Bilingual Children's Book - Tagalog - English This is an original story on the legend of the bitter gourd. It uses humor to explain why the bitter gourd's skin is wrinkled and why it tastes bitter. The story challenges the child's imagination to picture and experience the vegetable kingdom. At the same time, it teaches against envy and too much love for oneself. This story was selected the best fiction for children in the 1995 National Writers Worshop of the University of the Philippines. For the Filipino and English text, the recommended storyreading age is 4-7 years old. For the Filipino and English text, the recommended independent reading age is 7 years old. Lahi -- Heritage Series Books in this series feature traditional forms of literature such as myths, legends, fables, epics and folk-songs. - from Amzon