With humor, style, and succinct, admirable precision, Heller summarizes everything most people will ever need to know about this particular area of grammarA treasure. --Kirkus Reviews Its lush, exuberant, full-color artwork will grab kids' attention, even if they're sitting at the back of the classroom. --Booklist Her subject, made interesting by a rhyming text and brilliantly colored picture, will appeal to everyone. -- Horn Book. Q&A - Ruth Heller - A Paperstar Profile How did you become interested in writing books for children? I loved reading to my own children, and when they started school, I became the P.T.A. library chairman. I was the one who got to pick and choose and spend a nice fat budget for the elementary school library. I feel as though I've been surrounded by children's books for years. I suppose this and my strong art background are what prompted my trying to write. What is the biggest influence in your style of writing, and how has it changed since you first began? Hillaire Belloc, Gilbert and Sullivan, Edward Lear--I grew up reading all of them. I love their rhythm, and I loved reading Dr. Seuss to my children. No question, these were my influences. I think I've become wordier, not quite as minimal and succinct as I used to be. What made you decide to write a series on the parts of speech? Take a peek at the back end paper of the hardcover edition of A Cache of Jewels. You'll see that I committed myself, in print, to writing a book for each part of speech. Here I am, ten years later, thankfully completing the very last book in this series. It will be published in 1998. Do you begin with the words or pictures when you are developing a book? How does the second part come together? The first step is to decide what I am going to say on each page. Then I can begin to visualize my illustrations. The words dictate what the illustration will be, but that still gives me many options. Sometimes the two come together easily, sometimes not. If not, I pursue new research material until something clicks. Did you learn anything new about the parts of speech while writing these books? I learned many things I had forgotten, and some new information and rules that I had never known. I also learned that the textbooks that I used for research were difficult to understand and somewhat boring, and that I am guilty of frequent misuse of the English language. How do you choose the images in your book? An art teacher once told me to fall in love with whatever I was drawing. So I choose images that I love: candy, ice cream, butterflies, sea creatures, carousels, jewels, etc.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
To further a child's grasp of the meaning and function of adjectives, this gorgeous picture book provides enrichment and depth of understanding. As in her other pictorial explorations of parts of speech, Kites Sail High (verbs) and A Cache of Jewels (collective nouns), Heller uses a rhymed text in juxtaposition with bold, brilliant, double-page spreads. These books are a visual and auditory feast, designed to make language discovery appealing and rewarding. Young readers will certainly enjoy--and benefit from--Heller's elegant elucidations, and perhaps all should heed her parting advice: "Whenever you find yourself in doubt / be cautious and be wary. / It's often very helpful / to consult your dictionary." Ages 6-8.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
"Writing and illustrating my own books have given me the opportunity to choose subjects of interest to me."--Ruth HellerAfter receiving a fine arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and completing two years of graduate work in design at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, Ruth Heller began her career designing wrapping paper, cocktail napkins, greeting cards, and coloring books. After five years of rejection and one complete revision, Heller's first book, Chickens Aren't the Only Ones, about egg-laying animals, was published in 1981. It was so successful that the sequel, and second book to be published, Animals Born Alive And Well (1982), about mammals, quickly followed. In 1983 and 1984, her third and fourth titles, The Reason For A Flower (about plants that have seeds and flowers) and Plants That Never Ever Bloom (about plants that do not) were published.She then began work on a collection of six books, the How To Hide series on camouflage and the magic of this phenomenon in nature, which covered the entire animal kingdom -- insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and sea creatures. The next collection of books became a five-volume series on parts of speech: A Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns; Kites Sail High: A Book About Verbs; Many Luscious Lollipops: A Book About Adjectives; Merry-Go- Round: A Book About Nouns; and Up, Up and Away: A Book About Adverbs. She also wrote and illustrated the unique and fascinating book Color, a charming and instructive guide to how art goes through the four color printing process.Among the notable people who have had an influence on Heller's writing have been: Ogden Nash, Gilbert and Sullivan, Edward Lear, Hilaire Belloc, and Dr. Seuss. Heller says of her work, "All my books are nonfiction picture books in rhyme. I find writing in rhyme enjoyable and challenging, and I think it is an easy way for children to learn new facts and acquire a sophisticated vocabulary. Children are not intimidated by big words. I try to make my writing succinct and allow the illustrations to convey as much information as possible."On October 31, 1995, Grosset & Dunlap continues Heller's parts-of-speech books with the publication of Behind the Mask: A Book About Prepositions, a clever, thoughtful, eye-pleasing explanation of just how prepositions tell us about the "when" and "where" of things.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautfully illustrated and well-written,
This review is from: Many Luscious Lollipops (World of Language) (Paperback)
This is a book that teaches children about adjectives in the English language. It goes beyond the obvious in adjectives to cover the demonstrative and possessive adjectives in our language. A must have for foreign language teachers who wish to sneak in some English grammar in a cute, fun way, elementary school teachers, English teachers teaching the parts of speech, parents wanting to educate their children in a fun way!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Educational, creative book that teaches Adjectives.,
By Cady Hayden "Children's Book Author" (Bergenfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Many Luscious Lollipops (World of Language) (Paperback)
Nice, bright, creative illustrations. Great book to base an adjective lesson on in elementary school. The book explains all types of adjectives: proper, demonstrative, predicate, possessives, articles, superlatives. Also helpful for parents who want to help their kids who are having trouble learning about adjectives.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Many Luscious Lollipops,
By
This review is from: Many Luscious Lollipops (World of Language) (Paperback)
this is the greatest book. you don't even know you are learning. my grandson (4) loved the book. I first brought it to him as a library book and because he loved it so much I purchased it. By week end he was reading some of the pages and telling everyone all about it. I will be looking for more for christmas for him
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
An ADJECTIVE's terrific when you want to be specific. Read the first page New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
An ADJECTIVE's terrific when you want to be specific. Read the first page New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
30
books
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- Peak with Books: An Early Childhood Resource for Balanced Literacy by Marjorie R. Nelsen on page 133, page 135, and Back Matter
- Teaching Writing Skills with Children's Literature by Connie Campbell Dierking on page 123, page 126, and Back Matter
- Early Communication Skills for Children With Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals by Libby Kumin in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Writing Whizardry: 60 Mini-Lessons to Teach Elaboration and Writer's Craft by Maity Schrecengost on page 43, and Back Matter
- Elementary Minilessons: Lessons and Songs to Motivate, Inspire, and Improve Writing Skills by Jodi Ramos on page 34, and Back Matter
See all 30 books citing this book
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