A very cute book about an ugly little dumpling who makes friends with a cockroach. I love this book because helps tell a classic story, but with a little Asian twist. In the end, it doesn't matter what's on the outside, it's on the inside that matters. ( )

“The Ugly Dumpling” by Stephanie Campisi delivers the message of friendship and self-acceptance. Campsisi uses personification to depict feelings and friendship between a steamed bun and a cockroach. This story takes place in a dim sum restaurant.

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because of the illustrations. The pictures are cute, and the facial expressions of the steamed bun allow readers to empathize with the main character. I also liked the book because the author used many different onomatopoeias and I appreciated the way that they were each portrayed. For example: “Hiss”, “Thwack”, and “Whoosh” were written like their sounds.

But I didn’t like how the “ugly dumpling” was not really a dumpling at all. The character ended up being a “steamed bun” and looked the same as the other steamed buns. I felt that this took the idea of being different on the outside away. Although, the main character was different on the inside from the other steamed buns, I think the story would have been more effective to keep the character different or “ugly”. ( )

Poor little dumpling doesn't look anything like the other dumplings at the dim sum restaurant. Dumpling meets cockroach, who is determined to show him the beauty of the world, and they being to go on adventures throughout the restaurant. Upon their adventures Dumpling realizes he's not in fact an ugly dumpling but instead a beautiful steamed bun.

I really liked the artwork of this story and feel that it was just as crucial as the text to tell the story. Everyone can also relate to the "ugly duckling" feel and fable included.

A great way to integrate this into the classroom would be to have children make dumplings/steamed buns that all look very different from each other. This could be a great lesson to teach self esteem and the value of being different. Students could also share when they felt like "the odd dumpling out" and a discussion about what to do to feel better in those situations could take place. ( )

The Ugly Dumpling

First, thing I found interesting and took me a couple reads to figure this fact out about the book is that this book uses no gendered pronouns this is simply just in my opinion a story about love. Second, thing I found interesting of course like the rest of the books I have reviewed about illustrates in the case of this book the illustrations are characterized by changes in perspective. Overall, this book in my, opinion is a quirky book, but this surpasses and delights me even past that fact this would be an interest read for anyone I feel.