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World of Language
A Cache of Jewels: And Other Collective Nouns
"Highly informative and lushly illustrated. An unbeatable combination for pleasure and learning." — Children's Book Review Service
" The illustrations and the vocabulary will delight small eyes and ears." — School Library Journal
Q&A - Ruth Heller - A Paperstar Profile Ruth Heller - 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 candy, ice cream, butterflies, sea creatures, carousels, jewels, etc.
" The illustrations and the vocabulary will delight small eyes and ears." — School Library Journal
Q&A - Ruth Heller - A Paperstar Profile Ruth Heller - 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 candy, ice cream, butterflies, sea creatures, carousels, jewels, etc.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
9 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Heller
123 books47 followersAuthor and illustration with a passionate interest in Korean culture. She lives with her husband in San Francisco, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
April 20, 2021
A Cache of Jewels, written and illustrated by Ruth Heller is a visual delight and a wonderful way to introduce children to collective nouns. It was very popular and checked out often in the elementary school library where I worked. Ruth Heller wrote and illustrated many books about parts of speech and it's hard to choose a favorite, but this is the book that comes to mind as I visualize the stunning artwork as well as the fun and interesting way that collective nouns are presented.
Adults and children alike can enjoy the gorgeous illustrations that accompany common, as well as little-known collective nouns. Most of us are familiar with "a school of fish" and a "fleet of ships," but I was unfamiliar with "a kindle of kittens," "a drift of swans" and "a muster of peacocks." There are twenty-six beautifully illustrated collective nouns and Ruth Heller further charms us with rhyming text (including in her end note which contains more information about collective nouns).
The cover of the book contradicts the adage, "you can't judge a book by its cover." In this case, the cover is just an introduction to the delights that follow as you are introduced to page after page of beautiful illustrations including "a host of angels," "a brood of chicks, "a litter of puppies, "a parcel of penguins." Who, besides Ruth Heller, would have thought that a grammar book could be this enticing!
Adults and children alike can enjoy the gorgeous illustrations that accompany common, as well as little-known collective nouns. Most of us are familiar with "a school of fish" and a "fleet of ships," but I was unfamiliar with "a kindle of kittens," "a drift of swans" and "a muster of peacocks." There are twenty-six beautifully illustrated collective nouns and Ruth Heller further charms us with rhyming text (including in her end note which contains more information about collective nouns).
The cover of the book contradicts the adage, "you can't judge a book by its cover." In this case, the cover is just an introduction to the delights that follow as you are introduced to page after page of beautiful illustrations including "a host of angels," "a brood of chicks, "a litter of puppies, "a parcel of penguins." Who, besides Ruth Heller, would have thought that a grammar book could be this enticing!
January 27, 2019
This is another in Ruth Heller's series of illustrated guides to parts of english speech written for young children. There are about 8 or 9 of these books (one each on nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, interjections, pronouns, collective nouns and more). In each book in the series Heller presents the topic so clearly and so well that everyone, adults and children alike, come away with a solid understanding of the subject. While I did moderately well in english in grade school, junior high and high school, there were various details about some aspects of grammer that I never grasped very well. I wish Heller had written these books back when I was young.
The other astounding and remarkable aspect to this series of books is that Heller also did all of the illustrations herself. I believe that is something of a rarity for an author to create an illustrated book and to do both the text and the illustrations. Heller's command of the art of illustration is as good as her command of the english language.
If you were ever, or perhaps still are, fuzzy about any aspect to parts of english speech, take a look at these books by Ruth Heller. You will come away with a very good grasp of the subject.
The other astounding and remarkable aspect to this series of books is that Heller also did all of the illustrations herself. I believe that is something of a rarity for an author to create an illustrated book and to do both the text and the illustrations. Heller's command of the art of illustration is as good as her command of the english language.
If you were ever, or perhaps still are, fuzzy about any aspect to parts of english speech, take a look at these books by Ruth Heller. You will come away with a very good grasp of the subject.
July 22, 2011
This is a fun book to read aloud. The illustrations are wonderful and the rhyming narrative makes you forget that you are learning something. We haven't talked too much about collective nouns before, but there were a few, of course, that were very familiar and our girls understood the concept well. We all learned a bunch of new ones, however, and we discussed the note in the back, which gives a bit more detail about the topic.
We've enjoyed reading the books in the World of Language series by Ruth Heller and we will certainly look for more of these books at our local library.
We've enjoyed reading the books in the World of Language series by Ruth Heller and we will certainly look for more of these books at our local library.
February 12, 2014
This is a picture book illustrating what a collective noun is. Some of the examples are commonly used---a litter of puppies and a flock of sheep. Unknown to me were a gam of whales and a muster of peacocks.
November 15, 2016
A perfect introduction to collective nouns. Bright, colorful illustrations pair with rhyming verse to introduce a variety of collective nouns.
January 22, 2023
Could have been much better
May 24, 2018
A boring of lists.
This book is an unordered list of collective nouns. Like a "gam" of whales. I thought whales lived in "pods." And I thought grapes were in "bunches" and not "clusters." "A kindle of kittens..." where she getting these words from? A "drift" of swans. Well, a string of beads are literally on a string. If you just had a pile of beads, they wouldn't be called a string of beads. Also, just having multiple trees does not make them a forest, and a bunch of puppies together is not called a litter. That's not what the word "litter" means. Although she does mention a "pod" of whales at the end, among other words to describe whales: a "mob," a "school," and a "run."
This is the kind of thing I was expecting "An Ambush of Tigers" to be like, but I was surprised I liked that book. I do not care for this book. The images in it are just average children's picture book images. They don't show the kind of detail that Heller uses when she's depicting flowers, for example, and of course the issues I have of the more specific group names being applied without any qualifiers. A litter is a group of puppies that all have the same mother. That's very specific. A pride of lions is also very specific. If you have five random lions they don't necessarily form a pride. And she doesn't point out that kind of thing, which is an important distinction in a book that purports to teach these words as if they are anything important. She's not literally saying that any group of ships, for example, is a fleet, but she has a responsibility to be accurate.
The page for "A bevy of beauties" is kind of sexist: it depicts a bunch of women and girls from the rear (multicultural, though!) wearing leotards and tights like they're in a ballet class. I'm pretty sure I've heard the word bevy used for quail or something. I've never heard it used for people. And course the lovely "host of angels." I mean, that's what it's called, but children aren't going to necessarily encounter that in the wild, like they would animals and plants.
Message: Collective nouns exist, and here are some of them I know arranged at random.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
This book is an unordered list of collective nouns. Like a "gam" of whales. I thought whales lived in "pods." And I thought grapes were in "bunches" and not "clusters." "A kindle of kittens..." where she getting these words from? A "drift" of swans. Well, a string of beads are literally on a string. If you just had a pile of beads, they wouldn't be called a string of beads. Also, just having multiple trees does not make them a forest, and a bunch of puppies together is not called a litter. That's not what the word "litter" means. Although she does mention a "pod" of whales at the end, among other words to describe whales: a "mob," a "school," and a "run."
This is the kind of thing I was expecting "An Ambush of Tigers" to be like, but I was surprised I liked that book. I do not care for this book. The images in it are just average children's picture book images. They don't show the kind of detail that Heller uses when she's depicting flowers, for example, and of course the issues I have of the more specific group names being applied without any qualifiers. A litter is a group of puppies that all have the same mother. That's very specific. A pride of lions is also very specific. If you have five random lions they don't necessarily form a pride. And she doesn't point out that kind of thing, which is an important distinction in a book that purports to teach these words as if they are anything important. She's not literally saying that any group of ships, for example, is a fleet, but she has a responsibility to be accurate.
The page for "A bevy of beauties" is kind of sexist: it depicts a bunch of women and girls from the rear (multicultural, though!) wearing leotards and tights like they're in a ballet class. I'm pretty sure I've heard the word bevy used for quail or something. I've never heard it used for people. And course the lovely "host of angels." I mean, that's what it's called, but children aren't going to necessarily encounter that in the wild, like they would animals and plants.
Message: Collective nouns exist, and here are some of them I know arranged at random.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
April 22, 2013
Ruth Heller does it again with her animating colors and drawings filled on every page of this book. A Cache of Jewels exemplifies the use of collective nouns. For every object in this story there’s a different collective noun to describe it and its group. A lot of the collective nouns may be new to the students, I know they were to be and I’m a sophomore in college. Like all of her other books, Heller embellishes her pages with color and pictures. With these pages filled, the students can easily understand what they are reading and learning about. Heller created these illustrations on her own which is remarkable! Not only does she make reading fun with the pictures, but she also uses rhyming. With using rhyming, children can comprehend easier. Using rhyming skills children can remember what they learned easily. I remember while studying for exams, I tried to create rhyming slogans to help me remember what I learned. Let me tell you, this definitely helped for me now. As a child, it’s even more fun. Creating stories that rhyme and make sense are always exciting.
Learning parts of speech can be confusing. Heller describes this topic so clearly that the reader comes to a clear understand of it after reading.
This story would be great for young readers. Although they may not know what a “cache” or “parcel” is, they’ll understand it better next top jewels or penguins. Although these vocabulary words can be tough for them, the reader can easily explain it. Before reading the book, talk about groups, sets, or collections of items. They understand these terms more than “gam” and “cache.”
Learning parts of speech can be confusing. Heller describes this topic so clearly that the reader comes to a clear understand of it after reading.
This story would be great for young readers. Although they may not know what a “cache” or “parcel” is, they’ll understand it better next top jewels or penguins. Although these vocabulary words can be tough for them, the reader can easily explain it. Before reading the book, talk about groups, sets, or collections of items. They understand these terms more than “gam” and “cache.”
April 8, 2014
A Cache of Jewels and Other Collectible Nouns is a book about the different collective nouns you can use to describe a group of nouns. It incorporates a poem at the end that enhances student thinking about what collective nouns are and how they have changed over time. This book is great for teaching collective nouns; it describes different collective nouns and how to use them. I would also use this book to teach rhyming and rhythm. Each page flows to the next and the author has cleverly tied the nouns together so they rhyme. At the end of the story, you can have the students make a list of the nouns they would like to have collective nouns for. Then in pairs the students can research what the collective noun is for that group of nouns or talk to another pair to see if they know they collective noun.
August 3, 2013
Collective nouns are fascinating. Why do we use certain words for a group of one things but not another? Why a flock of sheep but a pride of lions? Why do we use the same word for a group of two different things, like a pod of peas and a pod of whales? Heller introduces the concept of collective nouns to children in an accessible and engaging manner. It could have benefited by more explanation in the text. It did have some additional information about collective nouns on the final page, but it could have been successfully divided between a few pages with illustrations to hold the interest of a child, as some of the two-page spreads in the book had only one collective noun phrase, like "a litter of puppies." With such a naturally fun and interesting topic, more could have been done.
October 13, 2013
A Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns
Written and Illustrated By Ruth Heller
Grade Levels: K-3
DRA/Lexile Measure/GLE: n/a
Reviewed By Aaron Carter
This book's primary purpose is to teach collective nouns, and it formatted and styled to excel at doing so. What's especially helpful is that each collective noun, such as "a FOREST of trees" and "a SWARM of bees," is capitalized and of a color differing from that of the rest of the sentence. Further, the book uses rhyme, which is at the base level of phonological awareness, and it is rife with excellent illustrations. For a lesson plan on collective nouns, there's likely not a better read aloud to accompany it.
Written and Illustrated By Ruth Heller
Grade Levels: K-3
DRA/Lexile Measure/GLE: n/a
Reviewed By Aaron Carter
This book's primary purpose is to teach collective nouns, and it formatted and styled to excel at doing so. What's especially helpful is that each collective noun, such as "a FOREST of trees" and "a SWARM of bees," is capitalized and of a color differing from that of the rest of the sentence. Further, the book uses rhyme, which is at the base level of phonological awareness, and it is rife with excellent illustrations. For a lesson plan on collective nouns, there's likely not a better read aloud to accompany it.
November 21, 2013
This book is a very bright and poetic book defining words meant to group things together. Like a Bevy of Beauties or a Fleet of Ships, a Muster of Peacocks and so on. When read in a fast pace the book sounds like a poem because of the rhyme scheme. I would use this book for younger kids just because the wording is so minimal but I fear that younger kids wouldn't understand the language unless read to many times. But if children did pick up on these "ten dollar words" they would surely impress a lot of people. The best quality in this book is the rhyme scheme with matching colorful and bright illustrations. Everything is so vibrant that it would catch anyones attention, especially a child.
June 30, 2016
This is a cute book that I used to teach students about collective nouns. I like this book a lot for that unit but don't see a use for it elsewhere. It has a lot of words that we really don't use any more to describe groups of people, places and things. On the other hand, it is a great book for vocabulary development and helps children learn to use other words than, "a lot" and "bunch". There's really no story line here so it may seem boring to students. I had several students who were interested in the words and illustrations, and several others who couldn't care less because there was no story line to follow, just groups of things and a new collective noun to describe them.
April 12, 2017
Text: 4 stars
Illustrations: 5 stars
Rhyming picture book that depicts collective nouns (i.e. "a cache of jewels," "a batch of bread," "a swarm of bees," etc.). Some of these examples are more commonly used than others. For instance, I never heard of "a muster of peacocks." There is a small note on the bottom of the very last page explaining that more than one collective term can be used for the same noun; unfortunately, I doubt very many readers will even see that piece of text since it is rather buried. As in all of Ruth Heller's books, the illustrations are eye-catching and really lovely. Part of her World of Language nonfiction picture book series about the various parts of speech.
Illustrations: 5 stars
Rhyming picture book that depicts collective nouns (i.e. "a cache of jewels," "a batch of bread," "a swarm of bees," etc.). Some of these examples are more commonly used than others. For instance, I never heard of "a muster of peacocks." There is a small note on the bottom of the very last page explaining that more than one collective term can be used for the same noun; unfortunately, I doubt very many readers will even see that piece of text since it is rather buried. As in all of Ruth Heller's books, the illustrations are eye-catching and really lovely. Part of her World of Language nonfiction picture book series about the various parts of speech.
October 11, 2018
I am not certain where this book came from. I was browsing the bookshelves in my classroom looking for something when I came across this book. I love collective nouns.
By no means is this an exhaustive list of collective nouns, but there are some good ones (clutch of eggs, host of angels, and gam of whales). There are colorful illustrations for each.
****
Read this with my class today for #classroombookaday. We had a good conversation with it. Reminiscent of my early career. :) I set the class off with the challenge of finding other collective nouns for extra credit.
By no means is this an exhaustive list of collective nouns, but there are some good ones (clutch of eggs, host of angels, and gam of whales). There are colorful illustrations for each.
****
Read this with my class today for #classroombookaday. We had a good conversation with it. Reminiscent of my early career. :) I set the class off with the challenge of finding other collective nouns for extra credit.
March 18, 2015
This book lists what a group of particular items is called. I did not know what most of those groups were called. I do not think I would like to use this book in my future classroom, it is somewhat plain.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Interest Level
Grades K - 2
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: Not Available
Lexile® Measure: Not Available
DRA: 30
Guided Reading: N
Type of Book: Begining Reader Book
Genre
Series
Theme/Subject
Parts of Speech
Vocabulary
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Interest Level
Grades K - 2
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: Not Available
Lexile® Measure: Not Available
DRA: 30
Guided Reading: N
Type of Book: Begining Reader Book
Genre
Series
Theme/Subject
Parts of Speech
Vocabulary
Read
May 27, 2016Sierra Birdsall - A Cache of Jewels and other collective nouns, by Ruth Heller
I pull this book out randomly of my collections one day. What a great book!! This book is great to introducing collective nouns. The pages have beautiful art, inviting for students. Collective nouns are big, colorful and bold, which makes it easy for students to follow along. I would use this to introduce collective nouns to students!
I pull this book out randomly of my collections one day. What a great book!! This book is great to introducing collective nouns. The pages have beautiful art, inviting for students. Collective nouns are big, colorful and bold, which makes it easy for students to follow along. I would use this to introduce collective nouns to students!
April 7, 2012
What I remember most about Ms. Heller's book are the gorgeous illustrations. Maybe this is what drew me to art (didyouseewhatIdidthere?).
Also I remember most getting my books signed and sitting next to her with the rest of my first grade class in a parade downtown and talking with her the whole time. Good memories.
Also I remember most getting my books signed and sitting next to her with the rest of my first grade class in a parade downtown and talking with her the whole time. Good memories.
September 13, 2016
This book talks about different nouns you can use to describe groups of items such as a host of angels or a pod of whales.
I love how it opens up your mind and expands your vocabulary to describe groups of different things.
One could read this to their class then tie it in to a writing lesson by having them think of other things that could go with the nouns that group things together.
I love how it opens up your mind and expands your vocabulary to describe groups of different things.
One could read this to their class then tie it in to a writing lesson by having them think of other things that could go with the nouns that group things together.
September 12, 2017
A Cache of Jewels is about different groups of objects and animals. Some examples from the book are "string of pearls" and "parcel of penguins". The book was interesting getting to see what groups of animals are called because I had never heard of some of them before. This would be good for teaching younger grades about how things are grouped.
March 2, 2018
With lyrical rhyming text and lovely colorful illustrations, this book helps young readers understand what collective nouns are and gives many examples. For young readers who love the sounds and textures of different words, this book would be a treat. This would be a good resource to have in a collection of books you might keep near your writing center.
November 16, 2008
Reading level: primary
This is another excellent Language Arts resource. This book of poetry helps students to understand what collective nouns are. The illustrations show the group and the sentence uses the collective noun. In reading this book, I even learned some new collective nouns!
This is another excellent Language Arts resource. This book of poetry helps students to understand what collective nouns are. The illustrations show the group and the sentence uses the collective noun. In reading this book, I even learned some new collective nouns!
June 22, 2009
My oldest son learned to read this past year -- and the world of books is now even more entrancing. I picked up a few Ruth Heller books and we are totally hooked. The illustrations are gorgeous and inviting, and she skillfully crafts phrases that my son is begging for more.
November 22, 2010
An alphabet book that goes through each alphabet letter and names a collective noun that begins with each letter. Good book for children to use as a reference and also to introduce when learning the concept of collective nouns and nouns.
February 13, 2011
Great series of books for teaching grammar! The books in this series are very in depth - much more than I expected - but they are written in rhyme making it fun even for little ones to listen to.
March 5, 2014
Beautiful (I should say it again, BEAUTIFUL) illustrations and simple text about lots of different words. This series is imprinted on my brain, as I grew up with a set of the books. I was excited every time Heller released another title.
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March 4, 2015This book has beautiful illustrations representing the text on the page. Also very informative of what several of an item are called in correct terms. I found this to be a fun and informative read as an adult and I know young students would enjoy the colorful illustrations.
Read
March 11, 2015This book tells a story using detailed nouns. It teaches about what groups of things are called such as a school of fish and so on. I would use this if I needed to teach about nouns in my classroom. I also think this has great illustrations.
March 11, 2015
I think this book was a great teaching book. I would read this book to my students when teaching them about nouns. There are some collective nouns in this book that I was unaware of before reading. I enjoyed the book.
March 12, 2015
This book is about collective nouns and uses many examples of collective nouns. Some examples are a parcel of penguins and a flock of sheep. This is a good book to teach children what different groups of animals or objects are called. This is a great language arts book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews