Eyes that Kiss in the Corners

Hi! Today's blog is about the children's book Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, written by Joanna Ho and illustrated by Dung Ho.

When I was in Vancouver this summer, I visited Granville Island. In one of the market spaces, there was a small bookshop called Nooroongji Books with books from all over the world and in numerous languages. It was the first time I had seen such a wide variety bookstore, as I was used to the plain traditional European-American names covering each book cover at places like Barnes and Noble.

Ho's children's book was one of the first to catch my eye. Though short in actual text, the rich metaphors and similes accompanied by detailed illustrations create a beautiful story. Throughout history, East-Asian eyes with monolids were always seen as something that was bad or needed to be fixed. By using the repetition of descriptions such as "glow" or "kiss" which have a positive tone, the audience can see the dismantling of negative representation of Asian eyes. What I especially love about the story is that it is full of positivity and embraces East-Asian eyes. At the beginning, the main character describes the eyes of her non-Asian friends as "sapphire lagoons with lashes like lace trim on ballgowns." Ho makes an intentional decision not to make the main character feel bad about all of their differences, and instead continues with heartwarming and inspiring comparisons to those in her life. The end of the story ends with this quote: "My eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea are a revolution." I believe this quote implies that we all have to embrace our differences in order to have a "revolution" in confidence and self-love.

I hope you all enjoyed my post, and if you get the chance, visit Nooroongji Books!