REDMOND, Wash. — Elementary teachers Arpie Cherchian Cort and her husband David Louis Cort have released Mule Cart: An Armenian Refugee Family’s Escape, a children’s picture book inspired by the true story of Cherchian Cort’s family, who fled Aintab in 1920 during the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.
The story follows 7-year-old Anoosh, who rides with her family in an open mule cart through rain and mud as they escape toward Aleppo. As cannons boom in the distance, Anoosh finds courage in her mother’s songs and in the hopeful pictures she imagines along the way.
“This story has lived in my heart for over twenty years — ever since my Auntie Agnes told me how our family fled Aintab,” says Cherchian Cort. “There are so few Armenian stories in children’s books. I wanted to help change that.”
While Mule Cart is a work of realistic fiction, it is grounded in the experiences of thousands of Armenian families who escaped to Aleppo during the early 1920s. Written in simple, lyrical language and brought to life through expressive illustrations, the book invites children to understand history through the eyes of a child — one who finds courage and hope even in the darkest of times.
Cherchian Cort, an educator of more than 30 years, hopes the book will help fill a gap in children’s literature.
“Growing up, I never saw stories like mine,” she says. “There are still so few books about Armenians. With Mule Cart, I wanted to bring more of our stories into the world — stories of resilience, love, and survival.”
