Project Description

What If … A Poem of Our Imagining

Written by Richard Lewis, Illustrated by Gigi Alvaré

Touchstone Center Publications, 2019

What If … A Poem of Our Imagining was originally written by Richard Lewis, as an invitation for children, in a variety of classroom settings, to imagine themselves becoming qualities and aspects of the natural world; and in doing so, to express, through their own imaginative abilities, the life that is both ourselves and the nature we inhabit.

Now, a number of years later, a new reading and sharing of this poem, interpreted and augmented with original paintings by Gigi Alvaré, brings us even closer to the elemental intelligence — indeed, the imagination and conversation — that is nature itself.

What If … A Poem of Our Imagining
ISBN: 978-1-929299-13-3
24 pages, paperbound $12.00





“Our universe is teeming with a language that can be heard only if we will listen. Through prose and images, this book takes us to that place where our senses and imaginations open up to the possibilities and interconnectedness of all life.”

– Mary Mix, The Rockwell Museum Director of Education

What If … is a dance of images and imagining that unite pure delight in our minds.”

– Katherine Miller, Elementary Art Educator

“It brought me comfort. Your beautiful poem and illustrations together are extraordinary. Every child should have a copy.”

– Sarah Stern, Poet

“The masterful interplay of image and text in this beautiful book creates a magical experience for the reader … deeply affecting.”

– Louise A. Sullivan-Blum, Writer and Professor Emeritus of Mansfield University