LIFE STORY OF JASMINKA PETROVIĆ: ‘ The hardest thing was seeing there are sick little ones who PARENTS ARE ASHAMED OF’
She is a Very Important Person for children growing up in Serbia. Many of her books are already legendary. One was turned into a popular film and has been included in the syllabus for seventh grade. But it’s not the only one. Others have long been part of the curriculum. She has been married for over forty years to the famous "Bob from the Crazy Years". They have two children and three grandchildren. She has always believed in miracles, and so she created them
I remember going with my aunt Mira to the Beograd Department Store, which was located at the base of a skyscraper, on the corner of Pariske Komune and Otona Župančiča streets in Novi Beograd. It was the early 1960s, many years before shopping centres appeared. As a hobby, my aunt Mira sewed and knitted from patterns in Burda fashion magazine. She mostly sewed and knitted for her daughters, my cousins, Dragana and Nevenka. I often wore Aunt Mira's designs, as her beloved "third daughter."
For me, it was indescribable joy when Aunt Mira invited me to shop for materials, wool, thread, pins, zippers, buttons, decorative ribbons, or patches. That diverse, colourful merchandise sparked my imagination and led me to fairy-tale realms. I especially enjoyed it when Aunt Mira would ask for my advice: "What do you think, should I take this floral pattern or the solid colour?" Unfortunately, today neither the Beograd Department Store exists, nor is my Aunt Mira alive. I am left with memories of how an adult respected my opinion in the fabric and haberdashery department.
Family and Heritage
Mom, Dad, and I lived until I was five in a community on my mother's side in Novi Beograd, and from five to twelve on my father's side, in old Belgrade. I grew up with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours, and a large extended family. We children played in the streets, as cars did not pass by. Adults visited each other without prior notice. Neighbours came and went all the time because doors were never locked.
Both my parents worked in economics, immersed in figures and tables. But Dad loved the river, nature, and fishing, so we mostly spent weekends on the Danube. I remember walking with Mom and Dad among blossoming trees under the Pančevo Bridge. In front of us, Bill, a German Shorthaired Pointer, would occasionally turn around to check if we were following.
School Days
I started school at six years old. Clearly, I wasn’t ready to take on responsibility. Whenever I got bored, I would pack up my things, stand up, and go home. At first, the teacher tolerated this behaviour, but when other students began to copy me, she called my parents in for a talk. "We have to resolve this because by the end of class, only two or three students remain. They see Jasminka leave, so they go home too," the teacher complained to my parents. Adults somehow managed to discipline me, and I successfully completed primary school (with average marks in mathematics). However, I was left with a great understanding for students who must sit through boring classes. I think the school system has been unfit for children for decades, and a reform is necessary. It's time to take the first step and assume responsibility, but obviously, no one is ready yet
Spanish Language
I enrolled in Spanish Language and Literature at the urging of a friend. However, during my studies, I regretted it. I was upset that I hadn’t gone to the Department of General Literature. Maybe out of rebellion against myself, I never completed the oral part of my thesis examination, so my studies remained forever "Greek" to me. However, as life is a great joker, recently my book 35 Calories Without Sugar was translated into Spanish. In June, I was invited to a book fair in Madrid and to an event in the José Hierro City Library. And here I am back in the classroom. Again learning Spanish, this time at the Cervantes Institute in Belgrade.
Work in Media
In my younger days, besides working as a creative in marketing, I spent a period in the media. During my student days, in the early eighties, I was a journalist for the "Index 202" show, which aired every weekday for one hour.
In the early nineties, I started writing for the children's magazine Tik-tak. Later, I worked at magazines such as Veliko Dvorište, Huper, and Politikin Zabavnik. During the school year 2004/2005, I edited the Serbian edition of National Geographic Junior.
At Radio Pingvin, I was part of the marketing team within the "Team of Talents". I had my own author show "Word by Word" and was the editor of the teen show "Two Hundred from the Spot". Working on the radio helped me overcome stage fright. Even today, I don’t particularly enjoy public appearances, but at least I've trained myself not to have trembling hands, legs, and voice.
First Book
When the war-torn nineties began, my response to the terrible events was the anti-war story Giga Makes the Sea. My idea was to portray the beauty and richness of childhood innocence, play, and imagination against the backdrop of war conflict. I wrote it almost in one breath, then it took me two years to gather the courage to publish it. Fortunately, I had great support from family, friends, and colleagues. Without them, I would probably still be sitting in the living room gathering courage. The illustrations were done by Dobrosav Bob Živković, and it was published by the marketing agency SMS Team of Talents. Twenty-eight years later, a new edition of the story about Giga and the Cricket is illustrated by Ana Petrović and published by Creative Centre.
Children, Parents, Teachers
The first edition of Giga Makes the Sea took me to kindergartens and schools. Day by day, I gradually moved away from advertising and more often created seas with children. A whole new world gradually opened up before me. From conversations with children, I gathered ideas for new books, and the new books facilitated further encounters with children in school and city libraries. I met wonderful teachers, educators, librarians, parents. The domestic literary scene for children and youth is very high quality. We children's authors are united and active. Numerous literary events for the youngest are held throughout the country - in Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Belgrade, Lazarevac, Niš, Aleksinac, Knjaževac... Unfortunately, positive examples about children and for children generally remain invisible to the wider public. If it were up to me, the news would start and end with updates from children's culture, student achievements, teenage musical feats, and high school charity drives...
Other Books
Books that children particularly love include Growing from Reading, I Want to Go Home, This is the Scariest Day of My Life, It's Hard Not to Love Me... While writing them, I often laughed out loud myself. The main characters of these stories - Tamara, Nikola, Strahinja, Nina, and Krca - guided me through the writing process. They went through various adventures and mishaps, and I followed alongside them, recording everything. In children's books, illustrations play an important role because they enhance the characters and complete the story. So far, I have mostly collaborated with Bob Živković and Ana Petrović. Both are very talented and humorous, so their artistic contributions add an extra quality and cheerfulness to my books.
The Summer I Learned to Fly
The novel The Summer I Learned to Fly was published in 2015. While the book Giga Makes the Sea deals with the onset of the wars in the nineties, The Summer I Learned to Fly addresses the war's consequences. The main character, Sofia, is a teenager, so I directed the story towards that age group. I was very surprised to find that the book is read by much younger and much older readers. The novel has been included in the syllabus for the seventh grade and has been translated into several languages (Sorbian, Macedonian, Italian, and German). In 2022, director Raša Andrić made a film based on this book, which attracted significant attention from audiences regionally and globally. I believe the success of the film also boosted the novel’s popularity..
Family
My husband Vladimir and I have been together for over forty years. There have been various adventures and mishaps, as in any marriage, but all in all, we somehow made it to retirement. Vladimir has been my main support both in private life and in work. In his youth, he was involved in acting. He was a cameraman and director at Index's Radio Theatre. He spent the rest of his working life in marketing. In many jobs and projects, we were collaborators. We have two children and three grandchildren
Eggs from the Market
I remember a quaint scene from our life when our children were still young, taking place at Bajloni Market. Spring had spilled over the stalls, lilacs were fragrant, lettuces were greening, radishes reddening, and young potatoes blushing. Vladimir and I chatted with the vendors, sampled the goods, and did a bit of shopping. We would have continued navigating the crowded market if our children hadn’t started to make themselves heard: "I'm thirsty!", "When are we going home?", "I'm bored!", "What time is it?" and so on. Our shopping bags were full, but there was still room for ten eggs, 200 grams of cream, and at least two bunches of spring onions. However, our little announcers gave no peace: "I need the toilet", "Carry me", "I'm hungry"...
A swift change of plans followed. We bought ten eggs, thanked the vendor politely, and hurriedly left the market. Just as we stepped onto Drinčićeva street, we heard someone calling us. We turned around and saw—the breathless, flushed vendor holding out a box of eggs. We looked at her, puzzled.
"Throw those eggs away! They are not good. These are fresh. Feel free to give them to your children," she said, placing the box of eggs in our shopping bag and quickly disappearing into the market crowd.
Once, when I was feeling down, a cousin advised me: "Go to the market."
I looked at her grumpily and waved dismissively:
"Market? I'm not in the mood for anything."
"That's exactly why," she continued her campaign. "You might buy something, get something, or hear something. In any case, you’ll get a shake-up." I add to my cousin’s list:
"And maybe someone will try to cheat you, but they'll think twice about it. Because of the kids."
A Moment of Happiness
Recently, I got off the trolleybus and hurried along the sidewalk. I had several errands to run and felt tense and nervous. My eyes fell on a lawn I was passing by, covered with tiny, shy white daisies. I thought, "If I had to move to a desert or to the far north of the planet, I would miss these delicate little flowers. However, since they are a given in Belgrade, I walk by them completely uninterested." First, I slowed my pace, and then I stopped. I watched the white daisies peeking out between the green blades of grass. At one spot, about ten slender stems were clustered together, further away were groups of two or three flowers, and some individual flowers seemed cheerful even though they stood alone, far from their siblings. Those white-yellow specks pulled me away from everyday chaos and brought me two seconds of happiness. Isn't that enough with everything being so expensive?
Feeling of Sadness
I'll share a conversation I had with a little girl. She had spent the entire school year in the hospital due to numerous surgical interventions. As summer vacation was approaching, I told her, "You must be looking forward to your parents coming to take you home." Her reply was, "Not really. I prefer being in the hospital. I have lots of friends here. The doctors and nurses are very kind to me. I also have classes here. But when I go home, I don't leave my room. My dad is ashamed because I'm in a wheelchair and doesn't let me go outside."
Her story completely broke me. I couldn't recover for days. I imagined her sitting by the window watching children playing, laughing, arguing, teasing, falling in love... Oh, how hard it is to be a child and to be different from other peers! How hard it is to be a child and spend your childhood within four walls! And how difficult it must be to have parents who are ashamed of you!
Thanks to this girl, the book About the Button and Happiness was created. The main character is Jovan, who has cerebral palsy. He was so lonely that his only company was a plain white button. A theatre play was made based on the book at the Duško Radović Little Theatre, and a film titled The Witch Hunters was also produced. I often receive drawings, poems, stories, and messages from children inspired by Jovan. These gifts from them are especially precious to me. This book is included in the fourth-grade syllabus.
On death
I think about death more frequently and for longer periods.
When I look back, I see Giga and Cricket sitting by their sea, talking:
"Giga, this is for you," I hand him a starfish, and suddenly a fire strikes up in my head..
He just takes it and says nothing. Holds it and is silent.
"Giga, if you don’t like it, just say so, and I’ll find another one."
Again, he says nothing. Just silent. And I get a bit irritated:
"Say something, Giga, I’m not a school psychologist."
Giga looks at the starfish, then suddenly lifts his gaze, and I almost fall over. His eyes are so deep and dark that you could fall into them.
Advice
Whoever believes in miracles creates miracles...