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4.63 AVERAGE
4.63 AVERAGE
This is such a beautiful book! The artwork is stunning and the story is tender, but has such a strong feeling of love and acceptance.
This is a favorite book in my class and watching their faces light up when they see characters who look like them makes me so emotional.
This is a favorite book in my class and watching their faces light up when they see characters who look like them makes me so emotional.
Such a sweet story! Beautiful imagery and illustrations!
Representation matters, and I’m so glad books like this exist.
This book a short, sweet story of a little girl loving her appearance as is, by acknowledging the unique beauty of her eyes that kiss in the corners. They are the eyes of her mother, the eyes of her Amah (grandmother) the eyes of her sister, they are her eyes and they are beautiful.
This book a short, sweet story of a little girl loving her appearance as is, by acknowledging the unique beauty of her eyes that kiss in the corners. They are the eyes of her mother, the eyes of her Amah (grandmother) the eyes of her sister, they are her eyes and they are beautiful.
A beautiful book about the beauty of eyes that kiss in the corners. Recommended read for lower elementary children.
wow. this one. gorgeous. significant.
Our narrator tells us: “I have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea”—and so does her Mama’s, and Amah’s, and little sister Mei-Mei’s. She has eyes like her Mama, who has eyes like Amah, whose looks like Mei-Mei’s, whose looks like our narrator’s, bringing us back around. “They are me. And they are beautiful,” she (and we) conclude.
All of their eyes are shaped and flecked and sparkling and knowing and storied and affectionate and familiar. As the author Ho distributes loving imagery among the girl’s family members, they are gathered together as the girl tells us more about her eyes. The declarative sentences are powerful.
Dung Ho’s imagery is equally stunning, capturing both the wonder of a mother and daughter at play and that of dragons and phoenixes. I love the touches like the plush monkey king and then the storied one sitting with Guanyin. It tracks with seeing Chang’e and the Jade Rabbit in Amah’s stories before seeing sisters play it out in dress-up pages later. Dung Ho renders, layers and balances the real, the imagined, and the portraited in singular, yet fully integrated ways—resonant with the story Joanna Ho is telling; interrelated, complementary, beautiful.
As much as I appreciate endnotes, I love that Eyes That Kiss in the Corners does not include explanations for the figures of story, jewelry or dress, “oolong,” or the identity and cultural symbolism of flowers, feathers, colors or items about the house… It’s no small thing, the absence of this backmatter. The book doesn’t exist to be educational, served up for another culture’s consumption. Not that it isn’t accessible. Eyes That Kiss in the Corners is a joy to behold and experience.
Also noticeably absent: our first person narrator isn’t thinking about her eyes in response to a bullying incident or a less malevolent query about her eyes. The book opens—well first, with her looking in the mirror by the door on her way out. We can’t see her face so we can’t assume an expression, but her posture is open, the light coming the window is bright, the room itself warm. It reads (especially the second read through) like catching a glimpse of yourself that sparks notice, that maybe even inspires affection.
The book opens with a simple, true observation: “Some people have eyes like…” The description that follows is complimentary and whimsical as our narrator looks toward two smiling, waving girls below the text. [Note their presentation.] While the composition, including the distribution of text, creates distance between girls and narrator, the overall scene is friendly, normal. And while we still cannot see our narrator’s face for expression, she is not smaller on the page, and she, too, is waving. Her simple, “not me,” would be stark in a darker narrative framework. As it is, it reads like we should never have doubted the appearance of the complimentary, whimsical line that will follow when we turn the page. What follows is not an affirmation made in the defensive. She inspires the subject, and in (as) the first person, emphasizes it.
Any notion of centering difference (and thus another eye or culture) or even sharing the oxygen with the idea, is removed as Eyes That Kiss in the Corners moves quickly to speak to how and with whom she shares “eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.” Her eyes are familiar, her inheritance, her loving relationships. This story is for and about this girl, girl’s like her, children like her…an audience that can say they have “eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea” like hers…and like hers, maybe they, too, belong to another, a family, a history. Maybe they “carry stories,” too; and “see how their lashes curve like swords of warriors and, through them, see kingdoms in the clouds.” They too, could be their mother’s “miracle,” be “a revolution.”
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners is a gift. I look forward to this pair of skilled storytellers’ return in The Eyes that Speak to the Stars in 2022. In the meantime, read, buy, share, and support this marvelous book.
Our narrator tells us: “I have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea”—and so does her Mama’s, and Amah’s, and little sister Mei-Mei’s. She has eyes like her Mama, who has eyes like Amah, whose looks like Mei-Mei’s, whose looks like our narrator’s, bringing us back around. “They are me. And they are beautiful,” she (and we) conclude.
All of their eyes are shaped and flecked and sparkling and knowing and storied and affectionate and familiar. As the author Ho distributes loving imagery among the girl’s family members, they are gathered together as the girl tells us more about her eyes. The declarative sentences are powerful.
Dung Ho’s imagery is equally stunning, capturing both the wonder of a mother and daughter at play and that of dragons and phoenixes. I love the touches like the plush monkey king and then the storied one sitting with Guanyin. It tracks with seeing Chang’e and the Jade Rabbit in Amah’s stories before seeing sisters play it out in dress-up pages later. Dung Ho renders, layers and balances the real, the imagined, and the portraited in singular, yet fully integrated ways—resonant with the story Joanna Ho is telling; interrelated, complementary, beautiful.
As much as I appreciate endnotes, I love that Eyes That Kiss in the Corners does not include explanations for the figures of story, jewelry or dress, “oolong,” or the identity and cultural symbolism of flowers, feathers, colors or items about the house… It’s no small thing, the absence of this backmatter. The book doesn’t exist to be educational, served up for another culture’s consumption. Not that it isn’t accessible. Eyes That Kiss in the Corners is a joy to behold and experience.
Also noticeably absent: our first person narrator isn’t thinking about her eyes in response to a bullying incident or a less malevolent query about her eyes. The book opens—well first, with her looking in the mirror by the door on her way out. We can’t see her face so we can’t assume an expression, but her posture is open, the light coming the window is bright, the room itself warm. It reads (especially the second read through) like catching a glimpse of yourself that sparks notice, that maybe even inspires affection.
The book opens with a simple, true observation: “Some people have eyes like…” The description that follows is complimentary and whimsical as our narrator looks toward two smiling, waving girls below the text. [Note their presentation.] While the composition, including the distribution of text, creates distance between girls and narrator, the overall scene is friendly, normal. And while we still cannot see our narrator’s face for expression, she is not smaller on the page, and she, too, is waving. Her simple, “not me,” would be stark in a darker narrative framework. As it is, it reads like we should never have doubted the appearance of the complimentary, whimsical line that will follow when we turn the page. What follows is not an affirmation made in the defensive. She inspires the subject, and in (as) the first person, emphasizes it.
Any notion of centering difference (and thus another eye or culture) or even sharing the oxygen with the idea, is removed as Eyes That Kiss in the Corners moves quickly to speak to how and with whom she shares “eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.” Her eyes are familiar, her inheritance, her loving relationships. This story is for and about this girl, girl’s like her, children like her…an audience that can say they have “eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea” like hers…and like hers, maybe they, too, belong to another, a family, a history. Maybe they “carry stories,” too; and “see how their lashes curve like swords of warriors and, through them, see kingdoms in the clouds.” They too, could be their mother’s “miracle,” be “a revolution.”
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners is a gift. I look forward to this pair of skilled storytellers’ return in The Eyes that Speak to the Stars in 2022. In the meantime, read, buy, share, and support this marvelous book.
april 12 -12, 2021
it was beautiful. the illustrations were so colorful and elegant.
it was beautiful. the illustrations were so colorful and elegant.
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book is MAGIC
i wish it existed when i was younger
i wish it existed when i was younger
Such a beautiful way to imbue a person’s appearance with value and positive qualities. The language and illustrations were also beautiful :))
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reading “Eyes that kiss in the corners “ (2021) was truly a gift. This book is all about learning about how are differences make us unique and that is okay to be different from others. Also this book provides a great understanding about self- love and understanding your own strengths. Learning about our origins and how certain things affect who we are today and how the encourage us is an important lesson that children need to learn. It not only helps them understand themselves better but also those around them. Using this book in my classroom will do all those things and help make my classroom becoming a more welcoming place. <reflective> <empowerment > <life-changing > <warm-hearted>