The Ugly Vegetables

by Grace Lin

In this charming story about celebrating differences a Chinese-American girl wishes for a garden of bright flowers instead of one full of bumpy, ugly, vegetables.

The neighbors' gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of "black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers" that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that "these are better than flowers." Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose.

THE UGLY VEGETABLES springs forth with the bright and cheerful colors of blooming flowers and lumpy vegetables. Grace Lin's playful illustrations pour forth with abundant treasures. Complete with a guide to the Chinese pronunciation of the vegetables and the recipe for ugly vegetable soup!

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Childrens, Gardening, Family, Cultural, China

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story about gardening and culture. Most people want to grow flowers until they smell the great smells from this mothers kitchen with her strange Chinese vegetables. In the end people plant some of them around too.

There is a list of veggies in the back and a recipe to make this yummy sounding dish.

The kids liked this book they said, although they don't want to grow the vegetables which do look ugly to them. I had fun reading this book.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this author-illustrator’s Dim Sum for Everyone! and I liked it but was not wowed by either the illustrations or story.

I liked this book, her first book, much better.

For my entire life I’ve wanted a vegetable and herb garden. Flowers have never done it for me as much as does an edible garden.

So, this story, told by a little girl (thinly veiled as it’s obviously about the author) whose mother grows Chinese vegetables instead of flowers, when all the neighbors grow pretty flowers, had me on the mother’s side. The little girl narrator and the neighbors eventually are won over too, and it’s wonderful to see every single household make some changes. It’s very heartwarming when, near the end of the book, the neighborhood shares a meal together. I have to admit that (even though I’m a lifelong vegetable lover) it crossed my mind that it might not be entirely realistic how everyone, including every single neighborhood child, are instant fans of vegetable soup, especially one with unfamiliar vegetables.

There is a “The Ugly Vegetables” page in the back that lists each vegetable in 4 ways: with Chinese characters, as a picture, in English alphabet for pronunciation, and a description of each vegetable. There is also a recipe for “Ugly Vegetable Soup” which unfortunately isn’t vegan or even vegetarian, but could easily be veganized; the recipe as is has both chicken broth and chicken in it. I thought I’d know all the vegetables but a few were ones about which I’d never known.

The art style here is similar to the Dim Sum book but it worked better here partly because there was so much more detail in the illustrations. The story was also more of a real story.

I have at least a couple more of Lin’s books on my to-read shelf and I hope to get to them.

[Harold Underdown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Grace Lin's first published book. I acquired it soon after I arrived at Charlesbridge, having met Grace when she was still a student at RISD. It's a simple story with folktale undercurrents about a Chinese-American family that grows vegetables--ugly ones, in the opinion of the girl narrator--while the neighbors grow flowers. But one day, they harvest the vegetables, and then the magic happens...

[Julie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

One hundred years ago, when I was in middle school, I befriended a girl who had recently moved to the U.S. with her family from Greece.

She invited me to her birthday party, which included roughly 200 people, a pit in the backyard where someone was roasting a lamb, and adults going up onto the roof to shout toasts (maybe to the birthday girl, maybe not) in Greek.

My friend took me roughly by the arm and made me sit with her in her bedroom while she cried angry tears over her weird Greek relatives and I nodded with compassion and interest while I shoveled fistfuls of Greek food into my mouth.

She wanted to deny everything Greek; I wanted to be adopted by whoever prepared the feast.

So, imagine the smile on my face when I discovered this sweet, brilliant little book, all about having one of those wacky immigrant families.

Here the family is Chinese, and Mom insists that they grow the ugly Chinese vegetables, good for the body, not so pretty in the yard.

This story took me back to a happy place and would probably be appreciated by any child, ages 4-8, and especially by a child struggling to make her weird immigrant family blend in with the landscape.

[Tiffany Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book presents itself from a child's perspective and how this Chinese girl views her own culture. Everyone in her neighborhood is planting flowers while this little girl's mom is planting "ugly" plants. She had to ask her mom why can't she plant flowers like the other families. The mom had to tell the girl that the vegetables are more useful than those flowers. Later on when the plants are done the mom took the vegetables and made it into a stew. The stew smelled so good the entire neighborhood smelled it and came over to the little's girls house to taste some. After that the neighborhood also started to plant the vegetables.
The girl learned to embrace her own culture. The story teaches a great lesson for children who still have not accepted their family culture. The ending was also great when the entire neighborhood accepted the family and it's food helping the child learn to appreciate her own culture.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story that celebrates vegetable gardening, and introduces children to potentially unfamiliar Chinese veggies and the proper Chinese names of each of them. This book made me hungry for a vegetable stir-fry!

Veg*n parents note: While the story itself is a very positive introduction to the world of plant foods, it includes a recipe for the soup prepared in the story, which includes both chicken and chicken broth. These could easily be replaced with vegetable broth and either tofu or soy chik'n strips. However, it would have been most helpful had the author provided exchanges within the recipe.

[Alissia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My angelic little cousin recommended me this book. The angelic part is not true the last time I saw her she scolded me in bulgarian. I dont even understand bulgarian.
Anyways.

When I read the title I thought. "This is so bizzare! No vegetable is ugly." But then I read this book and I realized just how wrong I was. Vegetables CAN be ugly. (joking)
This was the book that originally got me into Grace Lin. Grace Lin should and will be THE author of the century (I have faith in her)! The way she writes her books make them flow as smooth as silk, and the drawings are simply marvelous.

Id like to talk a bit more her method of writing. Her sentences are relatively short and easy to understand (unlike all FRENCH books...) She uses fun adjectives and words. She makes the kids in her books realistic, meaning that she doesnt have them speak like ancient poets. Grace Lin manages to explain everything in detail without making it too much. Her stories go in a perfect and consistent pace.

My favorite book she wrote was called "where the mountain meets the moon." I only read two of her books, including this one, but lets ignore that useless detail. This book is so beautiful. If youre looking for a book filled with adventure and suspence and love Grace Lin, I'd reccomend this book. (This book is a little longer than The Ugly Vegetables- by about 250 pages.)

[Brady Merrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a feel good book to read for me. After watching Grace Lin's TED Talk, this book goes so much deeper than a Chinese family growing vegetables. This book shows the pride in her culture that she did not have as a younger girl. Lin's book acts as a mirror to young Chinese girls and boys. This allows them to develop that sense of self-worth that Lin struggled with as a child.

[ireneekins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A random choice from my daughter at the library turned out to be a surprising winner. We love this book! Highly recommend.

[Wendi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my three year old, and we both enjoyed it. We're currently growing our own vegetable garden, and it was fun to see how the protagonist's opinion of her mother's "ugly" garden changed. A lovely book about embracing our cultural roots and sharing them with family and neighbors.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I first read this book as part of the second grade curriculum I taught when I was a teacher in Taiwan, but I'm putting the date I read it to my daughter as the date read.)

I love this story of a young girl learning to be proud of her culture via the plants her mother grows in their garden, which are "icky" and "ugly" compared to the flowers their neighbors grow. Kids of minority cultures in the USA can feel embarrassed by the littlest things that make them stand out, and I think it's so important for them to associate being "different" as being "cool" and "unique," not "weird."

My grandparents/parents have always had a vegetable garden, and now that I've moved my family back to the states I want to carry on the tradition with the addition of some of our favorites from Taiwan that you can't get here (like 地瓜葉 (sweet potato leaves) and 苦瓜 (bitter melon)... Maybe even 水蓮 (water lily)... 😋). Now if only we could grow some of the same fruit this far north!

[Zoraya Brown]

Children and I would use this book as part of our learning about plants, foods, flowers and gardens. The book would also be a great way to discuss how doing some things differently than others helps us more in life, while others are for pleasure and looking good. For example in this story, the gardens of vegetables and flowers are compared. Children could bring packs of vegetable and flower seeds that their parents have taken them to select, (or I would probably feel more comfortable having them choose, then I buy the seeds), which we would use to start a garden outside, as well as put seeds and soil in cups inside the classroom, and explore their growth process through the senses of touch, vision and smell. We would water them all and watch them grow, then draw photos and use journals to share our experiences. Multiple lessons are gained across many domains with this activity.

[Joelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful picture book about a Chinese girl's developing understanding of the beauty of her mother's vegetable garden. This is a great read aloud as it stresses the hidden beauty of vegetables, the importance of cultural heritage, and building community. The illustrations are also colorful and rich.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written and illustrated as a debut by Grace Lin, according to flap. It's about growing Chinese vegetables even though everyone else grows flowers. Once they're harvested and cooked, though, the whole neighborhood comes together in community and joy. Read for the "November 2020: Shared Meals / Food-Based Gatherings" theme in Children's Books group.

[Crystal Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book! I used this book in a lesson to teach children the concept of gardening and planting. Children will learn where fruit and vegetables that they come from.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure how many times I read this book to my kids over the last few months. Too many to count. It's still enjoyable and that says a lot to me.

Being a picture book one might expect a simple, fun story but The Ugly Vegetables manages to be more than that. I find a mother working to keep a piece of her culture alive for herself and her daughter, and more than that, share that culture with those around her in the most delicious way.

This is a 5 star book for me (Excellent, would read again!) and a member of the 25+ club twice over!

[Brooklyn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the difference between a young girls garden of Chinese vegetables compared to the neighbors gardens of beautiful flowers. At first, the girl wished her garden looked like all the neighbors gardens. However, at the end of the story, her mom made a delicious soup out of their vegetables and all the neighbors wanted some. They brought over their flowers to trade. Then, the next year everyone was growing both flowers and Chinese vegetables. I love this story because it showed that just because you do something different from others that doesn't mean it is wrong.

[Robbi Hawkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ugly Vegetables is a fantastic book for many different reasons. There is such rich vocabulary and description words for the Chinese vegetables they are growing. The Chinese culture in this story is also embedded very well, and the soup they create at the end looks and sounds delicious. There are many times throughout this story that allow for questions and predictions, specifically with what everyone is growing. This book also provides children with an understanding of a neighborhood or community and that being different is a good thing. The gardening feature of this story also allows it to be great for a science lesson as well. I will definitely be using this book in my classroom this year!

[Melanie Mccausland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read the book "The Ugly Vegetables" by Grace Lin. I found this book to be very interesting as it taught me about various Chinese vegetables and taught me how to use those vegetables to make soup. I felt this book was a very delightful read as it was full of colorful images and accurate illustrations. This book really emphasized the benefits of being unique and demonstrated how following everyone else's lead isn't always the best route to take because being different could be greater than you may think.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a little girl who thinks her mother's Chinese vegetables are ugly compared to her neighbor's flowers, but soon learns how delicious they are!

Read / supplemented for our LA/GEO China unit.

[Ember Air · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me so happy; I wish it was around when I was little! I always wondered why our garden was never as "pretty" as our neighbors, and then on the return side of that, wondered why the other gardens weren't edible (harsh life lesson - not all plants are edible, no matter how much they look like spinach). Wonderful story and artwork!

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mom and her daughter plant a garden when all their neighbors are planting flowers in the spring. They plant Chinese vegetables, but the daughter wishes they had planted flowers until her mom harvests the vegetables and cooks up a delicious soup.

[Hana Sm. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book because it could show children how to have pride in their family traditions & not be embarrassed. This is the story of a Chinese girl who lives in a neighborhood where everyone seems to be planting a garden. As she helps her mom plant their garden, she notices that everyone else in the neighborhood is planting flowers, but her mom is planting vegetables. She complains but her mom tells her that, "These are better than flowers." The girl is OK with this until...she notices that the vegetables coming up look ugly. "Before long our vegetables grew. Some were big and lumpy. Some were thin and green and covered with bumps. Some were just plain icky yellow. They were ugly vegetables."

She is very disappointed and embarrassed. Her mom tells her the Chinese names of the vegetables: names like sheau hwang gua and shiann tsay and torng hau. After her mom makes vegetable soup, the neighborhood wonders what the wonderful smell is. The mom invites the neighbors over for soup and gives them soup to take home. Finally the girl appreciates her family's garden. [Note: In the back of the book there is a list of Chinese vegetables and how to pronounce their names.]

After I read this book to my class, I could show real American vegetables that the children aren't familiar with. Most city children don't know what an eggplant, leek, or radish looks like.

[Louise Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have been studying the Chinese new year in a reception class and this story was a nice change from all of the New years themed books that we had been reading.

The story revolves around a little girl and her mother planting a garden full of vegetables while their neighbours fill theirs with pretty and sweet smelling flowers.
The little girl is dismayed with the gardens appearance but when her neighbours come to her house bringing flowers in exchange for soup, she can see that her mother has achieved something really wonderful. the little girl really enjoys the soup that her mother has essentially grown from the garden.
This story was useful in relating the idea of the Chinese new year back to the spring, when it is celebrated. We talked in class about seasons and why they are important to us.

The children enjoyed looking at the detailed and colourful illustrations, picking out the different activities that the people were doing. We also talked about how we could tell that the story was not set in a city or town, and how the children were able to tell this from the illustrations. In addition we also talked about sitting around tables and meals as families. Do the children always sit around a table and eat with their families or do thy usually do this for special occasions?

overall this was quite an engaging book for the children to read and provided a lovely insight into some new and interesting ideas.

[Caycee Hatchette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal reaction: I thought this was a cute book and I enjoyed reading it. It would be a good read aloud book and I think more students would be interested in that, rather than individually reading it on their own time.

I would probably read this book aloud to first graders. The main character in the story asks a lot of questions and I think that first graders would be able to easily relate. I would incorporate a science unit with this book reading because it's a book about the family growing vegetables. It also brings about the theme of the little girl feeling different and jealous because all of her neighbors are growing beautiful flowers and her mom is only growing vegetables. The book comes to a close though and the girl ends up feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment, so this a great book for children that are younger. There wasn't much figurative language in this book but it was full of strong word choice. There were words that were specific to Chinese culture and so when reading this and coming across these words, I would explain what the words meant. The illustrations were also beautifully colorful and detailed. There was such an elaborate scene drawn out that really captivated me when reading it.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my colleagues has chosen to do a 'food' year with her primary students. They will study gardens, growing in the wild, different cultures, cooking, and any other topic connected to food. We share many picture books and I count it as a pleasure whenever I can find a book about food that she doesn't know. I learn a lot from her about books, but also about teaching the youngest students in our school. Recently she shared this book with me, and I am excited to review it. It tells about a young girl who wonders why her mother is planting vegetables, digging deep into the earth with shovels while the neighbors plant flowers with trowels. It is hard work. But when the vegetables are finally grown, harvested, and made into soup, the neighbors show up at the door with flowers so they can trade for a bowl of that wonderfully smelling soup. These are Chinese vegetables, which Grace Lin so beautifully explains in the story, and adds more information in the back matter, along with the recipe. Illustrations are so colorful, filling pages with happy scenes of gardening. It's a terrific book that celebrates cultural differences in quite a tasty way.

[Ting Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book “The Ugly Vegetables” is suitable to use for ages 3 to 6. It was written by Grace Lin. It tells a story of in the spring, a young Chinese girl helps her mother start their garden. They saw their neighbor’s gardens look very prettier. I like this book provide bright and beautiful pictures. This book is very good for teaching vegetable. Vegetable can be used to help children learn about science, health, and safety. This book can help children to know about fruits and vegetables that are good for their body. It influences children’s eating habits and interest in food. Their positive attitude about food and eating is an important part in their growth and development. Healthy eating habits will bring a healthy lifestyle. Many fat children have bad dietary habits and lifestyles. The teacher can play food activity with children. The food activity can train children social leaning and fine Motor Skills.

[Cheryl P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book is about a young girl and her family garden. She and her mother planted Chinese vegetables but all of the neighbors planted flowers. All of the neighbors' flowers came up and looked beautiful, but her vegetable garden looked ugly. This made her feel very different. It wasn't until harvest, when the little girl realized how special her vegetables were. When her mother made soup using the vegetables, everyone in the neighborhood could smell it and came carrying flowers to trade for some delicious soup. I identified voice and conventions as writing traits for this story. It is easy to tell that the author has connections to the story. The little girl's feelings are demonstrated so clearly through the writing. This book is also a good example of conventions, including capitalization and punctuation. I would use this book when talking about and celebrating diversity. This would also be a good mentor text for conventions to be used in the older elementary grades.

[Katelyn Agnone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin. This book followed the journey of a young girl who was jealous of the beautiful flower gardens grown by her neighbors, while she only had the ugly vegetables that she planet with her mom. She sure did change her mind when the vegetables became ripe and her mom made a delicious Chinese soup with them, which ended up making the neighbors jealous of her instead. Next season, the neighbors grew the ugly vegetables too. The story was lengthier than most picture books, having a multiple paragraphs per page. The words were pretty simple, making it easy to follow along and read. The illustrations were very colorful and made the story flow along well. I think that this story would be great for any grade level child because of the important lesson learned throughout it; beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes beauty is hidden, you just have to be open minded to find it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ugly Vegetables is a book about appreciating culture and diversity. It is a story of a young girl and mother who plant a garden. Throughout the different stages in the garden the young girl is questioning her mother and ashamed of the type of garden they are planting and wishing it looked more like their neighbor's garden. The young girl is from an Asian culture (and right now the culture is drawing a blank) and her neighbor's garden is the "American" version of what a garden looks like.

I like this story because it teaches the students two things: how to make a garden and to be proud of who they are and where they came from. It is a really great book that has a powerful message as well. This book is great for working on the reading skills: compare and contrast as well as sequencing.