RUTH HELLER -- HER LIFE AND WORKS
Ruth Heller was born in Winnipeg , Manitoba, Canada, in 1924.
She was interested in art as far back as she could remember. Like many children
today, she enjoyed coloring, cutting and pasting, and drawing. After she
finished her studies, she became a designer and illustrator. But it was on a
visit to an aquarium to research a coloring book on tropical fish she was
designing that she got her first idea for a children's book. A strange-looking
shape was floating in one of the tanks. It turned out to be the egg sac of
a dogfish shark. This got Ms Heller thinking about other animals that laid eggs.
As she read more about them and saw their pictures, she was beginning to
visualize colors, shapes, and compositions, adn she realized she had acquired
enough information to write a book. That book became Chickens Aren't the Only
Ones, which was published in 1991.
Writing and illustrating a book is one thing. Getting it
published is another. In those days picture books just weren't being published
on nonfiction subjects. It was a new idea. Ruth Heller was a pioneer in this
respect, as were a few others, such as Gail Gibbons.
Until these ladies and a few others came along, children's books on nonfiction
subjects were pretty boring --more like old textbooks. Editors thought that the
children who would enjoy the pictures would be too young to absorb the
information and that children old enough to understand the information would
think the pictures were too young for them. Finally an editor was willing to
take a chance, and the rest is history. Today we can't imagine a bookstore
without beautifully illustrated books about science, nature, history, and other
subjects that interest children.
Most of Ruth Heller's children's books are written in rhymes
that explain the pictures or urge the reader to interact with the pictures. The
How to Hide a.... series challenges children to find the creatures hidden
in their habitats. Another popular series deals with parts of speech. All
of these books are art masterpieces in themselves. As with all great
illustrations, they appeal to adults reading to children as much as to the
children themselves. Ruth says she wants each page to be a surprise. She tries
not to repeat herself. She researches her subjects by taking pictures at the
zoo, keeping a file of photographs, and reading loads of magazines and books.
Instead of just imagining creatures and objects in her head, she needs to have
either the object or its photograph in front of her as she works.
If you've not yet read any of Heller's books, you've a real
visual treat to look forward to. Any elementary teacher unfamiliar with her
books is missing some great science and language arts resources. And any child
not yet exposed to these books is deprived of a wonderful way to learn more
about some of God's most interesting creatures, and a unique way to learn the
parts of speech. I highly recommend these books. Some may be out of print. The
ones I have listed here that have BTH numbers are likely to be in print and in
stock. Others may be found in libraries. And now -- here are the books.
Designs for Coloring:
Books in this series are on high quality paper which is suitable
for use with crayons, felt-tipped pens, water paints, pencils, or pastels. Some
pictures might be suitable for framing or for transferring to a piece of
embroidery, needlepoint, pottery, or mosaic. Pages aren't numbered, but the
books appear to be about the same size and the one I counted had 31 coloring
pages. Each page is printed on only one side. These books are complex enough to
meet the needs of older children, teens, and adults.
 Ruth
Heller's Designs for Coloring:
Ancient Egypt. BTH-3275.
$5.29-D
 Ruth
Heller's Designs for Coloring: Butterflies. BTH-3274. $5.29-D
 Ruth
Heller's Designs for Coloring:
Cats. BTH-3276. $5.29-D
 Ruth
Heller's Designs for Coloring:
Insects and Spiders.
BTH-3277. $5.29-D
Stained Glass Designs for Coloring
Books in this series are on high quality vellum which is
suitable for use with either water-based or alcohol-based felt-tipped pens. Some
pictures might be suitable for framing. Pages aren't numbered, but the books
appear to be about the same size and the one I counted had 16 coloring pages.
Each page is printed on only one side. These books are complex enough to meet
the needs of older children, teens, and adults.
 Stained
Glass Designs for Coloring: Snowflakes. BTH-3278. $7.19-D
Reading Railroad Books:
 How to Hide a Butterfly and Other
Insects: Young readers will enjoy hunting for the camouflaged insects
hidden in Ruth Heller's vibrant illustrations of a variety of plants. They will
also enjoy listening to the informative rhyming text. BTH-2830. $3.14-D
 How
to Hide a Crocodile and other Reptiles: Young readers will enjoy hunting
for the camouflaged reptiles hidden in their habitats, and Ruth Heller's vibrant
illustrations show how quickly they can disappear. BTH-2812. $3.14-D
How to Hide a Meadow Frog and Other
Amphibians: Young readers will enjoy hunting for the camouflaged frogs,
toads, and other amphibians hidden in their habitats, and Ruth Heller's vibrant
illustrations show how quickly they can disappear. BTH-2811. $3.14-D
 How to Hide an Octopus and Other Sea
Creatures: Young readers will enjoy hunting for the camouflaged sea
creatures hidden beneath the ocean's surface, as they look at Ruth Heller's
vibrant illustrations and enjoy the informative rhyming text. BTH-2813. $3.14-D
 How
to Hide a Parakeet and Other Birds. Click to enlarge image. I have to check
availability of this one.
Mine All Mine: A Book About Pronouns: This book focuses on how
to use and identify pronouns in a number of different contexts. The bold
illustrations enhance the meaning of the rhymed text. BTH-3260. $6.29-D
Merry-Go-Round:
A Book About Nouns. Heller explains in her rhyming text about the
various kinds of nouns -- common, proper, abstract, concrete, and compound. She
explains also how to make them plural. She also explains that nouns occur soon
after a determiner, and gives examples. All her explanations are illustrated in
vivid color. BTH-2873. $6.29-D
 A Cache of
Jewels and Other Collective Nouns. Collective nouns are nouns that
include a collection of things, such as "herd" or "flock." Heller introduces and
illustrates some that are familiar and many that are not commonly known.
BTH-2874. $6.29-D
 Fantastic!
Wow! and Unreal!: A Book About Interjections and Conjunctions:
This book focuses on how to use and identify interjections and conjunctions in a
number of different contexts. The bold illustrations enhance the meaning of the
rhymed text. BTH-3261. $6.29-D
 Kites Sail
High: A Book About Verbs: This book focuses on how to use and identify
verbs in a number of different contexts. The bold illustrations enhance the
meaning of the rhymed text. BTH-3259.$7.19-D
Many Luscious
Lollipops: A Book About Adjectives. Heller introduces various kinds of
adjectives, giving examples of each, and illustrating them in vibrant color.
BTH-2875. $6.29-D
Mine All
Mine: A Book About Pronouns: This book focuses on how to use and
identify pronouns in a number of different contexts. The bold illustrations
enhance the meaning of the rhymed text. BTH-3260. $6.29-D
Up, Up, and Way: A Book
About Adverbs. This book focuses on how to use and identify adverbs in a
number of different contexts. The bold illustrations enhance the meaning of the
rhymed text. BTH-2876. $6.29-D
 Behind the Mask: A
Book About Prepositions. Ruth Heller helps to make parts of speech
understandable with her her simple explanations accompanied by her bold,
colorful illustrations and her rhyming text. In this book she explores
propositions and ho to properly use them. She also gives examples of how they
are sometimes used improperly. BTH-2814. $7.19-D Out of stock.
World of Nature Series
 Chickens
Aren't the Only Ones: This is Ruth Heller's first book for children. In
this book, children learn that not only birds like chickens lay eggs, but also
reptiles, amphibians, spiders, insects, fish and other sea creatures, and even a
couple of very unusual mammals. BTH-2872. $6.29-D
 The
Reason for a Flower: Ruth Heller explains through her simple rhyming
text and gorgeous illustrations how flowers produce seeds and fruit after their
kind and how they aid and are pollinated by the bees and other insects. For
elementary students. BTH-2815. $6.29-D
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