he world reflects on the Armenian tragedy of 1915, Pomegranate Publishing has released a new children’s picture book, Mariam’s Easter Parade, which celebrates joyous traditions of the Armenian culture, the Daily Press reports.
The agency reminds that April 15, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in which four million Armenian residents are estimated to have died in Ottoman Turkey.
Written by Marianne Markarian and illustrated by Margaret Markarian Wasielewski, Mariam’s Easter Parade is a light-hearted story of young girl who might be too small to help with the Easter preparations, but she is clever enough to celebrate with her own special parade!
“While it’s important to acknowledge and remember the lives lost to the genocide, it’s also important to celebrate the traditions of the Armenian culture, which continues to thrive in a diaspora that extends from the former Soviet Republic to the United States and Canada,” said publisher Marianne McCarthy.
Easter is a major holiday for the Armenia people. Not only do they celebrate their Christian religion, but they also mark the occasion with food, festivities, and egg-fighting contests. Using her grandmother’s life in “the old country” as inspiration Markarian has crafted a story that displays with cultural accuracy how Armenians in the Ottoman Empire celebrated Easter.
The illustrator is an award-winning artist and member of the Cincinnati Art Club. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Detroit, Cincinnati, Florida, and Chicago. Her vivid pastel illustrations portray the beautiful countryside and colorful dress of the Armenian people in the early 1900s.
