You are invited to pack your imagination and join us on a journey that spans oceans, bridges cultures, and opens the door to possibility — without ever leaving home. This year marks our 19th annual Imaginary Party—an inspired tradition hosted by Grand Forks Friends of Ethiopia Reads. Since 2007, we’ve championed literacy in Ethiopia, where access to children’s books and trained … Read More
Summary of the 2025 Children’s Reading Summit
The 5th Annual National Children’s Reading Summit, organized by Ethiopia Reads on April 2–3, 2025, in Addis Ababa was a great success. This year’s theme was “Cultivating a Nation of Readers: Inspiring Parental Involvement and Cultural Storytelling for Early Childhood Literacy.” We brought together around 200 educators, researchers, ECD experts, central and regional government education officials, authors, illustrators and literacy … Read More
5th Children’s Reading Summit Sponsors Needed
Please contact us if you would like to sponsor this great event in Addis Ababa!
2024 Annual Report is Here!
There are so many projects that we do not discuss in our newsletters. Here is the Annual Report that includes most of the significant children’s literacy projects. Document is available here: ER Annual Report 2024
A Giant Leap in Interactive Learning
Links to books free of charge are below… In June of 2024, Ethiopia Reads was asked to partner with iCog (formerly known as iCog-ACC), a well-known Ethiopian tech company led by Ms. Bethlehem Dessie, to engage in an interactive book project funded by Curious Learning. Curious Learning is a US-based NGO that develops award-winning, rigorously tested, free mobile apps that … Read More
Holiday Swag Shop on Bonfire is opened
See our new design and new merchandise colors on the Bonfire shop. The front left corner read graphic states, “Those who read, BLOOM!” with a flower in the middle arc. The back is the Ethiopia Reads logo full size colored logo. First batch will go to print on 12/12/24, just in time for the holidays! Thank you for sharing your … Read More
2024 Summer Camp Is In Session!
Ethiopia Reads’ Summer Camp started last week at Gebeta Library. We welcomed eager children and college-age volunteers to our summer camp! 🌞✨ Our staff kicked off the first week with many fun and educational activities along smiles, laughter, and many reading opportunities. The kids are having a great time from diving into new adventures with every page during reading time … Read More
2024 Imaginary Reading Festival
Grand Forks’ Friends of Ethiopia Reads is supporting the Hawassa Reading Center (HRC) in a huge way! The proceeds from this year’s Imaginary Reading Festival will support the activities and operations of HRC during from the year 2024-25. HRC was established in 2006 and serves young readers ranging in age from 6-16. The library is always busy with students who … Read More
Reports from the Children’s Reading Summit
On April 11-12, 2024, Ethiopia Reads successfully held the 4th Children’s Reading Summit under the theme “Supporting Children in Early Learning”. Over 115 participants representing diverse institutions and backgrounds — ranging from schools and sub-cities to writers and publishers, ministry bureaus, government officials, international organizations, and professionals attended the event. We were lucky to have many early reading experts engaged … Read More
Authors Continue Creating Children’s Books at ER Workshop
Ethiopia Reads Board Member and author Elizabeth Spor Taylor ran the latest Advance Writing Workshop for Children’s Books this April. The Workshop preceded our 4th Children’s Reading Summit. In addition to Ethiopia Reads staff, 14 advance level writers attended the workshop to help the authors step-by-step to come up with concept books. In the month that followed since the workshop, … Read More
