Talk, Talk, Turtle: The Rise and Fall of a Curious Turtle in Tambarsa and English

Turtle LOVES to talk. She talks about the flowers and ants and dirt she sees as she explores her world. But when Eagle agrees to give her a ride up to the clouds, can Turtle keep her mouth closed tightly on the rope? This charming tale of curiosity, self-discipline and natural consequences was inspired by the founder of uCodeGirl Bethlehem (Betty) Gronnenberg, one of the first volunteers with Ready Set Go Books. Illustrated with playful mixed media paper collage by volunteer student artists in the US and Ethiopia, this was the first Ready Set Go bilingual prototype! Side by side text in English and Ethiopian languages like Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo support bilingual readers in developing fluency and vocabulary.

Ready Set Go Books, an Open Hearts Big Dreams Project, is focused on increasing the literacy rate in Ethiopia through giving readers books with stories in their heart 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, Africa’s second most populous country. Ethiopia’s population is 44% children, ages 0-14 (43 million out of 97 million total). Only 5.5% of children attend pre-school or kindergarten, and the adult literacy rate is 49%. Our books are based on wise Ethiopian sayings that often rhyme in Amharic. If an adult says the first half, many children can chant the second half. Sometimes the meaning of these sayings is clear. Sometimes it has to be puzzled out and argued over. But sayings and idioms and proverbs help people express truths and beliefs in unusual ways. Since late 2017, OHBD has published over 100 unique #ReadySetGo 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; follow our author page to get new release announcements. Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund (OHBD) is a 501(3)(c) not for profit organization that believes the chance to dream big dreams should not depend on where in the world you are born. Our mission is to inspire and enable youth in Ethiopia through READY SET GO books, STEM and Innovation Projects in collaboration with individuals and organizations providing literacy, education, and leadership opportunities.