Tweet
PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net
October 18, 2013
___________________
New Book for Toddlers Released: "When I Go To Church"
We're all familiar with the scenario: a family attending church and the
little ones get restless, naturally enough. A few parishes stock pews with
Christian activity books and children's picture Bibles or have some
available as families walk in. After receiving repeated requests for toddler
resources about the Armenian Church, the Diocesan Christian Education
department responded with a delightful book for our youngest worshippers:
When I Go To Church. Sized for children's small hands at 5" X 5", the book
is also made of thick coated cardboard to withstand the curiosity and energy
of a toddler. Its 15 pages feature simple bilingual text lines describing
what children experience in church-praying, lighting candles, singing,
receiving Holy Communion, and more. Best of all, children will be entranced
by the illustrations of Anush Movsesian Avejic whose winning renderings are
certain to charm toddlers into reading again and again.
This is Anush's first project for the Diocese. She grew up in California
inspired by her family's love for the Armenian Church; she attended church
as a child, sang in the choir and held various executive offices in the
ACYO. Later she joined the Diocesan Camp committee, organizing and running
Armenian church-centered programs for the children of the Diocese. She
taught at the St. Gregory Hovsepian School, helping it to achieve full
accreditation. Currently, she is a member of the St. Peter Armenian Church
and Youth Ministries Center in Glendale, where she is one of the directors
of the "In His Shoes" mission (launched by her brother, Fr. Vazken
Movsesian), providing outreach to the local community and working on
projects of global responsibility for the Armenian Church.
Anush received her degree in Graphic Design/Illustration and her first love
is illustrating children's books (specializing in pen & ink, watercolor and
colored pencil media). Her pleasure in creating beautiful things was the
impulse behind her own line of jewelry- Pomegranate & Eye-which (obviously
enough) often features the Armenian pomegranate motif.
Anush was very excited about illustrating When I Go To Church from the
beginning: "I really feel very passionate about our spiritual journey and
love our church, viewing it as not only beautiful and sacred, but ALIVE! As
a child, I would sit between my two grandmothers-both Genocide
survivors-while my parents sang in choir and my brothers served on the
altar. I loved the fact that our church is interactive, and this is what I
wanted to convey to the children. We worship actively- crossing ourselves,
kneeling, bowing, sharing the good news with others that Christ is among us!
I grew up in the church, singing in the choir as a teenager, getting married
and raising a family there, and then serving within my church with its
various outreaches to the needy of our community. The appeal of this
project-and I hope it's apparent in my illustrations-was to be able to share
the love of our Armenian Church and its richness with families everywhere."
Perhaps the biggest challenge of the project was the attention to detail and
the need for accuracy. In the Armenian liturgy the priest and deacons are
clothed a certain way, and church altars and buildings have a very
distinctive look; people are crossing themselves and receiving Communion in
a prescribed manner. "There is reason and meaning behind everything that is
done in our Badarak-the way the censor is held, how the priest holds the
hand cross-all of these things had to be taken into consideration and
fine-tuned by a clergyman before the illustrations were done." Finalizing
the pencil drawing was the hardest part-each one took quite a few sketches
and roughs before it was considered finished. As challenging as it was
though, it was truly a labor of love and a joy to watch the drawings grow to
the final stage of laying down the color.
Regardless of her contribution, Anush is delighted that such a book is being
published. "Children need to feel connected to their church family. When
parents bring their children to church, they begin to understand that there
is something greater than themselves. Setting aside time for weekly worship
at church becomes the norm, and children grow up with a sense of belonging
to God and His family. But kids do need some attention-getters and what a
great resource this will be as toddlers turn the pages and see, on their own
level of understanding, what it means to worship."
Ideal for placing in the pews, or for Sunday School and Armenian School, it
is, as well, a perfect gift for baptisms, name days, birthdays, and
Christmas. When I Go To Church is available from the Diocese's St. Vartan
Bookstore ($10.00).
###
Photos attached.
Photo 1: The cover of When I Go To Church.
Photo 2: Illustrator Anush Movsesian Avejic.
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net
October 18, 2013
___________________
New Book for Toddlers Released: "When I Go To Church"
We're all familiar with the scenario: a family attending church and the
little ones get restless, naturally enough. A few parishes stock pews with
Christian activity books and children's picture Bibles or have some
available as families walk in. After receiving repeated requests for toddler
resources about the Armenian Church, the Diocesan Christian Education
department responded with a delightful book for our youngest worshippers:
When I Go To Church. Sized for children's small hands at 5" X 5", the book
is also made of thick coated cardboard to withstand the curiosity and energy
of a toddler. Its 15 pages feature simple bilingual text lines describing
what children experience in church-praying, lighting candles, singing,
receiving Holy Communion, and more. Best of all, children will be entranced
by the illustrations of Anush Movsesian Avejic whose winning renderings are
certain to charm toddlers into reading again and again.
This is Anush's first project for the Diocese. She grew up in California
inspired by her family's love for the Armenian Church; she attended church
as a child, sang in the choir and held various executive offices in the
ACYO. Later she joined the Diocesan Camp committee, organizing and running
Armenian church-centered programs for the children of the Diocese. She
taught at the St. Gregory Hovsepian School, helping it to achieve full
accreditation. Currently, she is a member of the St. Peter Armenian Church
and Youth Ministries Center in Glendale, where she is one of the directors
of the "In His Shoes" mission (launched by her brother, Fr. Vazken
Movsesian), providing outreach to the local community and working on
projects of global responsibility for the Armenian Church.
Anush received her degree in Graphic Design/Illustration and her first love
is illustrating children's books (specializing in pen & ink, watercolor and
colored pencil media). Her pleasure in creating beautiful things was the
impulse behind her own line of jewelry- Pomegranate & Eye-which (obviously
enough) often features the Armenian pomegranate motif.
Anush was very excited about illustrating When I Go To Church from the
beginning: "I really feel very passionate about our spiritual journey and
love our church, viewing it as not only beautiful and sacred, but ALIVE! As
a child, I would sit between my two grandmothers-both Genocide
survivors-while my parents sang in choir and my brothers served on the
altar. I loved the fact that our church is interactive, and this is what I
wanted to convey to the children. We worship actively- crossing ourselves,
kneeling, bowing, sharing the good news with others that Christ is among us!
I grew up in the church, singing in the choir as a teenager, getting married
and raising a family there, and then serving within my church with its
various outreaches to the needy of our community. The appeal of this
project-and I hope it's apparent in my illustrations-was to be able to share
the love of our Armenian Church and its richness with families everywhere."
Perhaps the biggest challenge of the project was the attention to detail and
the need for accuracy. In the Armenian liturgy the priest and deacons are
clothed a certain way, and church altars and buildings have a very
distinctive look; people are crossing themselves and receiving Communion in
a prescribed manner. "There is reason and meaning behind everything that is
done in our Badarak-the way the censor is held, how the priest holds the
hand cross-all of these things had to be taken into consideration and
fine-tuned by a clergyman before the illustrations were done." Finalizing
the pencil drawing was the hardest part-each one took quite a few sketches
and roughs before it was considered finished. As challenging as it was
though, it was truly a labor of love and a joy to watch the drawings grow to
the final stage of laying down the color.
Regardless of her contribution, Anush is delighted that such a book is being
published. "Children need to feel connected to their church family. When
parents bring their children to church, they begin to understand that there
is something greater than themselves. Setting aside time for weekly worship
at church becomes the norm, and children grow up with a sense of belonging
to God and His family. But kids do need some attention-getters and what a
great resource this will be as toddlers turn the pages and see, on their own
level of understanding, what it means to worship."
Ideal for placing in the pews, or for Sunday School and Armenian School, it
is, as well, a perfect gift for baptisms, name days, birthdays, and
Christmas. When I Go To Church is available from the Diocese's St. Vartan
Bookstore ($10.00).
###
Photos attached.
Photo 1: The cover of When I Go To Church.
Photo 2: Illustrator Anush Movsesian Avejic.