Books About Ethiopia

[Teena Ruiter]

11 Books about Ethiopia for your around the world reading challenge so you can learn about their culture, people and experiences in case you never get the chance to visit. Plus free printable around the world reading challenge workbook and more fun ideas to enhance your reading travel experience from the comfort of your home.

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First up for my personal Around the World Reading Challenge 2023 is reading books set in Africa. Africa and South America are definitely where my reading has been lacking so I am heading there first in 2023 so i have some fresh start and new year energy on my side.

I started Cutting for Stone on audio (get up to 2 free audiobooks with an audible premium plus trial) and I just loved it so much that I also downloaded it on my Kindle so that I could highlight the quotes I wanted to remember. As a patient of chronic illness and seeing my share of doctors, what struck me most in the beginning was the writing about the way he cared for the patients, with the dignity about the quality of life for patients we wish all doctors had. The writing is fantastic, I hope I love it as much as everyone else does!

As a child of East Indian immigrants, I am drawn to books about immigrants. Both what drives them to abandon their homeland and seek refuge in another place and what their experience is when they arrive. They often dream of a better life and are often met with physical, verbal, and mental hostility, abuse, discrimination and resentment.

I think The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears sounds interesting since it details both the main character growing up and experiencing the revolution in Ethiopia and his immigrant experience in the US.

Sepha Stephanos flees Ethiopia during the Revolution when he sees soldiers beat his father to the edge of death. He lands in the United States and 17 years later, is running a grocery store in a poor, urban neighboorhood in Washington, Dc. He befriends two other African immigrants who both long for their homeland as they wonder if life is really any better than what he left.

Why does it make sense to Ethiopian runners to get up at 3am to run up and down a hill? Who would choose to train on almost impossibly steep and rocky terrain, in hyena territory? And how come Ethiopian men hold six of the top ten fastest marathon times ever?

Michael Crawley spent fifteen months in Ethiopia training alongside (and sometimes a fair way behind) runners at all levels of the sport, from night watchmen hoping to change their lives to world class marathon runners, in order to answer these questions. Follow him into the forest as he attempts to keep up and get to the heart of their success.

In the tradition of her award-winning and bestselling Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein brings us another thrilling and deeply affecting novel that explores the bonds of friendship, the resilience of young pilots, and the strength of the human spirit.

Well there you have it, 11 awesome books about Ethiopia to learn about their people, culture and history and even more ideas to enhance your reading experience by mapping your travels, cooking food from Ethiopia or doing puzzles and coloring while you listen to an audiobook about Ethiopia! Which one(s) are you going to try first?

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When in Ethiopia, I visited three public schools and the Wegene Education Center. Throughout my visits, I toured the facilities. I had meaningful interactions with various students of different backgrounds and with unique stories.

The most memorable part of my trip was reading at each public school we visited. While reading to the children, I was able to observe the mesmerized look in their eyes as they followed the words and pictures on the pages. We read several books. But the two favorites were The Boy Who Never Give Up and The Runaway Injera. Each of the books has a special message within them. Some are about the importance of being resilient, while others discuss significant parts of Ethiopian culture. The children were eager to answer the questions I asked regarding different parts of the books and how they felt about them.

Decades later, with a hit Netflix series under his belt, Hancock gets a lot of flak for his theories of alternative archeology and history, but his popular books continue to challenge popular wisdom while providing curious readers a literary ticket to exotic destinations.

Frans Johansson is the Co-Founder and CEO at The Medici Group, an enterprise solutions firm that helps organizations build and sustain high-performing teams through our revolutionary team coaching platform: Renaissance. Our firm's ethos--diversity and inclusion drive innovation--is informed by our work with over 4,000 teams in virtually every sector and by his two books The Medici Effect and The Click Moment.

This book made me fall in love with ancient Egypt. It might not take place in the past but the findings of the main characters take you straight back in time. The descriptions of the places and the way of living in ancient Egypt-Ethiopia-The blue Nile, easily trigger your imagination and you find yourself creating pictures in your head. Also, the adventure is breathtaking.

One day Meena gets out of bed covered in blood, with mysterious snakebites on her chest. Her worst fears have been realised: someone is after her and she must flee India at once. As she plots her escape, she learns of The Trail, an energy-harvesting bridge spanning the Arabian Sea that has become a refuge for itinerant vagabonds and loners on the run. This is her salvation.

Felicia Campbell is a food writer, editor, and author of The Food of Oman: Stories and Recipes from the Gateway to Arabia, the first English-language cookbook on Omani cuisine. She earned her masters degree in culinary anthropology from New York University with a specialization in Middle Eastern foodways. She has lectured on Omani food and food in zones of conflict at the Smithsonian Institute, Leiden University, New York University, and Arizona State University. She is currently developing a documentary series about endangered cuisines around the world.

We were a core group of 8, most of us artists or writers, 6 from the US and 2 from Ethiopia. Just over a month ago, we traveled together from Addis to Maji, a small, rural area about 350 miles southwest of the Ethiopian capital, then back to Addis. We were part of an Ethiopian Odyssey, one goal of which was to create colorful, culturally appropriate books for young children in Ethiopia.

While we were traveling to and from Maji, and during our week there, all of us were writing, sketching, drawing, taking photos, and reflecting on what and who we saw. Ethiopia Reads has been a trailblazer in raising awareness about literacy and libraries for children. Long time Ethiopia Reads leader and prolific author Jane Kurtz, a pivotal Odyssey crew members, spoke at a well-attended public lecture in Addis about the tremendous need for colorful, culturally appropriate books for pre-readers, the toddlers and little kids who can (must) engage with books that start them on the path to reading. The books for these early readers are scarce in Ethiopia, and we are hoping to change that.

Ethiopia is a breathtaking country, rich in culture and history. It's home to some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, a unique culture that hasn't been changed by modern civilizations, and one of the oldest countries on earth.

We took the time to curate this collection of Ethiopian books for kids. This list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it meant to be the only reading material your children will ever need. But we hope they'll be able to spark an interest in Ethiopian culture.

A Thirst for Home: A Story of Water across the World - Alemitu lives with her mother in a poor village in Ethiopia, where she must walk miles for water and hunger roars in her belly. Even though life is difficult, she dreams of someday knowing more about the world. When her mother has no choice but to leave her at an orphanage to give her a chance at a better life, an American family adopts Alemitu. She becomes Eva in her new home in America, and although her life there is better in so many ways, she'll never forget her homeland and the mother who gave up so much for her. Told through the lens that water connects all people everywhere, this eye-opening, emotional story will get readers thinking about the world beyond their own.

Abeba Goes to Bed is about Abeba, an Ethiopian girl. As time for bed approaches, Abeba says good night to those she loves and cares about in four different languages (English, Amharic, French and German). Containing only a few words and adorable illustrations, with a family tree and a favorite Ethiopian lullaby, this is a perfect read for all the little ones and offers parents a unique and beautiful way to ease their children towards bedtime.

Faraway Home - As her father prepares for a trip back to his childhood home in Ethiopia, Desta begins to worry. Where does her father truly belong--in the village of his youth or here in America with her? What was growing up in Ethiopia like? And will her father's love for his family be enough to bridge these two worlds and bring him back to her?

Fire on the Mountain - is about an Ethiopian boy who bets his future that he will succeed. When his master refuses to recognize the boy's victory, the boy and his sister decide to beat the rich man at his own game.

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