Big Red Lollipop
Khan has an ideal collaborator in Sophie Blackall, whose Chinese ink-and-watercolor drawings convey exquisite detail and precise emotion. Like all the best picture books, “Big Red Lollipop” amply rewards close examination. Look at Rubina’s slumped shoulders at the news that Sana is tagging along to her party: they are a definitive depiction of preadolescent dismay. Rubina, with her tidy ponytail, is all responsibility and deferred gratification. Sana is the untamed middle one, her hair a Ramona mop, sprawled asleep beside her goodie-bag rubble. —New York Times Book Review
(A New York Times Best Illustrated Book, 2010)
Dynamic visual design distinguishes this tale of sibling conflict in an immigrant family. Blackall’s peppy watercolor-and-pencil illustrations hum with vibrancy and a wonderful sense of children in constant motion. Every page shows fresh composition and scale.—Kirkus Reviews
[An] astute and moving story…Blackall’s (Wombat Walkabout ) subtly textured ink portrait shows every nuance of the girl’s sense of social failure.—Publishers Weekly Starred Review