“Eyes that Kiss in the Corners” by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho.
Harper/Collins Children’s Press, 2021, 40 pages, Grades 1-3.
Racial discrimination has a long and ugly history in the United States. People with different physical characteristics are sometimes considered odd or unattractive. But why do these differences matter? All races are created by God and are filled with dignity and beauty.
Unfortunately, Asian people have long suffered racial discrimination. Frequently, the bias begins with the shape of Asian eyes. Whereas some racial groups have round eyes, Asian eyes sometimes “kiss in the corners.” Joanna Ho writes a poignant story of a young elementary school girl realizing the beauty of the shape of her eyes. The name of this lovely story is “Eyes that Kiss in the Corners.”
A young Asian girl gets ready for school. She embraces her mother and begins walking with her friends to the schoolyard. She meets other girls on the way to school and they greet her in a friendly manner. She notices that most of the other girls have round eyes and the child begins thinking about the shape of her eyes. Her eyes are shaped like everyone else in her family. The home is filled with intergenerational kindness and love.
After school, the girl goes home and listens to her grandmother, her Amah, tell stories. She is soon carried away into a world of beautiful princesses playing flutes and dragons coursing across the sky. As Amah drinks her cup of tea, the child realizes that her grandmother’s eyes resemble translucent pools of warm tea. How lovely, inviting and welcoming. Amah’s eyes “kiss in the corners,” just like her own.
Her little sister, Mei-Mei, soon follows her out of the house. Her eyes too kiss at the corners. The girl showers her little sister’s imagination with images of birds having beautiful feathers, and kingdoms in the clouds. At the end of these imaginary adventures, the older sister realizes that her eyes are beautiful and she herself is a gift.
Joanna Ho has written an exquisite story in “Eyes that Kiss at the Corners.” It will help children understand the need to look beyond their own perspective to find beauty in others. No one group has cornered the market on beauty.
While realizing that the author has only so much space to tell the story, I would have appreciated at least one male character in the story. As a former children’s librarian, I believe this story will be very touching and important for young girls. However, I think that many boys will not respond in a similar manner because they will not see themselves in the story. Again, no book can be all things to all people, nor should this be a requirement. But until we begin to broaden our understanding of inclusion, certain groups seem to be left behind. That is usually the boys. Having said that, I highly recommend the book.
