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.

Today is market day.  We hear the bell ringing. Everyone is gathering. The whole town is here ready to celebrate the joy of food. As a young boy and his mother shop for apples and cheese, smoked salmon, and green kale, the author shows how each item is grown or made and introduces the farmers and artisans who work so hard to fill tables and tummies. This book needs to be returned. 

Rebecca Estelle has hated pumpkins ever since she was a girl. When an enormous pumpkin falls off a truck and smashes in her yard, she shovels dirt over the pieces and forgets about them. But those slimy pumpkin smithereens sprout up in autumn, and Rebecca Estelle finds herself with a sea pumpkins. What will she do with so many pumpkins, when she can't stand the sight of even one?