As she composed these thirteen poems, Justine Rowden wondered how a child would respond to the glorious paintings she viewed in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Now she shows readers that paintings don't need to be understood by children in an art-historyish way; when adults stand back and let children react with abandon, their responses will amaze everyone. And their appreciation of art will soar.

These poems are sprightly, elliptical, sometimes silly, sometimes serious. They teach us that it's okay to simply bask in a painting's colors, or to look at just one detail, or to daydream while gazing at it. Justine Rowden's poems capture a child's imaginings--they could have been written by a child.