Zuma Ayriyan

Zuma Ayriyan and John Khachatrian grew up in Yerevan, Armenia. Zuma was raised by a Russian literature teacher and an opera singer, and John was raised in a family of a piano teacher and a writer. They met while attending Yerevan State Conservatory during the collapse of the Soviet Union. After getting married and having their first son Robert, they immigrated to the United States and began a new life. John continued teaching music, while Zuma studied law and later opened a law practice.

After the birth of their second son Alexander, Zuma and John wanted to ensure that he become very interested in books and reading. They transformed their kitchen table into a working station to create a book that would not only be fun, colorful, and engaging, but also personal. They tried to find a way to make Alexander and the people he loves become characters of the book by incorporating family photographs into the illustrations. Watching Alexander enjoy the book and find himself and his family riding colorful cars and counting different creatures along the way, they realized that every child could enjoy and benefit from this book, and that every family could easily personalize it by inserting their own photographs. Thus, Zuma and John started their line of VaZu Kids personalized books.

Their first book, “Look Who Is Coming…” immediately became loved by many and was featured in Parent’s Magazine and other publications. Just a year later they wrote and published “I Can Fly Super Duper High!” which was featured in the Best Of 2011 issue of Orange Coast magazine.

Zuma and John reside in Irvine, CA, and continue to grow their VaZu Kids line with additional releases planned for upcoming years.