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CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR ARMENIANIZES TRADITIONAL TALES
By Daphne Abeel, Armenian Mirror-Spectator
AZG DAILY
11-10-2011
In September, children's book author Talene Dadian White will add two
new titles, The Three Little Karmeegs (The Three Little Pigs) and Voski
and the Archoogians (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) to her series of
Armenianized traditional tales, which includes Little Red Hood and the
Kesh Kayl (Little Red Riding Hood), The Gurabia Man (The Gingerbread
Man) and Hagop and the Hairy Giant (Jack and the Beanstalk).
As the titles indicate, White has interpolated Armenian words for
English words and she has done that throughout the texts. Thus the
grandmother in the Little Red Riding Hood tale becomes Medz Mayreeg
and the cow in Hagop in the Hairy Giant becomes gov. The Armenian
words are printed in italic script and there is a little dictionary
at the back of each book that gives the translation.
White, who was trained as a lawyer at City University in New York, and
is the mother of two children, ages 4 and 8, said, "When I started to
look for good children's books in Armenian, I couldn't find very much,
and so I had this idea of taking traditional children's stories and
giving them an Armenian flavor."
The books, printed in paperback with laminated, waterproof covers, are
illustrated in such a way that they emphasize the Armenian approach
to the stories. The characters, almost without exception, have dark,
deep-set eyes and are dressed in Armenian peasant fashion.
"I especially love the drawings of the Hairy Giant," said White. "He
looks so fiercely Armenian."
White, who is married to a lawyer, practiced personal injury law
for 10 years, first for a large law firm and then on her own, before
deciding to give up her legal career and become a writer.
"I ran the New York marathon and that was a very empowering
experience. It gave me the feeling I could do anything I wanted to.
Once I had children, I had less time for the law and I had always
wanted to write. So, I made the decision to become a writer."
White's father, whose family was originally from Turkey, was born
in the United States and her mother was born in Aleppo. Syria. White
was baptized at Holy Martyrs Church and now attends St. Gregory's in
White Plains.
"I don't speak Armenian fluently and neither do my children. But
they do go to Saturday School and they are learning Armenian there,"
she said.
"As for the Armenian words I choose to use in the texts of the story,
I try to pick out the most common ones and I even use some funny ones
like the word of buttocks, for example. I space them out in the text."
In addition to inserting Armenian words into the stories, White has
somewhat changed some of the stories. In the original version of Little
Red Riding Hood, the people who kill the wolf are hunters. In White's
version, they are lumberjacks, "because I put them in an Armenian
forest," she explained.
White's illustrator, who is Russian (but whose name does not appear on
the books) has helped her with the book design, as has Abril Books in
Glendale, Calif. Soon, all her titles will be translated into Western
Armenian with the help of the services at Abril Books.
White has been able to achieve a fair amount of success in the
marketplace, although she self-publishes her work and does not enjoy
the distribution and marketing services of a traditional, commercial
publisher. She works with a subsidiary of Amazon, createspace.
"All the books are available through Amazon and the listings are
linked to my website. I've also had a lot of success marketing through
Armenian bookstores, libraries, schools and churches. I am pretty well
connected to the Armenian community and I've sent out a lot of emails
about my publications," she said. "I really think self-publishing is
the wave of the future, and especially if you are writing for a niche
market you can have a lot of success. I am doing a lot of readings
in schools and I have even started to sell the books in Canada."
White also plans another marketing strategy - packaging her books in
a gift box set.
"I think these will be quite popular for children's birthdays and
other celebrations," she said. White's next book will be a cookbook
and she hopes to have that published by a mainstream publisher.
"I think there is a lot of interest in Middle Eastern food, and after
all, Middle Eastern cuisine is eaten in a lot of different countries
and cultures, not just in Armenia."
She concluded, "Publishing in Armo-English is an idea whose time has
come. Most Armenian- Americans who are born here speak English and I
think that introducing these words into stories that are familiar is
something that works very well. It is a good way for Armenian children
to stay in touch with their language and culture."
White will be giving a reading and book signing on Sunday, August 28,
in Glendale. For more information, visit ArmenianKidsBooks.com.
By Daphne Abeel, Armenian Mirror-Spectator
AZG DAILY
11-10-2011
In September, children's book author Talene Dadian White will add two
new titles, The Three Little Karmeegs (The Three Little Pigs) and Voski
and the Archoogians (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) to her series of
Armenianized traditional tales, which includes Little Red Hood and the
Kesh Kayl (Little Red Riding Hood), The Gurabia Man (The Gingerbread
Man) and Hagop and the Hairy Giant (Jack and the Beanstalk).
As the titles indicate, White has interpolated Armenian words for
English words and she has done that throughout the texts. Thus the
grandmother in the Little Red Riding Hood tale becomes Medz Mayreeg
and the cow in Hagop in the Hairy Giant becomes gov. The Armenian
words are printed in italic script and there is a little dictionary
at the back of each book that gives the translation.
White, who was trained as a lawyer at City University in New York, and
is the mother of two children, ages 4 and 8, said, "When I started to
look for good children's books in Armenian, I couldn't find very much,
and so I had this idea of taking traditional children's stories and
giving them an Armenian flavor."
The books, printed in paperback with laminated, waterproof covers, are
illustrated in such a way that they emphasize the Armenian approach
to the stories. The characters, almost without exception, have dark,
deep-set eyes and are dressed in Armenian peasant fashion.
"I especially love the drawings of the Hairy Giant," said White. "He
looks so fiercely Armenian."
White, who is married to a lawyer, practiced personal injury law
for 10 years, first for a large law firm and then on her own, before
deciding to give up her legal career and become a writer.
"I ran the New York marathon and that was a very empowering
experience. It gave me the feeling I could do anything I wanted to.
Once I had children, I had less time for the law and I had always
wanted to write. So, I made the decision to become a writer."
White's father, whose family was originally from Turkey, was born
in the United States and her mother was born in Aleppo. Syria. White
was baptized at Holy Martyrs Church and now attends St. Gregory's in
White Plains.
"I don't speak Armenian fluently and neither do my children. But
they do go to Saturday School and they are learning Armenian there,"
she said.
"As for the Armenian words I choose to use in the texts of the story,
I try to pick out the most common ones and I even use some funny ones
like the word of buttocks, for example. I space them out in the text."
In addition to inserting Armenian words into the stories, White has
somewhat changed some of the stories. In the original version of Little
Red Riding Hood, the people who kill the wolf are hunters. In White's
version, they are lumberjacks, "because I put them in an Armenian
forest," she explained.
White's illustrator, who is Russian (but whose name does not appear on
the books) has helped her with the book design, as has Abril Books in
Glendale, Calif. Soon, all her titles will be translated into Western
Armenian with the help of the services at Abril Books.
White has been able to achieve a fair amount of success in the
marketplace, although she self-publishes her work and does not enjoy
the distribution and marketing services of a traditional, commercial
publisher. She works with a subsidiary of Amazon, createspace.
"All the books are available through Amazon and the listings are
linked to my website. I've also had a lot of success marketing through
Armenian bookstores, libraries, schools and churches. I am pretty well
connected to the Armenian community and I've sent out a lot of emails
about my publications," she said. "I really think self-publishing is
the wave of the future, and especially if you are writing for a niche
market you can have a lot of success. I am doing a lot of readings
in schools and I have even started to sell the books in Canada."
White also plans another marketing strategy - packaging her books in
a gift box set.
"I think these will be quite popular for children's birthdays and
other celebrations," she said. White's next book will be a cookbook
and she hopes to have that published by a mainstream publisher.
"I think there is a lot of interest in Middle Eastern food, and after
all, Middle Eastern cuisine is eaten in a lot of different countries
and cultures, not just in Armenia."
She concluded, "Publishing in Armo-English is an idea whose time has
come. Most Armenian- Americans who are born here speak English and I
think that introducing these words into stories that are familiar is
something that works very well. It is a good way for Armenian children
to stay in touch with their language and culture."
White will be giving a reading and book signing on Sunday, August 28,
in Glendale. For more information, visit ArmenianKidsBooks.com.