//styling child while mouse is inside child element
$('child').on('hover', function(e){
   if (e.type == 'mouseenter'){
      $(this).css('background','yellow');
   }
})

   // styling child while mouse is inside parent
$('child').parents().on('hover', function (e){
   if (e.type == 'mouseenter'){
      $(this).css('background', 'blue');
   }
})