It has always bothered me that today Andromeda is invariably white and blonde when she appears in books and movies even though the ancient stories about her generally agree that she was the princess of Aethiopia, a kingdom in Africa south of Egypt. That’s why I was thrilled to come across this book. Andromeda, Princess of Ethiopia gives an accurate version of the Greek myth about Andromeda’s rescue from her point of view, leaving out any mention of Perseus’quest to kill Medusa. If the choice is limiting, it does provide a nice romantic story for preschoolers who aren’t into severed heads yet. Instead, the book focuses on placing Andromeda within an Ethiopian context, citing other references to Ethiopia in Greek literature, and connecting Ethiopians to the wider Mediterranean world. I particularly like that the book starts with humanity’s early history in the region, then uses the story of Andromeda to connect Ethiopia to modern day astronomy and space exploration. 

The target audience for this book are Amharic speaking children in East Africa and around the world, so the text is in both English and Amharic on every page. I can’t vouch for the Amharic translation, but the translator, Alem Eshetu Beyene, is a native speaker with impressive credentials who is deeply involved in the promotion of youth literature. Even for readers like me who don’t know any Amharic, it is a great pleasure to see both languages on the page. It reinforces the main theme of this book, connection: across time, across cultures, and across the universe. – Krishni Burns