This book captures the A-Z of soybeans - how soybeans are grown, harvested, chipped and marketed. It describes how soybeans are used for other purposes, like crayons, ink, fuel, plastics and soap. Also describes the history and origins of the soybean in China and how they came to Legrow so plentifully in the US.

In this picture book for older readers, the author remembers growing up in the American midwest, in rural Indiana, at a time when there were few other Chinese families around. When she sees her Chinese cousins in Chicago, they have Chinese lessons, time to play, and lots of dumplings. While driving from Indiana to Chicago, they discover a farmer growing soybeans, a food they dearly missed from China. They are thrilled and a tradition is born. They pick soybeans from the befuddled farmer (at the time soybeans were grown only for pig feed) and take them home for their family's first soybean picnic. Over the years, the soybean picnic becomes an annual affair, with more and more Chinese families invited to share the treat. Soon the event grew so big it had to be held at a city park.