Mar 27
Rukhsana Khan’s Big Red Lollipop is my favorite kind of multicultural picture book: the kind that doesn’t sound like a multicultural picture book. I shy away from books that attempt to flaunt their multicultural aspects rather than their great tales. In fact, I find that the more an author attempts to sound ethnic, the less authentic the work reads.
Big Red Lollipop doesn’t try any of the usual tricks:
- Forgetting to focus on the universal story. In Lollipop, the main character Rubina is invited to a schoolmate’s birthday party. Rubina’s mother refuses to let her attend the party unless she brings along her little sister. Readers from any culture can sympathize with the embarrassing situation that follows as well as Rubina’s frustration with her family.
- Dropping in foreign words seemingly for the sake of having foreign words. Nothing wrong with adding well-chosen words, but often the placement of such words comes off as random and unnecessary. Throwing in vocab to add multicultural flair creates hiccups in the flow of the text (especially when nonnative speakers read the books aloud). Who wants a mini-vocab lesson sprinkled over a great story?
- Making cardboard villains. Stereotyped bad guys are common in movies, but they make appearances in children’s lit, too. Lollipop doesn’t try to make villains out of Rubina’s schoolmates (who have a different cultural background than she does). Although the contrast between the social norms of Rubina’s native culture and the one she now lives in causes tension, it’s the situation—not anyone’s ill intent—that’s the problem.
Big Red Lollipop is a worthy book filled with lovely, often clever, illustrations. It’s available at any major retailer. To read it online (and help a worthy organization!) visit www.wegivebooks.org.
