Yaya’s Manti by Ellie Ozgun and Natasha Awasthi

Yaya’s Manti is a picture book about food, family, memory, and a child finding her place within a tradition. It began as an original story by Ellie Ozgun, age 7, about making manti—hand-folded Armenian pasta—with her grandmother, Yaya. Natasha Awasthi helped shape Ellie’s story for the page, preserving her ideas, humor, and voice. Brett Tunick illustrated the book.

 

Ellie Ozgun, age 7, came up with the idea for Yaya’s Manti, created the plot, and told the story in her words. This is her first picture book.

Natasha Awasthi is Ellie’s mother and the founder of Story Bound, a children’s bookmaking program in New York City. She worked with Ellie to shape the story for the page while keeping Ellie’s voice at its center.

Yaya’s Manti is available for purchase through its publisher, StoryBound.

 

The opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and do not represent an official position of the International Armenian Literary Alliance.