Have you read The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin? We suggest getting your hands on a copy of this memorable, delightful book that we recommend for ages 4 to 10 years old. Not only is it a precious, well-told story, but the book is a wonderful lesson in gardening, patience, and culture appreciation. While it's not a Thanksgiving book per se, it's one of our favorite books for reading during harvest time, and we've personally read it to our own kiddos over and over and over again!
The book's main character, a Chinese-American girl, wishes for a garden of pretty, bright flowers instead of the bumpy, ugly vegetables her moms insists on planting in their garden. While she watches the neighbors' gardens come to life with their exciting colors and beautiful blooms, she watches her own family's Chinese garden - with it's "fuzzy wrinkled leaves" and "prickly stems"- with dissatisfaction. Come harvest time, however, everyone agrees that those ugly Chinese vegetables have been transformed into the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known! At the back of the book, there's even a soup recipe!
From Amazon: "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."
