1. This book, The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin, is about a little girl that is planting a garden with her mother. It was spring time, and it was neighborhood tradition for everyone to plant a vegetable garden. She and her mother planted a garden together, as did the neighbors. As the little girl watched her garden grow she noticed that hers was lacking the beautiful flowers that her neighbors had. When she asked her mother why her garden only had sprouts and no flowers, her mother responded it was because their garden was special. The little girl tried to believe that her garden was special but she could not get over the fact that her garden was not as pretty as every one else's. When the vegetables were finally ready to be picked, the little girl was pleasantly surprised to see what her garden was able to create. Her ugly vegetables made a tasty, special soup that no one else in her neighborhood could replicate. In the end the little girl understood that although her vegetables were not the prettiest they were able to create something beautiful.

2. A lot like the example provided in the instructions, the growth of the plants represents some sort of function in general. Time would be the input, and size of the plan would be the output.

3. Although the book's main purpose was to teach the concepts of patience and understanding, there are subliminal math messages throughout this book. For example, the kids that read this will see that even though the plants start small, they slowly change over time in a consistent way, just like a function does. Literature is great for kids that have trouble with just numbers. Using pictures and words to help them grasp the concepts of mathematics can actually be really helpful for all kids of all ages.