Ethiopian Folktales

The primary purpose of the Story Collecting Project was to produce story books in simplified English so that school children in each region of Ethiopia could practice reading English while learning stories from their own cultural heritage.

In all, seventeen readers were written and illustrated. Two readers were planned for each of the eight regions, with a single reader for Harar. For the purposes of the project, Addis Ababa (Region 14) could not be usefully treated as a separate region and therefore no collection of stories was made and no readers were planned for Addis Ababa. Similarly, no collection was made in Dire Dawa. Although all the books were written, illustrated and designed to layout, only eight were actually printed and distributed to the regions as funding for the project ran out. They are indicated by *.

Cover artwork by: Yosef Kebede (1&2), Altabachew Red'a (3), John Chol Jack (4), Neghalign Yosef (5), Lemma Guya (6&7), and Taddesse Wolde-aregay (8)

Afar

• The King of the Forest *
• The Good Wife *

Amhara

• The Magic Stick *
• The Unwise Judge

Benishangul-Gumuz

• The Honey Hunter
• The Baboon Child

Gambela

• Sunrise and Sunset *
• The First Gift *

Harar

• The Holy Man and the Guava

Oromia

• Fine Red Feathers *
• The Rat King's Son *

Somali

• The Lion's Bride
• The Bride's Test

SNNPR

• The King's Birthmark
• The Girl from the Sea

Tigray

• The Clever Woman *
• The Bird and the Elephant

The stories selected for the readers were rewritten in simplified English by Elizabeth Laird, and the internal black and white artwork was done by Yosef Kebede. The books were designed in the UK by Sherliker Wood, and printed in Addis Ababa by the Artistic Printing Press.

Only a certain number of the total stories collected could be included in the readers. There were too many, and some were unsuitable for young students. At the same time, it became obvious that this material was of importance and needed to be preserved. It is hoped that this website will make them available to a wider readership.