Flowers for Sarajevo by John McCutcheon

📚 Flowers for Sarajevo 📚
Author: John McCutcheon
Illustrator: Kristy Caldwell
Publisher: Penguin Kids
Age: 4-8

Islamic Content: Set in Sarajevo, mentions Muslims
Concerns: war, mortar attack

Summary:
Drasko has to sell his father’s flowers at the market while his father, Milo, took up arms during the war. When one of the last serving bakeries in the city is attacked, 22 people who lined up to buy bread lose their lives.

Review:
I was torn wether I should write my review of this book or avoid it altogether. However, considering the role of complicity and denial the western world has been playing in the current genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, this book is a prime example of how to discuss war in children’s books without accountability. The book is pushed to be a story of diversity and kindness during times of violence while overlooking the perpetrators and true victims of the Bosnian war in the 90s.

This book is written and inspired by the true events of May 27th 1992 in Sarajevo. I find the fictional framing of this story to be quite problematic. The story itself mentions Serbs, Croats, Muslims and Christians. The fact that Bosnians have been the main victims of the genocidial war is completely avoided in the text and I honestly find that to be intentional by the author.

Drasko and Milo are Serbian names. So my question is, when Milo, the father, takes up arms, which side is he fighting for exactly? While I do understand the humanization and innocence of the child protagonist in this story, it still makes me feel uneasy in the overall framing of the story.

Finally, the elephant in the room:
A western author who isn’t Bosnian, Serbian or Croat wrote a book about an actual event where an actual musician played tribute with his cello for 22 days to honour the lives lost in that bakery attack in Sarajevo. However, there was no consideration about the sensitivities of the conflict and genocidial war against Bosnian Muslims. Publishing a feel-good story should not be at the cost of sweeping true realities of war crimes under the rug.

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