Jak jsem chodila do školy / Sar me phiravas andre škola (How I Went to School)

They don’t call the seven-year-old Romani girl “Big Head” for nothing at home. She is curious, stubborn, and imaginative. In her native village in Slovakia, where she is enjoying a happy childhood in the 1930s, she is therefore an outstanding and unmistakable character. But how can she succeed at school when her poor parents can't even afford a pencil and Romani children are strictly confined to the back row in class? Where can she get the money for an expensive ticket to the circus? Will Saint John help, or will her own ingenuity?

In her bilingual Romani-Czech autobiographical prose, Tera Fabiánová (1930-2007) describes life in the Slovak countryside before World War II. Through the eyes of a restless and eternally positive heroine, she gently demonstrates to young readers what it is like when those around you do not perceive you as an equal and you long to be the same. After all, aren’t we all human beings first and foremost?

The first edition, translated by Milena Hübschmannová, was published in 1992 by ÚDO Publishing House. The first revised edition was published in 2022 by KHER Publishing House with new artwork and graphic design by Martin 3AX Zach.

This book has been published thanks to the kind financial support of the Government Office of the Czech Republic and Bader Philanthropies, Inc.