A kaleidoscopic collection celebrating rainbows in nature, perfect for Poetry Month and Earth Month.

What do Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring, Peru’s Vinicunca mountain, the star Betelgeuse, and a drop of water have in common? Rainbows! In this iridescent collection, Joyce Sidman, Nikki Grimes, Janet Wong, and seventeen other poets explore bursts of color across nature. Each selection explores a new rainbow—and not just the ones in the sky. In haiku, free verse, and other forms, the poets capture marvels like crystals, pilot glories, Gouldian finches, and marble caves. Acclaimed illustrator Jamey Christoph brings each rainbow to life in brilliant color and playful detail.

With dazzling language, luminous artwork, and fascinating science sidebars, A Universe of Rainbows is a mind-boggling tour of wonders big and small. From your own windowsill to Colombia’s Caño Cristales to the constellation Orion, rainbows are everywhere—in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Poems by:

Nikki Grimes

Matt Forrest Esenwine

Renee M. LaTulippe

Joyce Sidman

Irene Latham

David L. Harrison

Heidi E. Y. Stemple & Jane Yolen

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Alma Flor Ada & F. Isabel Campoy

Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Marilyn Singer

Charles Waters

Laura Purdie Salas

Charles Ghigna

Lee Wardlaw

Janet Wong

Allan Wolf

Georgia Heard