The Cheetahs of Long Distance Running : Legendary Ethiopian Athletes in Somali and English

One of the fastest animals in the world, the cheetah streaks across the plains and valleys of Ethiopia.

But there is another kind of "cheetah" renowned for speed who are famous for running on 2 legs instead of 4.

Some of the world's elite marathon and long distance running athletes hail from Ethiopia, including Abebe Bikila, the first African Olympic gold medalist; Belayneh Densamo, who broke the world record for long distance running; and Haile Gebreselassie, who broke a world record 27 times!

Read about the Baby Faced Destroyer, youngest World Champion runner and cousin to Derartu Tulu, the first woman to run a 2 mile race in less than 10 minutes and champion who earned 6 gold medals.

Filled with detailed digital portraits of 10 legends of long distance running by Ethiopian artist Daniel Getahun.

Bilingual text in English and Ethiopian languages including Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo support 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 three 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.