In the spring, everyone in the neighborhood is planting their gardens. They all have little seed packets sticking out of the ground to mark what wonderful plants they are growing. But when the plants begin to poke through the dirt, the neighbors all have pretty flowers in their gardens and this family only has ugly vegetables. "Everyone's garden was beautiful. Our garden was green and ugly." But, her mother assures her that what they have coming up is even better than flowers. This little Chinese girl feels sad. Then, the day comes when the family picks their ugly vegetables and mother teaches her daughter the names of their harvest. Then, mother starts cooking and the most wonderful smell starts wafting through the neighborhood. It's coming from her house. Now, the whole neighborhodd wants to plant Chinese vegetables in their garden. 32 pages