The Ugly Vegetables

This fiction book is a good introduction to multiculturalism and the benefits of differences. A little girl is distressed by the ugly vegetables her mother is growing in their garden. The neighbors were all growing pretty flowers that filled the yards with color, aromas and pretty butterflies flitting about. But the plants grown by the girl's mother in her garden looked strange and the vegetables it yielded were ugly and bumpy. When it came time for harvest, the girl's mother filled the air with a wonderful aroma. The whole neighborhood stopped to partake of the delightful scent. Before long the neighborhood is gathering to trade their flowers for her soup. The book closes with a list of the "ugly" Chinese vegetables, their names, pronunciations, images, and descriptions along with the recipe for the "Ugly Vegetable Soup."