Pretty sure this is right, but holler at me if you see something that isn’t! If you want access to the information in an Excel format, you can access it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bTWkGqsnSLfIa6nBnXV-rjZOe2h8SgOB4dyhb-Jx3yY/edit?usp=sharing
Purple = feast. Gray = fast. Green = saint’s day.
Another list of good resources for folx! This time, board books in Western Armenian, perfect for babies and toddler-aged kiddos.
In case you don’t have kids or you’re shopping for someone else, board books are essential for kids in the 0-4 age range. Regular paper books get ripped, chewed on, bindings get shredded, covered in sticky stuff, etc. That’s pretty devastating when these aren’t books you can just pick up from a yard sale down the road. So here’s literally every wonderful, durable board book in Western Armenian I’ve been able to find.
There are these two from the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church that we love, both illustrated by the talented Anush Movsesian Avejic:
Transliteration NO
Translation YES
Reading level BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE
| When I Was Baptised (Yerp Yes Mgrdvetsah) | When I Go To Church (Yerp Yeghehetsi Gertam) |
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This series of three by Kids Reading Armenian:
Translation NO
Transliteration YES
Reading level BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE
| Sweet Sleep, Good Dream – Անուշ Քուն, Բարի Երազ (Anoush Koon, Pahrhee Yeraz) [our review] | The Happy Piggy – ՈՒՐԱԽ ԽՈԶՈՒԿԸ (Oorakh Khozooguh) | Diligent Ants – Աշխատասէր Մրջիւններ (Ashkhadaser Murchooner) |
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Two super easy and readable books by Alik Arzoumanian:
Translation NO (but you probably don’t need it)
Transliteration NO
Reading level VERY BEGINNER
From Cascade Press:
Translation NO (but you can get the English version of these books separately)
Transliteration NO
Reading level INTERMEDIATE
| Kisher Paree Luscine (Western Armenian translation of Goodnight Moon) | The complete “Frog and Toad” series, plus “Owl at Home” (Western Armenian translation of the series) – a 5-book set, including Frog and Toad Are Friends, Days with Frog and Toad, Frog and Toad All Year, Frog and Toad Together, Owl at Home |
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And a few one-off publications:
Proud Armenian – Հպարտ Հայ (Hbard Hye), by Meghri Dervartanian [our review]
Translation NO
Transliteration NO
Reading level BEGINNER
Hello Yerevan (Parev Yerevan), by Taleen Moughamian
Translation NO
Transliteration NO
Reading level INTERMEDIATE
There are also several “Learn Armenian” style books – visual dictionaries, books introducing the alphabet, etc. I think all of the Western Armenian board book ones are from Cilicia Press. Some of these have pretty advanced concepts that are hard for toddlers to understand, but they ARE board books. Generally beginner level.
Our Body (Mer Marmine)
My First Words (Arachin Parers)
Opposite Words (Haganish Parer)
Numbers (Tvanshanner)
In the Farm (Akaragin Mech)
Colors (Kooyner) Գոյներ
Fruits and Vegetables (Bdookhner yev Panchareghenner) Պտուղներ եւ բանջարեղեններ
Geography Terms Մակերեւոյթ
Alphabet (Ayp oo Pen) Այբ ու Բեն
Inventions (Kiuder) Գիւտեր
The Time (Jhamanaguh) Ժամանակը
Transport Փոխադրամիջոցներ
What We Do? Ի՞նչ կ’ընենք
The Zoo Կենդանաբանական պարտէզը
Senses Զգայարանքներ
Letter to Santa Claus Namak Kaghand Papayin
^ you’ll see, there are a ton of these… I’m really not sure I’ve captured them all.
HONORABLE MENTIONS / BONUS BOOKS
This FOAM book about the alphabet
This visual dictionary (not toddler-sturdy, but a great “look and find” type book), Բառաշխարհ (Parashkhar) [our review]
& a bonus resource: Where to buy Western Armenian Books online
Vartan and I welcomed our third child into the world in September, Nareg / Narek Babikyan.
I write “Nareg / Narek” because for a few days after his birth, we weren’t quite sure how we’d actually officially spell it on his birth certificate. We left the hospital with the forms incomplete, and went home to discuss/debate.
This is the problem, when you’re trying to name a child and it’s spelled in the ‘wrong’ language. The Anglicized and popularized version of Նարեկ is “Narek” – according to the Catholic Church who recognizes Saint Gregory of Narek as a Doctor of the Church, according to the spelling in articles from our Eastern Diocese, in the English translation of Soorp Grigor Narekatsi’s prayer book, “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart.” The one other Նարեկ I knew in my life spelled it “Narek” in English. When I was pregnant and Vartan and I were talking about names, we wrote it “Narek.” I tested the pronounceability of the name with my siblings and friends as “Narek.” I think we even texted the official announcement of his birth to our family using “Narek.”
But when it came time to put pen to paper (literally), we hesitated. Nareg is more correct. Nareg is the Western Armenian spelling. We spell our other son’s name “Hagop,” not “Hakob.” Why bend the ‘correct’ transliteration to match the more popularized version? I was afraid that Americans would mispronounce “Nareg” much more than “Narek” (Nar-ejj? Nar-egg?)… but why spell his name with a K just so it’s easier for Americans to pronounce? Shouldn’t we be teaching Americans how to pronounce NareG correctly? Whether you lean more K or G, կ is a beautiful, subtle, and entirely achievable sound.
Although the “Nareg” pronunciation was untested by my American family and friends, and the Armenian-from-Armenia birth registrar thought I was a crazy person, that’s where we landed. And why.
A part of me wonders… does it even really matter? My Nareg can grow up and change the spelling of his name, in all but the strictest of legal settings. If he wants to present himself as Narek at school or on job applications because he thinks it’s more pronounceable, go for it. His name will never be fully ‘correct’ anyway, because our last name is ‘wrong’ — we spell it BabiKyan instead of BabiGian or Babigyan…
At the end of the day, I’m proud to have given my children Armenian names, no matter how many times I have to say, “Hagop – like Jacob with an H,” “Zabel – like Isabel without the I,” or “Nareg – say ‘not egg’ really fast.“
Parashkhar is our new favorite book. It’s beautiful, well-made, and well designed. It’s an oversized paperback 64-page visual dictionary for Western Armenian, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is trying to learn the language.
What sets this book apart from similar visual dictionaries like “my first book of Armenian words” is that every page spread introduces words in a SCENE. So you’re learning the words in context, and not abstractly on their own. I’ve also found that the scenes are highly RELEVANT to the Armenian we want to use in everyday life. The best example I can think of is the FOOD page, which actually teaches you how to say things like “pizza”, “pasta”, and “ketchup.”
It’s a paperback, not a board book or even a hardcover, so if you’re using it with kids you’ll want to be a little careful with it. And it’s oversized, so you have to handle it a bit to keep the pages open. We’ve already ripped the binding. However, we’ve found it to be great for Hagop right now, because he’s very into “look & find”-type books. He’ll point out one of the pictures along the border of the page, and then we try to find it in the scene. You’ll also want to note that this was published in Istanbul, and might have a few Bolsahye-specific words for things (Armenians living in Istanbul).
So, overall, we’re huge fans, and I want to buy copies for everyone I know. Right now, you can get it from Abril books, but if we find it on the East coast or figure out international shipping I’ll let you all know. 🙂
Western Armenian YES
Translation NO
Transliteration NO
Reading level BEGINNER
No wonder there aren’t a bunch of Armenian or ABC working-Moms-of-young-kids out there blogging or sharing resources. Because this is HARD, friends.
We’ve still been active with the church and language-learning in our lives, though not too much (nothing?) has made it to the blog so far.
In the last few weeks, we’ve attended as many of the Christ as Hope sessions as possible, and participated in the Eastern Diocese’s stellar virtual pilgrimage to the tomb of Mary. We celebrated the Assumption of Mary, which I learned about in detail for the first time in my life, really. (Recovering protestant here.) We also took a quick vacation for a Big Fat Armenian Wedding, and attended another Armenian Church, where we weren’t super familiar with the parish or people, and weathered the entire service with our crazy kids without making complete fools of ourselves.
I’m working on a couple of blog posts about children’s books, bought a bunch more, and even have a grown-up book about orthodoxy & pregnancy/postpartum that I promised to review. (Oops. Eventually?) We’re still working on the translation of the book on Armash, waiting for the next version from the translator.
There was also a baptism in there somewhere (Vartan was/is the baby’s gunkahayr, and takes that role pretty seriously). And a Covid exposure scare. And Vartan was elected to parish council. And we’re co-running the silent auction for the church Bazaar. And we’re preparing to send Hagopig to a new Nursery School. And did I mention we’re due with our third baby in a month? (!)
Time flies, and there never seems to be enough time to get everything done… forget about writing things up or sharing resources here. But I see your page views, and I have grand ambitions, and I thank you for your patience and prayers.
Sirov, Kalyn
Because it’s not always easy to tell from a quick online search, here’s a quick consolidated list of where you can go to buy Western Armenian Արեւմտահայերէն books online.
Resellers/bookstores:
Direct from the publisher:
Flagging for anyone following my posts, that there’s a series of Modern Armenian classes starting next week – Tuesday, July 27th. It runs through Thursday, August 12th. The classes are in Eastern and Western Armenian (though they recommend attending both if you can),and part of the Eastern Diocese’s new Christ as Hope module. The language classes will somehow involve the concept of hope. I’m intending to attend as many as I can… Maybe we’ll see you there?
And a related side note, I’ve just updated the “Learn Western Armenian Online” resources page with some new links. If you’re following because of the language-learning content, make sure you keep checking back on that page. And please send me any resources you come across that I don’t have listed!
Hbard Hye
Proud Armenian
Հպարտ Հայ
Meghri Dervartanian (author)
Drawings by Meghri’s cousin
I was glad to come across Hbard Hye a few months back – another Western Armenian board book to add to our collection for the kiddos. The more we’ve read it, the more I’ve come to appreciate it.
In Hbard Hye, the characters Haig and Nareh are dressed in traditional taraz, and in front of Armenian landmarks, they show and tell about us all of the activities they do as “proud Armenians.” I like this because it is so Armenian. I’ve been able to show Hagop pieces of his heritage without resorting to YouTube videos. Of course, as things begin to open up now that Covid-19 is being managed, we’ll be able to take him to more in-person things. But for now, it’s been great to have something like this in board book form.
There’s no English or transliteration, but the reading is very manageable for me, as a beginner / intermediate reader. It’s in Armenian, with large letters, so I imagine it’s good for a kid starting to read on their own too.
Coolest thing about this book, I learned when looking it up to write this review. The author is LOCAL to me, in Watertown! And only 23, at the time the book was published. Wow. I am so grateful for Meghri’s contribution.
Western Armenian YES
Translation NO
Transliteration NO
Reading level BEGINNER
Hi all,
I made a shorter version of our Armenian wedding service program, that some friends of ours used in their recent weddings.
Here’s the longer version we used (includes music and more quotes): https://hye.home.blog/2021/04/09/armenian-wedding-service-program/(opens in a new tab)
And here’s the shorter one:
We pre-ordered “Անուշ Քուն, Բարի Երազ” (Anoush Koon, Pari Yeraz / Sweet Sleep, Good Dream) as soon as we learned the always-wonderful Kids Reading Armenian (KRA) was coming out with another book. Anoush Koon, Pari Yeraz is the third self-published book by Taline Badrikian. It’s a 14-page board book, and a great addition to the small-but-growing library of Armenian books for the 0-3 age group.
Anoush Koon, Pari Yeraz is a strong follow-up to the author’s first two books, “Ուրախ Խոզուկը” (Oorakh Khozooguh / The Happy Piggy) and “Աշխատասէր Մրջիւններ” (Ashkhadahser Murchooner / Diligent Ants). It has the same adorable drawings, and the same kind of tight-knit, easy-to-follow story. This time, we meet a little bunny (Nabasdag) who doesn’t want to go to sleep, and see all of the things bunny does at nighttime instead of going to bed. It ends with a little lesson for Nabasdag and the reader about why sleep is so important.
Talk about relevant. Hagopig is almost 3 years old, just switched to a big boy bed, and is in peak bedtime-delaying mode. Mayrig yev Hayrig Nabasdag, I get you.
The book is written in Western Armenian, with one line of Armenian text and one line of English alphabet transliteration on each page. If you don’t know any Armenian at all, you can still read this out loud to your kids by using the transliteration. If you’re a beginner or intermediate Armenian reader, this should be a good book to practice with. The sentences are short, and many words should already be familiar to you just from common usage. The book does not have English translation written in to the book, but the text is available on KRA’s website. AND, just like with KRA’s first two books, I think the story is so logical, the pictures so clear, that you really don’t need to fall back on the exact English translation. You can pretty much understand what’s going on either way.
English translation: NO
Transliteration: YES
Reading level: BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE
You can find more from Kids Reading Armenian:
https://www.kidsreadingarmenian.com/
https://armenianweekly.com/2021/05/05/anoush-koon-pari-yeraz-the-next-childrens-book-for-your-armenian-library/
Hye Home 