Eyes that Kiss the Corners Book Review
Ho, Joanna and Ho, Dung. EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS. New York: HarperCollins.
ISBN: 978-0062915627
Johanna Ho's book Eyes that Kiss in the Corners is a celebration of Chinese culture, ancestry, family, and discovering who you are. That's a lot to manage in a short picture book, but Joanna Ho and Dung Ho do so by combining their lush narration and evocative, saturated illustrations.
Our narrator begins the book by describing herself as what she is not. She describes her classmates at school with large, colorful eyes and long eyelashes. Dung Ho illustrates the variety of eye colors available to her white, Hispanic, and African American friends, using vivid, saturated colors. She uses effusive, flowing imagery like, "sapphire lagoons" and "eyelashes like lace" (p. 1-2). For herself, she simply says, "Not me" (p. 2). At first, the reader feels a little sad at this terse comparison. We are meant to understand the feeling of "other" in this moment.
However, our protagonist does not linger in the negative connotation of this comparison. Instead, she almost takes a gentle breath, with two simple sentences on the next two pages, before diving into a many-paged exploration of her eyes: what they look like, where they come from, and how they make her feel. She explains that her eyes "glow like warm tea" (p. 3) like her mother's, then uses the same exuberant prose to describe her mother and their relationship: "crescent moons;" "eyes sparkling like stardust" (p. 5-6). Dug Ho's illustration on p. 5-6 also portrays exuberance and movement. The collision of mother and daughter after a day's work leaps from the page in shared love and joy.
The protagonist goes on to link her eyes that "glow like warm tea" to her grandmother "Amah" (the Chinese name for "grandmother") and her little sister, Mei-Mei. This highlights the ancestral link that is an important part of the protagonist's Chinese cultural heritage. It also links herself to her family in both physical and emotional ties. Joanna Ho writes in Chinese folkloric metaphors and stories in the protagonist's description of her physical attributes and her family members. This includes the Guanyin, the Monkey King, and lychee trees. It imbues the descriptions with vibrancy and historical and cultural context. Dung Ho pairs this with saturated, vibrant illustrations that reflect other Chinese folkloric metaphors for our protagonist's descriptions. On p. 12 she includes an illustration of Fa Mulan, suggesting our protagonist is courageous. The protagonist is shown wearing a hanfu dress, similar to the ones in the more classical Chinese illustrations Dung Ho utilizes on p. 6. Dung Ho uses this more classical style to distinguish between the modern setting of our protagonist and her imagination. Dung Ho also figures other Chinese folklore in her illustrations: the phoenix and dragon. All these illustrations reflect our protagonist's fierce pride in her heritage and physical attributes. She ends the book by saying, "My eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea are a revolution" (p. 25). She is a girl firmly grounded in who she is, where she comes from, and who loves her.
Eyes that Kiss the Corners Read-Aloud
My favorite part of this book is Dung Ho's use of camellias throughout the book. They caught my eye because I had several beautiful camellia trees at my beloved house of 20 years, and camellias played an important role in a cherished friendship. When I noticed that the camellias were all over this book (including many different colors), I researched the camellia and found that they are native to China and many parts of Asia. Chinese people have been drinking camellia tea for thousands of years. It is also considered good luck. It is an important flower in China.
Program Connection
Students will learn about similes and metaphors. Then they will create similes and metaphors for their eyes and other physical features, drawing pictures to highlight them.
Comments
Post a Comment