Melissa writes:

"Literacy is now understood to be a threshold to greater productivity, better health, longer life and decreased maternal and neo-natal death rates....Children exposed to books will look beyond a lack of material goods to a world of possibilities."

"Books saved my life," Yohannes says, after sharing his story about how exposure to books as a teenager opened his mind to a reality he had not previously known.

Freelance photographer J Carrier visited Awassa and Addis Ababa in July, and his beautiful photographs are a stunning compliment to Melissa's story. The above photo shows what went on behind the scenes as he captured the procession of Queen Helina and the Donkey Mobile Library through a rural enclave on the outskirts of Awassa. Children came running from every direction, as did curious adults -- even goats, dogs and chickens!

Thanks to GOOD HOUSEKEEPING Magazine for publishing this article, and thanks to our friend Melissa Fay Greene for letting the world know about individuals and organizations working on behalf of children everywhere. Melissa is the author of the groundbreaking book There is No Me Without You, which introduced millions of readers to the plight of Ethiopian children orphaned by and living with HIV/AIDS.

Ethiopia Reads' mission is to create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books. Our supporters include readers, writers, educators, librarians, children, grandparents -- anyone who shares our belief that books do make a difference in the lives of children. We're delighted that you found us!"

(source: www.ethiopiareads.org)


I couldn't post the actual article cause it's not on the Good Housekeeping website yet, but you might want to pick up the October issue.

Another Blessed Sunday

Today was really lovely. The weather was quite crisp, even fall-like, which in my opinion is WAY too early (I mean, it was like 100 degrees here just last week!) but it was lovely nonetheless. I finally got back to church after missing so many services over the summer. Starting this fall they have moved to two services, 9:15 and 11:15. I attended the 11:15 service and it was just so, so great. The sermon, Surge, was quite political and powerful. Reverend Hardies, whom I have never heard preach, was at the pulpit today after a six month sabbatical. He was good. He makes no apologies for his stance on the war. Basically he said what is needed in Washington is a surge of honesty and a surge of courage and within the community a surge of principled opposition and a surge of foot soldiers for peace. When he finished he got an ovation! One of the hymns we sang was really moving. The beautiful lyrics are set to beautiful music. We sang This is My Song. It is a beautiful, beautiful hymn about the universal wants and desires and sameness of all mankind. A song of peace. We only sang the first two stanzas. It wasn't until I googled it to paste the lyrics here that I realized that it actually had more stanzas. Unitarians, accepting of all spiritual and religious beliefs, printed the song in the hymnal surreptitiously omitting the stanzas with a clear Christian theology. In any event, I love this song and in light of the present circumstances in the world it was particularly apropos.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

After church I baked a 1-2-3-4 cake, my grandmother's specialty. It's a favorite in my family and I haven't baked one in years. (I used to bake a lot. When I was in high school my parents would often come home from work to a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I used to have the Tollhouse cookie recipe memorized!) But, with more knowledge about health, and very slowly trying to make the transition to a healthier lifestyle, I made some modifications on the recipe. It's called a 1-2-3-4 cake because the main ingredients are 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour and 4 eggs. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm. (Are your arteries clogging up as you read this?) Well, I don't even buy butter or sugar anymore so I substituted them with what I now use. Instead of sugar I used Sucanat and instead of butter I used Earth Balance. But then I worried it might be too healthy so I used half and half instead of milk :) I was making this for my neighbors so I decided to put a tiny bit in a pan for me to taste before I took it over there so I wouldn't embarrass myself. But what do you know?! It was tasty! I frosted it and took it over to them when I expressed my condolences for their loss.

Then, along with all the boring house chores --laundry, dishes, etc.--my neighbor A stopped by. She just had a little girl a month ago and she is absolutely precious!! I got to hold her. She is so small. I was a little bit nervous. Though I have worked with kids for 14 years, I haven't actually been around a baby-baby in a long time. We talked about pregnancy and adoption. Seeing her teeny, tiny baby made me almost think I should go ahead with IUI. I may; but I still have to get my daughter waiting for me in Ethiopia!

Happy New Year (belated)

Ethiopia recognizes the Julian calendar in which the year is divided into 12 months of 30 days each, a thirteenth month of 5 days, and 6 leap days in a year. Because of this, their new year and new millennium (2000) was celebrated on September 12, 2007. This weekend in DC there were many parties all around town. Last night Roz and I celebrated Enkutatash at the Ethiopian Embassy. It was a really fun event! When we got there around 9:30 a dance performance was just about to begin. There were three dancers, two women and one man, and they did some of what must be traditional Ethiopian moves cause they were doing the same moves as the Mesgana dancers we saw back in August! After the performance, we headed to the buffet table. They had a whole assortment of Ethiopian food including doro wat, green beans with carrots, spinach, some other meat-type dishes which I didn't try and some dish that had injera mixed into it. Beside the trays of food and nestled up by the plates and forks were what looked like rolled up napkins but were actually piles and piles of rolled up injera. The food was really yummy! I think I am actually starting to like it! :-) With our plates piled high, we headed to the open bar where they were serving beer and wine. I tried some Ethiopian honey wine. I still have to develop a taste for that. :-/ While we listened to the traditional Ethiopian music that was playing we looked at a wonderful photography display of beautiful Ethiopian people. The photos were headshots only, in color, about 24x36, which framed the perimeter of the room. Later on in the evening they did a traditional coffee ceremony. I tasted a cup. It was a little bitter but sweet at the same time. I don't normally like black coffee but for black coffee this was pretty good. The three dancers did several more dance performances and Roz I made our way around the room meeting various people. It was black tie optional so everyone looked very nice and we were lucky that it wasn't all couples since it was a ball. We met quite a few cool people in fact. Later on in the evening a DJ started playing dance music (from ABBA to Beyonce, Justin Timberlake to the Electric Slide) and everyone got on the floor. Beautiful people dancing and drinking wine--I couldn't complain. I had fun. Unfortunately, being the big, huge dummy that I am, though, I forgot to charge my camera before I left and it died after the three pictures. :-( Here are two of them--one of me and Roz and one of the dancers.

World Child

Decided on World Child to do my Home Study. It's scheduled for the first week of October. I'm excited! This is becoming real!

Love Thursday

I love chocolate cupcakes with white icing. It's a little scary how much I love them. But maybe you would understand why I love them so much if you grew up in Pittsburgh. And I swear the bakeries there have some secret that the rest of the world hasn't figured out and maybe that's because they understand the need for cupcakes in a city that is known for having 300+ rainy days a year. I know I needed something to balance out the environment I grew up in. Imagine being constantly surrounded with pale-overweight-gritty-steel-mill-working-obsessed Steeler-fans.

OK?!? A dose of sugary-sweetness was a necessity for survival!! And Pittsburgh bakeries understand that cause they make the moistest most chocolaty-scrumptious cupcakes with a perfect butter cream (not cloyingly sweet) icing that no other bakeries in the country can even try to compete with.

My friend Roz shares this obsession with me.
Once in high school we cut class to walk to the Bakery on Walnut Street and bought a chocolate cake (which is just a giant cupcake) with white icing. We ate the entire thing walking back to school. We have spent hours, and I do mean hours, talking about, researching, sampling and criticizing the different bakeries in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area. When we find one that comes close we immediately call the other with the name, location, rating and price of said cupcake so it can be critiqued.

We have found some 9s but no 10. Gotta go to Pittsburgh for that.



Here I am with the dozen cupcakes my friend Jay got me for my birthday last year. He ate one. I ate eleven. In three days.
(and they weren't even from Pittsburgh)

Top Ten

Tami tagged me so I need to post the top ten most important things to do before I become a mom. Hmmm.... I don't know if these are supposed to be practical-get-ready-for-baby things or uh-oh-the-single life-as-I-know-it
is-going-to-end-better-have-a-last-hurrah kind of things...so I will put in 5 of each. Let's see... OK...

1. Buy carpeting to cover the hard wood floors upstairs. Crawling on hardwood can't be comfortable and is rough on the knees!

2. Get my finances in order. (boring)

3. Decide if I can afford to send my child to the private school I work for and if not find a higher paying job or go teach in a good public school system. Hmmm... I guess that would mean moving, too, cause DCPS is not an option! OK, moving? That's huge..

4. Get a privacy fence for my backyard and redo the deck so I can start the family barbecue thing. Landscaping would be nice but I need to be saving money!

5. Figure out how to get my home business to start making some money!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6. Go on one last all-inclusive trip with the girls where I can flirt, drink too many rum punches, party all night and sleep in til noon.

7. Take class(es)--pottery, digital photography, illustration, French, ESL?

8. Date as much a possible cause God knows that's going to be o-v-e-r!!
(for a little while)

9. Enjoy peace and quiet, lots of sleep, being spontaneous, going the gym/yoga, being alone.

10. And lastly, get a dog. I am looking for a dog that doesn't bark a lot, doesn't require more than one daily walk (so it won't tear up my house when I am work), who is good with kids and doesn't shed. Any suggestions?

Love Thursday

I love sleep. Better get used to the idea that I won't be getting any.

Labor Day Weekend/Gladney Application

Great 4 day weekend! My cousin, Chucky, was in town for a wedding and stayed with me one night. It was great to see him and hang out a little bit. When I used to live in LA one of our favorite things to do was grab breakfast at S&W in Culver City. So the first thing we did when he arrived was go out for breakfast. We had eggs and toast and sausage and grits at Mike's Kitchen in Takoma Park (my S&W substitute--better selection but more expensive). Then the next morning I decided to cook breakfast! For those of you who know me, you know I don't like to cook but I am acutely aware that I won't be able to continue my five-plus-meals-a-week-out single-gal-schedule when the bambino arrives. With this in mind I have been trying to cook more meals at home. But, sadly, I suck at cooking. Well, let me clarify... I can cook; I mean I can read so I can follow a recipe but I don't enjoy the process (especially if just cooking for myself). And "real" cooks don't need cookbooks, right? But since I was cooking for Chucky it was more fun. I made blueberry pancakes and sausage and cantaloupe. Yummy! He seemed to enjoy it. He prefers down-home, greasy, full-fat, buttery food but ate every bite of my whole grain pancakes (which I served with Earth Balance *butter* and sugar free syrup) and turkey sausage. I thought it was good anyway!

On Sunday night Chucky, Nicole, Deidra, Reisha and I went to a party on the rooftop of my friend's condo. The views of the capitol and the monument were spectacular. Here are some pictures from that night. (though none of the view) Just trying to have some single girl fun before it comes to a screeching halt when my daughter arrives!





Meanwhile, I downloaded the Gladney paperwork and the I-600A. The I600A is the application for advance processing of orphan petition required by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration). If I had filed that this summer I would have saved myself a couple hundred bucks cause the fee just went up last month. Oh well, what's another $200 at this rate? And I needed that extra time to think about things anyway so it's all good. Meanwhile, though, can I just tell you that the Gladney application is lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng!! I filled out some of it today at work. My co-teacher saw what I was doing but didn't ask about it. Some people at work know I plan to adopt (I mentioned it last year) but I'm not talking about now. I don't want to be asked over and over again if I have gotten a referral. When it comes closer to the date I will just wear a cool adoption shirt like this one:


And finally, if you haven't heard... Halle Berry is pregnant! (got to keep up on my celebrity gossip!) That baby is going to be gorgeous cause she and her model boyfriend are hot, hot, hot!

Woo-hoo!! It's on!!

Like my dance? That was my I'm-back-on-the-saddle dance, just for you! Try to ignore how white my body is! I guess I need to even out my tan...LOL

So, Gladney is on it. I got three emails from them today, each with more than one file to download. I haven't had time to read them as I had my book group tonight but I know the next steps are to file the I-600A and start my home study. Glad I have a 4-day weekend ahead!
Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!