Augie D. Rivera, Jr., Alamat ng Ampalaya, PH: Philippine Board on Books for Young People, 2003.

Alamat ng Ampalaya, The Legend of the Bitter Gourd, is an origin story of the the bitter gourd, Ampalaya, became bitter. Ampalaya begins as a pale and bland vegetable with a bad attitude towards the other colorful and tasty vegetables. One night, out of anger jealousy Ampalaya steals Talong's (Eggplant's) skin, the crunchiness of Singkamas (Jicama), the smoothness of Kamatis (tomato), and various characteristics of other vegetables. Ampalaya is caught, punished by the Fairies of the Sun, Moon, and Earth to retain all that he had stolen yet the other vegetables would get their characteristics back - at first Ampalaya was pleased until all the tastes, textures, and colors he had stolen fought with each other until he became a hard, wrinkled, and bitter vegetable. Finally, he feels sorry for what he had done and becomes friends with the other vegetables. What I liked best was the anthropomorphism that the illustrator incorporated into the vegetables and the Sun, Moon, and Earth. However, I would recommended this book for ages 6-10 rather than 4-7. There is too much text per page for younger children to handle and draws attention away from the illustrations. With the translation, this is a perfect read aloud for heritage language learners.

This book is accessible through the International Children's Library at http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/BookPreview?bookid=rivanga_00370015&rou... ( )