Disclosure

This is a sponsored post. MiJa Books sent me books for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Affiliate links are used in this post. You can read my full disclosure here.

About MiJa Books

MiJa Books is an online multicultural and diverse bookshop founded by Stephanie and Muammar Reed. Their mission is to help make it easier for families to find picture books for kids featuring protagonists of color by creating a one-stop online bookshop.

MiJaBooks has curated a wide range of diverse children's books that are geared for ages 0 to 9. They also have books available in Spanish and do read-alouds on their YouTube channel, so you can preview some of the books before you purchase.

I was recently given the opportunity to review a couple of the books available on their site, and I share my thoughts below.

Honeysmoke: A Story of Finding Your Color

About:

Honeysmoke: A Story of Finding Your Color is written by Monique Fields and illustrated by Yesenia Moises. The book features a biracial girl named Simone who has a black mom and a white dad, but one day realizes her skin is different from theirs. She wants a word all her own to describe her color and chooses Honeysmoke because she is a mix of honey brown (like her mom) and smokey white (like her dad).

Honeysmoke is recommended for ages 3 to 8.

You can purchase the book at MiJa Books.

My Review:

The illustrations by Yesenia Moises are gorgeous and I loved how diverse the characters in the story were.

The author, Monique Fields, really captures the mind of a child. The main character, Simone, has a simple question: "What color am I?" She tries to find the answer by comparing her skin to her mom, her dad, her teddy bears, and she even asks her friends, but she still feels unsatisfied as none of the colors match her, so she creates her own color by combining her mom and dad's colors.

Being mixed, myself, I can relate to the main character. I never felt I was truly white or Asian. I love how Simone decides she's her very own color (her very own person), and that the book encourages children to find their own color word at the end, showing that we are all different and that's what makes us uniquely us.

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners

About:

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners is written by Joanna Ho and illustrated by Dung Ho. This children's book features an Asian girl who notices that her eyes look different from other kids at school. While the other kids have big, round eyes and long lashes, she has eyes like her mother’s, her grandmother's, and her little sister's. Eyes that kiss the corners. She comes to realize at the end of the book just how beautiful she is, just like the other women in her family.

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners is recommended for ages 3 to 9.

You can purchase the book at MiJa Books.

My Review:

Being half-Chinese, I can relate to the main character of this book. She starts off by noticing other students' eyes are different from hers, but then she realizes that they are the same as her mom, her grandmother's, and her sister's. She loves how their eyes look at her and she realizes just how special her eyes that "kiss in the corners" and "glow like warm tea are". This is a wonderful book about self-acceptance.

The author, Joanna Ho, does a wonderful job coming up with artistic and beautiful ways to describe eyes. They "glow like warm tea," "crinkle into crescent moons," and as the title says: "kiss in the corners."

I also loved the cultural references in the book, from wearing traditional clothes to mentioning the Monkey King. The illustrations by Dung Ho are also very beautiful.

MiJa Books currently has a special Mother's Day bundle available!

The limited-edition Mother's Day gift bundle is the perfect gift for mom! Complete with mom-themed books and a greeting card, sure to make mom smile.

The Bundle includes:

You Be Mommy (2021) – board book by Karla Clark, illustrated by Zoe Persico
I Love Mommy Everyday (2021) – hardcover by Isabel Otter, illustrated by Alicia Más
One FREE Color-Me-In, bilingual (English-Spanish) Mother’s Day greeting card (5″ x 7″)
One FREE “MiJa Merch” package