Linda Leopold Strauss
Illustrated by Tim Smart
Everybody’s Book
The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah
Minneapolis, Mn.: Kar-Ben Publishing, 2024, ISBN-13: 978-1728486468
Reviewed by Annette B. Fromm1
Fictional versions of true stories often bring to life long-lost and highly significant histories. Approximately ten haggadoth, the book read from every Passover, from the Iberian Peninsula survived the sudden exile of the Spanish Jews in the late fifteenth century. They have been preserved in libraries and museums. Renowned not only for their age, they are also becoming known for the often sumptuous illustrations that accompany the texts. These images speak volumes of the value given to these books by their original, often anonymous owners.
The so-called Sarajevo Haggadah, originally from Catalonia, is one such haggadah that now famously survived countless rigors and threats faced in exile. The enduring history of this significant volume is one such tale that has been popularized in fiction. The bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book, introduced the history of this now significant haggadah which was originally a wedding gift; the author wove a story of its travels from medieval Spain where it started its long life to its present resting place in the not-too politically stable Balkans.2
Everybody’s Book is another fictionalized telling of this story, this time for young readers. It starts briefly in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in 1995, when the city was being bombarded during the Bosnian War. The narrative next quickly moves back in time to medieval Spain and the wedding at which the haggadah was gifted to an unnamed couple. Readers see how people at that time dressed, how their dinner table was decorated, and some elements of their homes. Here, Strauss makes an aside to explain what the haggadah is.
And then the Jews of Spain are forced to leave the land they’ve lived in for many centuries. Many slowly make their way eastward through other lands including Sarajevo where the hagaddah finds a new home. Readers are transported to a multi-cultural city, an Ottoman city filled with Muslim, Christian, and Jewish residents. By the twentieth century, we learn that the family who had lovingly held onto their written and illustrated treasure over the centuries have to sell it. Fortunately, the next home of the haggadah is in the city museum. The book becomes part of the rich history of Sarajevo.
In the mid-twentieth century war raises its head. Not only is the Jewish population of Sarajevo and all of Bosnia threatened, but the Nazis have a particular desire to get their hands on the city’s prized possession, the medieval Sarajevo Haggadah. The museum’s curator, a Muslim, recognized the essential value of the manuscript to the identity of the city and successfully hides it from danger.
Time passes to the 1990s and readers are engulfed in the political chaos where this story begins. Once again, the Sarajevo Haggadah is hidden away from those who seek it for themselves. It is once again hidden away to return to safe-keeping in the Sarajevo Museum when peace returns. Here the public can admire the beauty of the haggadah that bears the name of their city.
This very true story crosses many political borders; it is filled with strife and war. It is a story of resilience and survival and the preservation of a treasure that has come to represent a city of people of many histories and backgrounds.
Linda Leopold Strauss has been writing books for young people for over forty years. She was drawn to the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah after the tragic events of 9/11 that left many people fearful of Muslims. It took many more years for her rendition of the history to take shape as a children’s picture book, Everybody’s Book, The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah. This is a story that captures the essence of cultural diversity and respect for others.
The illustrations in Everybody’s Book richly support the words recounting the complex history of this much-loved haggadah. Some of the images, in fact, have been drawn from the rich images that decorate the pages of the original text.
Everybody’s Book, The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah is another book in Kar-Ben Publishing’s efforts to increase the number of children’s books that address the diversity of the Jewish world. This book ventures into Jewish history of the past which remains a very relevant story to be remembered in the present. Everybody’s Book was awarded a 2025 Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Book designation and recognized as a Notable Picture Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
1 Annette B. Fromm is the review editor and associate editor of Sephardic Horizons. She is a descendant of a Greek Jewish family on her mother’s side.
2 Geraldine Brooks. 2008. People of the Book. New York: Viking Penguin.