Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan is today’s pick for Perfect Picture Book Friday and National Sibling Day!
Illustrated by: Sophie Blackall
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (March 2010)
Suitable for ages: 4-8
Themes: cultural awareness, immigrant experiences, cultural conflict, sibling-rivalry, tolerance, dealing with anger, frustration, jealousy
Brief Synopsis: Rubina is invited to a birthday party and her little sister Sana asks to tag along. But Rubina tries to convince her mother it’s not a good idea to bring someone to a party when they are not invited. Rubina’s mother does not understand why bringing her little sister is a problem. She also doesn’t understand why someone would celebrate a birthday since that is not a tradition in their culture. Sana persists and although embarrassed, Rubina asks the host for permission to bring her. At the party Sana misbehaves. And not only does Sana eat the candy in her party bag when they get home, but Rubina is not invited to another party for a long time. When Sana is invited to a party, the third sibling, Maryam, asks to go too. But this time, Sana is the one who doesn’t want a tag-a-long. Rubina’s intervention helps her family understand North American culture.
Opening pages: “I am so excited I run all the way home from school.
“Ami! I’ve been invited to a birthday party! There’s going to be games and toys, cake and ice cream! Can I go?”
Sana screams, “I wanna go too!”
Ami says, “What’s a birthday party?”
“It’s when they celebrate the day they were born.”
“Why do they do that?”
“They just do! Can I go?”
Why I like this book: I enjoyed this book because it weaves sibling rivalry in the backdrop of a story about an immigrant family from Pakistan. The are two ongoing conflicts, the first between the siblings and the second is adapting to a new culture. An excellent choice to introduce cultural awareness,teach tolerance, address cultural practices, and address the sibling dynamic present in all families regardless of heritage.
Resources: See the Teacher’s Guide here.
For more of today’s book reviews, go to author Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book page.
Like Pat I remember this book at the 2011 Conference and listening to Rukhsana. I love multicultural stories. This is delightful. Thanks for reviewing it.
I would love to hear her speak. Thanks for stopping by!
Love the sound of this book. So many good qualities.
Hope you are able to find and read it Rachel. Thanks for stopping by.
Great review! One of my very favorite multicultural books. I heard Rukhsana Kahn tell the story at the 2011 SCBWI conference in LA. She is a born storyteller and such a lovely person. Later interviewed her on my blog. I have given this book to so many children as a gift. Hope you check out her other books.
I certainly will Patricia. They all look delightful.
Hi Keila, I just read an agent interview in which Big Red Lollipop came up as a favorite PB. Thanks for your review. I need to check it out.
Not surprised, I really enjoyed it.
This sounds like a great one for so many reasons. Will definitely have to check it out. Thanks, Keila!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!