Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan
Published by Viking Books on March 4, 2010
A Pakistani-American Story
Key Words: Sisters, Candy, Growth, Immigration, Empathy
Summary: The Big Red Lollipop is about a Pakistani family that has recently immigrated to Canada, and the oldest daughter, Rubina, gets invited to a birthday party. Her younger sister, Sana, insists on going with her, though, which leads her mom to only allow Rubina to go if she takes Sana with her. While Sana cries at the party when she loses the party games, Rubina did not mind it as much as she thought. However, when Sana eats Rubina’s lollipop that she had saved for the morning, she gets mad at her sister. The sisters grow up, and one day Sana gets invited to go to a party, but her mother insists that she also take her youngest sister, Maryam. But after thinking about this, Rubina interferes and tells her mom that she should allow Sana to go alone. Sana comes home after the party and gives Rubina a lollipop, which becomes symbolic of their new friendship.
Book lesson: The lesson in this book is to value your sibling and be a bigger person, not being petty, because that is when you grow as a person. This is the case with Rubina and Sana, because Rubina could have had Sana go through what she had gone through at the party, but instead, she helps Sana out. Rubina’s help is something that Sana recognizes and appreciates, symbolized by the lollipop given to her at the end.
Censorship: Banned in Duval County, Florida, as of March 29, 2023 (Tolin, 1)
Highlights: Rubina and Sana have a very realistic sibling relationship, which becomes one of the highlights. Rather than their relationship being perfect from the beginning, they go through many difficulties to reach the point of being able to be friends, which is something that often happens.
Children’s identity: By depicting Pakistani culture, for example, Rubina’s mother, when she asks to attend a birthday party, questions who would ever celebrate their birthday, illustrating the differences within cultures and practices.Through representing Pakistani culture while reflecting on Western culture, it offers insight into the struggles of immigration and helps children gain awareness of the hardships of coming from a different background. For children who have experienced something similar to this story, it would allow them to relate to these characters and realise that their experiences are valid and many have previously gone through similar situations.
Sense of Family: Family is a focal point of this book, demonstrated through the journey of Rubina and her sister Sana.While it starts with difficulties of Rubina and Sana not getting along and fighting, it results in resolving their issues and forming a friendship.
Sense of how others perceive us: Rubina considers how others will perceive her throughout the book, and this is something that brings her fear and anxiety. This nervousness specifically becomes exemplified when her mom pushes her to take her sister, Sana, with her to the party, and she is afraid of what others will think of her. Yet, when she takes her sister with her, she realises that it was not as bad as she expected, and that she would eventually move past it.
Sense of Belonging/community: Rubina struggles with feeling like she does not belong because of Sana being with her at the party, which worsens as she does not receive other party invitations for a long time. Although she goes through this challenging journey because of Sana, when it is time for Sana to go to parties, she tells her mom to let Sana go alone. This illustrates how much this did affect Rubina’s sense of belonging and community, and that she does not want her sister to go through the same thing.
