On Landseer's "Princess Mary Adelaide with Nelson"

In our family room, our Newfoundland Nelson balances his dog biscuit on his nose. He is about as tall as I am. I am wearing my warm forest-green dress. It is made of velvet, and there are puffs of cotton around the edges. Nelson sticks out his tongue. I take it to mean that he would like to stop balancing and eat the biscuit. I oblige and take it of his nose and reposition it on his tongue. He gobbles it up. He then goes for the biscuit I have in my left hand. He misses and gets me with his warm, wet, tongue. ''I'm saving this one for your dinner. Get off it,'' I tell him. He gives me a look. I laugh. ''Nelson, honestly!'' He licks me again. I wipe my arm on a towel. Mother calls us for dinner. ''Okay boy, now you can have it,'' I laugh. I run to the dining room, Nelson following close behind. He was probably hoping for some of the steak, the scent of which was drifting out of the kitchen.

On Seurat's ''The Circus''

At the circus, I sit in the 2nd highest box with my mother. I wear a pink dress and a rose in my hair. Mother wears a light brown top and yellow skirt. We watch a bareback rider dance as she rides a gorgeous white horse. She wears a yellow tutu that spins around her as she dances. An acrobat in a peach jumpsuit does amazing tricks. A clown does the funniest things and pulls on a long golden ribbon. He wears a red vest. The ringmaster cracks his whip and the bareback rider's horse rears up. I am afraid she will fall off, but she keeps her balance! I couldn't have kept my balance for 1 second if that had been me out there. Nor could I have done those amazing tricks that the acrobat did, or all of the funny things the clown did half so well. Next to us, 2 gentlemen in top-hats chat as a parade begins in the ring. I love the circus.

On Seurat's "La Grande Jatte"

On our trip to La Grande Jatte this afternoon, I sit behind my mother in the shade of a tree by the seaside. She carries an umbrella and wears a maroon hat to match her top, and her skirt is deep purple. I wear a black top and orange skirt, and wear no hat to cover my blonde hair. There are dogs and cats milling around everywhere, and a particularly small dog yips and tries to get away from its mistress. A small girl of about four approaches, holding her mother's hand as they search for a place to stay out of the sun. I pick a flower from the patch of grass to my left. It is very pretty. A large brown dog sniffs at a fan that a lady has left lying next to her. I pick up my own. It is very warm, the perfect day to spend the afternoon at La Grande Jatte.

On Renoir's Two Girls at the Piano

In my living room, my sister Marietta and I practice our piano piece. She is wearing an orange dress, and I am wearing a white one. We have been working on this piece for a very long time. It is called ''Swans On The Lake,'' and it is very pretty. We are going to perform in a piano recital at a friend's house in two weeks, and it is going to be great. It is slow, and sweet, and when I play it I feel that I am a real swan, gliding along on a lake. Our best friend, Lauren, is playing a song called ''The Fox's Den.'' It is a lot lighter and quicker than ''Swans On The Lake.'' It will be very fun to hear all the different pieces that everyone will play. After the recital, we're going to have a party with all kinds of things to do. I can hardly wait for the two weeks to be over and to go to the recital. All our friends will be there, either as the audience or as performers like us. There are going to be some awesome pieces. Marietta and I are going to wash our best dresses for it, and I've already dusted off my pretty black shoes with the silver buckles. Mother is taking us out to get our hair done the morning of the recital, since it is going on at 2:30 in the afternoon. The piano recital is going to go wonderfully.

On Monet's Garden at Vétheuil

In my cousin Isabella's garden, the sunflowers grow very, very tall. It is like a forest of trees with yellow tops. Sunflowers are about the only thing that Isabella's family grows here. I am wearing my favorite white long-sleeved dress, but it is very hot, and I am wishing I had worn my sunshine-yellow sundress like mom wanted. The garden is right in the back of Isabella's house. I am very hungry. I hope Aunt Sarah hurries up with my grilled cheese sandwich. There is a little doll-sized writing desk in the path. I make a note to ask Isabella if she has noticed it here before. I certainly haven't. Then I see some pretty lilacs. So sunflowers aren't they only things that they grow here after all. There also appear to be ferns and some sort of reddish plants that look as though they could be related to cattails. They are growing from pretty clay vases with interesting pictures on them. My favorite is a yellow one with a black picture of a horse. Then, my stomach alerts me of Aunt Sarah's voice calling me in for lunch. I rush in

to sit next to Isabella and dig into my grilled cheese sandwich.

On Dance Opera by Edgar Degas

Backstage, my friends and I practice our dance. We are dancing Swan Lake. I am a swan maiden. Our dresses are puffy and blue, with black sashes. My friends are talking over by the bar. Cecile practices her point. We have been working very hard on our dance. I have butterflies in my stomach. This is my 2nd year with this dance group, but last year we just did a little performance for our parents. This is my first time with a real ballet, but I've practiced a lot and I'm sure it will go just fine. I asked Cecile and Grace over a couple times, too, for group practices. I hear the musicians begin to practice the opening song, and listen hard, so I don't miss my signal. We are ushered to the curtain as the play begins. I wait and watch as Act 1 goes on, and then then Grace whispers ''Come on, Beth, it's time." I swoop onto the stage with the other swan maidens. Act 2!

On "Saying Grace" by Jean-Baptiste Chardin

In my kitchen, I see my mother and sister. We are sitting around the table and we are saying grace. I smell the soup that mother prepared for us. It is my favorite, chicken noodle. I hear the sound of my mother pouring the soup into bowls as we pray. My sister is softly murmuring the prayer. She is tired. I feel the warmth coming from the stove where mother cooked the soup. It looks delicious. I cannot wait to eat. I notice that mother has left a pot on the floor. I tell her so that she does not trip on it. My sister is wearing a pink dress and I am wearing a white one. Mother is wearing a maroon dress and green apron with a white bonnet. My sister has a pink bonnet and I have one like mother's. My sister has hung her drum on the back of her chair. Mother sits. We eat our soup. It is as good as it looked. When we are finished, my sister takes her nap. I stay up and help mother with the dishes. Then I take the drum off the chair and quietly put it down in my sister's room. She is asleep. I quietly tiptoe back down again. Tomorrow I think we are having steak. I hope it is good.