The Rainbow Hand: Poems About Mothers And Children

by Janet S. Wong, Jennifer Hewitson (Illustrator)

Enhanced with colorful artwork, this poetry collection captures the joys, struggles, triumphs, and humor of the special relationship between mother and child.

Genres: Poetry

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Janet S. Wong was born in Los Angeles, and grew up in Southern and Northern California. As part of her undergraduate program at UCLA, she spent her junior year in France, studying art history at the Université de Bordeaux. When she returned from France, Janet founded the UCLA Immigrant Children's Art Project, a program focused on teaching refugee children to express themselves through art.

After graduating from UCLA, summa cum laude, with a B.A. in History and College Honors, Janet then obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was a director of the Yale Law and Technology Association and worked for New Haven Legal Aid. After practicing corporate and labor law for a few years for GTE and Universal Studios Hollywood, she made a dramatic career change—choosing to write for young people instead. Her successful switch from law to children’s literature has been the subject of several articles and television programs, most notably an O Magazine article, a "Remembering Your Spirit" segment on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and the Fine Living Channel’s "Radical Sabbatical."

Janet's poems and stories have been featured in many textbooks and anthologies, and also in some more unusual venues. Poems from Behind the Wheel have been performed on a car-talk radio show. "Albert J. Bell" from A Suitcase of Seaweed was selected to appear on 5,000 subway and bus posters as part of the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority's "Poetry in Motion" program, and was later highlighted on the Hallmark Channel’s "New Morning" show. And, in April 2003, Janet was one of five children’s authors invited to read at The White House Easter Egg Roll.

Janet and her books have received numerous awards and honors, such as the International Reading Association's "Celebrate Literacy Award" for exemplary service in the promotion of literacy, and the prestigious Stone Center Recognition of Merit, given by the Claremont Graduate School. Janet also has been appointed to two terms on the Commission on Literature of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Janet currently resides near Princeton, NJ, with her husband Glenn and her son Andrew.

Reviews

[Phil J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eighteen beautifully illustrated poems that range from okay to cringeworthy. Here's part of one of the good ones:

The Gift of Breathing Slow

The mother
holds her baby
close
and face to face
gives him
his first gift,
the gift of breathing
slow.

In.
Out.

She blows
his hair
clean,
like the ocean
flowing in waves
over the shore.

At her worst, though, Wong attempts to combine humor with tenderness in a way that fails at both, like this:

Don't Be So Lazy!

The room will never be clean enough,
as long as there's a trace of your stuff-

Don't be so lazy! your mother shouts,
for the twentieth time this week.

Don't be so lazy! she nags again,
You're almost grown! When I was ten-

When she was ten, could she have been
such an amazing freak?

The illustrations by Jennifer Hewitson are excellent. They are probably drawn in ink, but she uses such heavy expressive lines that they look like lithographs. They are colored with bright pastels, and I wish they were in a better book.

[Norma Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every person has a relationship with their mother whether it is good or bad. This book is a good way to reflect that relationship and I believe it can be used in the classroom in that way also. I think this would be good for children because it’s hard at that age to realize how important your mother is. This book is a sweet look into the life of mothers and poems written from the eyes of mothers talking about the love they have for their children. The poems were written about a young woman’s relationship with her mother and all the things she remembers about her mother and also the things her mother used to do for her. I really enjoyed reading this book and it made me think about the relationship I have with my mother, and also the relationship I hope to someday have with my children. I agree with the author in her forward message about how she did not appreciate all her mother had done for her until she recently became a mother. Although I am not a mother yet, since I have gotten older, I see all that my mother sacrifices and does for me and my family. Some of these poems touched my heart because I could relate them back to when I was younger. Overall, I enjoyed the different tones and styles of each poem. The book was not very long but was still very easy to read. I think what made it easiest to read is that everyone can relate to it.

[Anna Marie Jesko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was filled with poems about mothers and children. These poems varied from emotional to light, from sad to humorous, and basic to insightful. I liked the majority of these poems, and made me think about my own mother. It looks at motherhood from the perspective of mothers. I believe this book would be best suited for the home, however, because not every student has a mother, or a good mother. Which may bring negative feelings for the children in the class. Furthermore, I think that it is more aimed towards mothers, to read to their young children, rather than an independent book.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed The Rainbow Hand's content, which focused on the love between mothers and children, I was not overly impressed with its style or layout. The illustrations feature bold black lines and bright colors, which are nice complements to the poems, but I feel that they are often placed in spaces that cause distraction. Despite this the book sends a good message and I would recommend that parents read it to their children at home.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid meh. A lot of the poems will probably appeal more to mamas than to kids.

[Alyssa Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was gifted this collection of poems recently and while it was not my cup of tea, I can appreciate the complex interactions between mothers and children. I think that if I were a mother I'd be able to relate to more of the content on these pages, but I found myself disengaged and disconnected. A heart-warming read, just not for me!

[Britney Forbes]

This book is a sweet look into the life of mothers and poems written from the eyes of mothers talking about the love they have for their children. The illustrations are unlike anything I've ever seen in a children's book. the illustrations are telling as much of a story as the poems themselves. I could use this in a poetry unit and the use of a mother's point of view would give the children a different look at poetry.

[Norma Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every person has a relationship with their mother whether it is good or bad. This book is a good way to reflect that relationship and I believe it can be used in the classroom in that way also. I think this would be good for children because it’s hard at that age to realize how important your mother is. This book is a sweet look into the life of mothers and poems written from the eyes of mothers talking about the love they have for their children. The poems were written about a young woman’s relationship with her mother and all the things she remembers about her mother and also the things her mother used to do for her. I really enjoyed reading this book and it made me think about the relationship I have with my mother, and also the relationship I hope to someday have with my children. I agree with the author in her forward message about how she did not appreciate all her mother had done for her until she recently became a mother. Although I am not a mother yet, since I have gotten older, I see all that my mother sacrifices and does for me and my family. Some of these poems touched my heart because I could relate them back to when I was younger. Overall, I enjoyed the different tones and styles of each poem. The book was not very long but was still very easy to read. I think what made it easiest to read is that everyone can relate to it.

[Jessica Scranton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rainbow Hand by Janet S. Wong is a book of eighteen poems that talk about the relationship between a mother and child. Some of the poems are told from the mother’s point of view and others through the point of view of the child. The poems were written about a young woman’s relationship with her mother and all the things she remembers about her mother and also the things her mother used to do for her. I really enjoyed reading this book and it made me think about the relationship I have with my mother, and also the relationship I hope to someday have with my children. My mother and I have a special bond, I consider her as one of my best friends and while reading these poems I was able to reflect on that in a positive way. The poems in the book were not all exactly the same; they followed the criteria but some more than others when it comes to rhyming. The book was not very long but was still very easy to read. I think what made it easiest to read is that everyone can relate to it. Every person has a relationship with their mother whether it is good or bad. This book is a good way to reflect that relationship and I believe it can be used in the classroom in that way also. It made me appreciate my mom more and all the things she used to do for me. I think this would be good for children because it’s hard at that age to realize how important your mother is.

[Paul Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Wong celebrates mothers and motherhood in this 1999 collection. The words are celebratory, sometimes poignant. This is a thinking collection that gives the reader pause to reflect on their own relationship with their mother. Wong invites us to this do this with her introduction that serves as a sort of confession of how she treated her own mother in her younger years and how she regards her mother now that she has made the transition to motherhood herself.

In pieces like "The Onion," where we might be expecting some kind of cliche about "layers," Wong hits the reader with this:

Mother is like an onion.

her golden skin
smooth and soft.

She keeps you strong.
She is good for you.

Sometimes she surprises you
with sweetness--

so you forget
how she makes you cry

each time you cut her
with your words.


Other notable pieces from the collection:


"The Rainbow Hand"

"Smother Love"

"The Gift of Breathing Slow"

[Alyssabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice collection of childrens poetry. They were all sweet and interesting and a few made me laugh with the humor of them. It was a good book that I'd reccomend any parent read to their children- or a sister read to her siblings, like I did.

THE RAG
Runny nose?
what better rag then Mother's apron,
rich with the smell of lemon soap.

Another mess?
Mother will clean it up.
Don't worry. Leave it. Run and play

Mother the Rag saves the day