• Alnegam
• The Garbage King
• Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot
• Abraham Hannibal and the Battle for the Throne
• Abraham Hannibal and the Raiders of the Sands
• The Battle of Adwa
• Coocooloo; stories for children
• Alemayehu
• Sidama Tales
  

Alnegam: Stories for children, written, edited and published by  'Writers for Ethiopian  Children'; Illusrations by Atlabachew Reda et al; in English and Amharic, Addis Ababa, 2007

Alnegam (meaning “It is not dawn yet”) is the fourth collection of stories for children produced by the Addis-based group: “Writers for Ethiopian Children”. This 120 page collection contains six new stories published in 2007. As in the three previous bi-lingual books each story is presented in both English and Amharic versions, and is illustrated with lively line drawings.

Once again, the writers provide engaging short stories to entertain and challenge younger children with varied modern tales set in Ethiopia.

Several of the stories tackle the contrast between rural and urban life through the eyes of children. In “Tasting the Sweet” a car trip throws two young girls together, while in “Tell me” a nanny relates the plight of young rural brides. In the tale of “Titi and Kuti” it is an urban cat who is befriended by a dog from the countryside. Another tale has dogs and hyenas at its heart.

The collection reads less cleanly than earlier volumes. There is an unevenness, both in length and depth, to some of the tales. A few of the English versions seem to have lost nuance and poignancy in translation, as in “Samson the bumpkin”, a morality tale of playground rivalry.

However, morality and childhood awe are brought together charmingly in the final tale of “Mom’s tummy” as six-year old Bitu frets over the baby swelling her mother’s stomach.

Where can I buy it? in bookshops and hotels in Addis Ababa (Bookworld, Dembel Shopping Centre; Image Books);  Price - (not given).  To HaHu Books knowledge, it doesn’t have a distributor outside of Ethiopia.

The Garbage King, by Elizabeth Laird; Macmillan Children’s Books , June 2003

This is a modern day story written for children about children. The setting is Addis Ababa, and Elizabeth Laird’s deceptively simple prose tells the story of two boys from two extremes of Ethiopian society.

One of the boys, Mamo, about twelve, is dependent on an older sister. Recently orphaned, Mamo and his sister are bereft of any means of survival. Mamo is kidnapped whilst his sister is out looking for work. He is sold to become a farm hand in cruel farming environment in deepest rural Ethiopia. Far away from

home and everything he has ever known, he is mistreated and malnourished. With difficulty he manages to escape back to Addis, but cannot find his sister.

In reality children get kidnapped or find themselves abandoned on the harsh streets. A young child I met had been persuaded to leave his village home and was thought to have died. He was befriended, fed and clothed and taken to be reunited with his parents many miles away, much to their joy. However, he was found on the streets of Addis once more some months later. Elizabeth Laird acknowledges conversations with street children in the capital as a source of inspiration for her work.

Danni, the other boy in the story, is a spoilt and lazy son of a wealthy businessman. He is mercilessly teased by his peers for being fat. He hates school and homework. He resents his demanding and ambitious father. As Danni’s lies and deceptions to his father multiply the temptation to flee home becomes irresistible to escape the pressures of family life. He finds himself in the streets without a thought or understanding of how he might exist. Education is highly prized in Ethiopia and ambitious parents undoubtedly abound.

In the unfolding story Mamo and Dani meet by chance. Trust is established between the boys and Suri, a stray puppy, becomes important in their daily efforts to stay alive. After many adventures, the story comes to a neat, if somewhat unsatisfactory end.

The lives of the two boys seem to me to be realistic in today’s Addis. The Garbage King struck a chord of reality in the modern world in which Ethiopia finds itself. Elizabeth Laird's rapport with Addis street children, to whom it is dedicated, is evident. The book deserves all the prestigious awards it has won.

While the story of the Garbage King easily engages any teenage child, it can also move the most hardened heart of a cynical adult to bring tears to the eyes. It certainly made me weep. It is a perfect story to share between young and old, providing topics for valuable discussion and debate between the generations.

Where can I buy it? The book is available from High Street bookshops and from Amazon. The softback copy (330pp) is priced £4.99. ISBN 0 330 41502-6. To HaHu Books knowledge, it is not available in Ethiopia.

Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot, by Jane Kurtz; Cover illustration by Jean Paul-Tibble; Pleasant Company Publications, USA, 2003

Jane Kurtz’s gripping 200 page historical tale begins with Saba and her brother Mesfin living in an isolated hut with their grandmother. Saba’s yearnings for family seep through her experience of the smells, spirits and symbols of Highland Ethiopia, their lives marked by the uncertainty, curiosity and fear surrounding their missing parents. The children’s fate, of unsuspected royal blood - catapults them into the seething court-life of Gondar of 1846. To survive, Saba has to decipher the complex web of loyalty, cruelty, plots and intrigue which surround the emperor and his wife as Kassa’s men encroach.

Kurtz is a US-based children’s author who lived in Ethiopia for much of her own childhood. She has published many shorter, beautifully illustrated children’s tales; (for details see the author's website: http://www.janekurtz.com/books.html).

This is kurtz’s first longer book for children. It is superbly written, in evocative simple, English, as Saba’s vision of her plight is woven through symbols, metaphors and hints. Gleaned from her teachers and priests amid the whispers and lies of court, these are exquisitely conveyed through metaphors which children and adults alike will ponder and love; spiders can tie up lions, and men’s eyes are indeed like lizard’s eyes…

The book is colourfully packaged, with historical notes and a glossary. These, and the skill of Kurtz’s storytelling, should allow Ethiopian children and their parents to foster an understanding of their history.

Where can I buy it? All of Jane Kurtz’s books should be available via www.amazon.com. [But currently only one of her books are available via Amazon]. Price - USD 15.99 (hard back), USD 7.95 (soft back). ISBN 1 – 58485 – 829 – X. Pages - 207. Further information - on author's website or on www.americangirl.com. To HaHu Books knowledge, it is not on sale in Ethiopia.

This is link to the book: https://www.americangirlstore.com/pls/ag/AG_pagestyle?catid=375875&groupid=401497

Abraham Hannibal and the Battle for the Throne by Frances Somers Cocks; Illustrated by Eric Robson; Published by Goldhawk Press, London, 2003.

This book is the sequel to Raiders of the Sands (see below), in which the child Abraham leaves his home in the Ethiopian Highlands with a message for the French king, only to be sold into slavery in Arabia. This second book, the Battle for the Throne, opens with the child Abraham shipwrecked on Cyprus. From there pirates seize and sell him as a slave to the Sultan of Istanbul. After a series of adventures, friendships and disappointments, Abraham becomes first servant and then confidant of Peter the Great of Russia. As in her first book, Somers Cocks weaves historical facts and characters into an exciting and accessible story about Abraham's astonishing youthful life.

His adventures introduce the readers to life in both Ottoman and Russian empires of the early 18th century. Abraham never loses sight of his African roots, yet rises to become a Russian General (and grandfather of Russia’s literary icon, Alexander Pushkin). As in “Raiders of the Sands”, the book is beautifully illustrated with pictures and maps, and contains historical details of the real people on which the story is based.

Where can I buy it? The book is available from Goldhawk Press and bookshops in London; Priced - £6.99 in soft cover, ISBN 0-9544034-1-X. To HaHu Books knowledge, it is not available in Ethiopia. For details of distribution email to: goldhawkpress@btopenworld.com.

Abraham Hannibal; And The Raiders of The Sands, by Frances Somers Cocks; Illustrated by Eric Robson; Goldhawk Press, London, 2003.

This book re-tells the true story of Abraham Hannibal through the eyes of the young boy Abraham himself. Abraham's journeys of 1702-03 - first inland to Gondar with his father, then as a child emissary with French surgeon Poncet who is kidnapped, sold into slavery in Arabia and shipwrecked - are told in a fast and clear tale which will excite and engage child and adult readers alike. Three hundred years ago, the highland escarpment was still populated by lions and elephants. Local lords such as Abraham's father made dangerous voyages to pay tribute to emperor in Gondar.

Both village and court life is portrayed with a clarity and sensitivity towards the highland's mix of languages, cultures, and foods at a time when the area was a commercial crossroads, with goods and tales arriving from as far away as Greece, Venice and Arabia.

The book subtly introduces children to the violence and hardship of life, the barbarity of slavery and religious rivalry of the time. As such it is an excellent way of introducing children not only into the history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, but also broader issues of Africa's past, slavery, feudalism and warring empires. The vividness of book's description of history is greatly enhanced by superb line-drawings of Eric Robson, vividly bringing the story to life.

Where can I buy it? The book is available from Goldhawk Press, Africa Centre Bookshop, and other book stores in London. Price - £5.99 in soft cover; Pages - 200; ISBN 0-9544034-0-1; To HaHu Books knowledge, it is not available in Ethiopia. For details of distribution email to: goldhawkpress@btopenworld.com.