Nationwide — Open Hearts Big Dreams (OHBD) – Open Hearts Big Dreams (OHBD) started because a little girl named Leyla Angelidis dreamed of a world where kids from her birth country of Ethiopia could get access to lots of beautiful books, just like she had living in the United States. Recently, one of the books that now-teenage Leyla Angelidis coauthored with her mother, Ellenore Angelidis—Beautiful Dreams, illustrated by Nahosenay Negussie—has been nominated for inclusion on the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) 2026 Honour List of outstanding books for young people globally.
Beautiful Dreams, which was nominated for “Best Illustration,” is part of the OHBD Fine Art series, featuring fine artists from Ethiopia and other parts of the world. The book’s message is that little girls can dream about becoming anything they want to be—a dream that Leyla Angelidis holds for children everywhere.
As Leyla Angelidis says, “I am thrilled that more kids in Ethiopia are getting to enjoy quality books with gorgeous art like Nahosenay’s and more kids around the world are getting to learn about Ethiopia.”
As IBBY’s website relates, “Important considerations in selecting the Honour List titles are that the books are representative of the best in children’s literature from the country and that the books are suitable for publication throughout the world. The selection provides insight into the diverse cultural, political and social settings in which children live and grow.” The books will be circulated at international exhibitions and housed in several major cities. This is only the second time that Ethiopia has been included in this list, only the second time four of the five official Ethiopian languages, and the first time the fifth, Afar Af, are represented.
IBBY Ethiopia also nominated ten other titles to the IBBY’s 2026 Honour List, all available in bilingual additions that feature official Ethiopian languages, including:
Watch, Listen, and Learn (Amharic)
Hands (Tigrinya)
White-Winged Flufftails (Afaan Oromo)
The Language of Dance (Somali)
The Great Rift Valley Lakes (Afar Af)
Little Red Cape (Amharic)
When Was I Born? (Tigrinya)
When I was a Child in Ethiopia (Afaan Oromo)
The Little Snail (Somali)
The Happiest Herder in the Land (Afar Af)
Additionally in 2025, two OHBD/Ready Set Go books received honors at the 30th International Gourmand Awards in Portugal (for “Best of the Year 2024”). The True Story of Teff was listed as First in “Food Books for Children/Africa” and Fourth in “Bread Books.” The Art of Cooking was First in “Fund Raising,” Second in both “Illustrations/Books” and “Bilingual with English,” and Fourth in “African Books.” Founded in 1995, the Gourmand Awards are selected each year from over 100,000 publications from 230 countries and regions around the world. The awards have been compared to the Oscars for film.
OHBD Founder and Executive Director Ellenore Angelidis notes, “We are thrilled to have more writers, illustrators, translators, and a new publisher represented among these honored titles. We work to represent a range of stories, art styles, and fiction and nonfiction books. We also include themes of conservation, peace, and inclusion.”
IBBY Ethiopia representative Yoseph Ayelew shares, “I can’t stress enough how motivating these awards are for the reading promoters within Ethiopia, who have limited opportunity to share with and learn from the global community. We will hold another award ceremony in Ethiopia in February 2026 to honor a broader segment of those involved in creating quality books as IBBY Ethiopia continues to grow their impact and reach, one step at a time.”
OHBD is a Seattle-based, not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to increasing literacy, inclusion, innovation readiness, and leadership skills in Ethiopia and beyond. Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country, but tens of millions of people there are without literacy skills, and there is a lack of sufficient quality, culturally relevant children’s books in the local languages. The organization sponsored the launch of IBBY Ethiopia as a new National Section of IBBY, joining in July 2023.
IBBY Ethiopia, the Ethiopian National Section, is focused on increasing access to quality books and creating a love of reading in Ethiopia. IBBY Ethiopia is also promoting a wide range of stories, cultures and languages, 70-90 unique ones estimated, from across this vast nation.
The full selection of OHBD titles can be found at https://ohbd-rsgbooks.com/
Almost 1,200 of the titles are on OverDrive and at libraries and schools around the globe: https://openheartsbigdreams.org/impact/global-libraries/
IBBY Ethiopia: www.ibby.org/ibby-worldwide/ibby-sections/ethiopia
IBBY Honour List: www.ibby.org/awards-activities/awards/ibby-honour-list/
