Ruth Heller's ability to convey the wonders of nature with simple verse and accurate, full-color illustrations makes her a favored nature author. A Reading Rainbow Review Title.
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"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
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and educational! I was fascinated!,
By
This review is from: The Reason for a Flower (Ruth Heller's World of Nature) (Mass Market Paperback)
I love this book! The text is fun to read and really easy to understand while introducing some big scientific words. And the pictures are big and colorful, and I really mean BIG and COLORFUL. But even more than that, they are accurate--the flowers, seeds, animals, and insects can all be identified down to the species. Towards the end it gets a little off topic, but even these pages are filled with interesting flower-facts that get you interested in further exploration of the world of flowers. There's even a touch of humor: after pages of large, flamboyant illustrations, the final page contains a single mushroom and the text, "Plants that have no flowers are fascinating, too." I had to laugh at the simplicity and effectiveness of this ending. Last, but not least, the endpapers have a wonderful drawing that shows a flower progressing into a fruit--a wonderful summary of the purpose of the book without using any words. This book definitely gets my recommendation for anyone who wants to introduce their kids to the world of science and nature in an unintimidating, yet accurate and enjoyable format.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why We Have Flowers?,
By
This review is from: The Reason for a Flower (Ruth Heller's World of Nature) (Mass Market Paperback)
Children are constantly asking questions and sometimes they come up with a question you have difficulty answering, such as "why do we have flowers?". This book answers that question in a way that is both fascinating and entertaining for both children and adults. The illustrations in this book were quite lovely and almost tell a story themselves. The rhythmic cadence of the words introduces children to a biological vocabulary without being overwhelming, describes the different parts of the plants, explains the process of pollination, and illustrates what value plants have beyond just "something pretty to look." This book is a great book for teachers of young children for science related curriculm.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for teaching pollination,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Reason for a Flower (Hardcover)
Ruth Heller's rhymes and beautiful pictures engage children and clearly illustrates pollination and the role of flowers.
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