British-born Cicely Mary Barker began creating her delightful fairy
images in the first half of the twentieth century. She was born in 1895
and became a published artist in her sixteenth year. She went on to
publish seven books featuring her fairy images prior to her death.
I recently purchased a pristine copy of "The Complete Book of the
Flower Fairies". It is a compilation of all of those seven books,
and I couldn't be more tickled to add it to my library. It's so lovely.
Her plant and flower images are botanically accurate, and those little
fairies are so captivating. I could look at them for hours upon hours.
The seven original Barker books become individual chapters in this one.
There are myriad endearing fairies for every season, fairies of the garden,
fairies of the trees, fairies of the wayside...and
Fairies from "A"...
to "Z".
In addition to all these splendid images, there are accompanying poems
written by the author. Her graceful children's images, combined with her
words in poetry, make for a sweet glimpse into a more innocent time.
As I take in 189 pages of her words and images, it's easy to believe that
these charming, little fairy children actually live among us. One can hope.
