The Complete Flower Fairies (8 Volume Boxed Set) (2020) Pub: The Folio Society with Ware. [2] 5¾ x 4¼ in. I received a Flower Fairies calendar when I was young and saved all of the art from it, because I loved it so much. I was ecstatic when I found this book, which is a compilation of many smaller books that Cicely Barker created. Barker was a Victorian age artist and poet. Originally this book was published as eight individual books, but now it can be enjoyed in a stunning complete collection that tells the tales of those magical beings found in our gardens, who have come to teach us all about flowers.

Yet within 100 years, the whole conception of fairies completely changed. "Throughout the 19th Century, fairies became increasingly miniaturised, sapped of their power – trapped in the nursery," says Sage. As the Victorian era progressed, they are increasingly associated with childhood; as their popularity grew, they shrank. Cicely Mary Barker (28 June 1895 – 16 February 1973) was the illustrator who created the famous Flower Fairies, in the shape of ethereal smiling children with butterfly wings. As a child, she was greatly influenced by the works of the illustrator Kate Greenaway, whom she assiduously copied in her formative years. Her principal influence, however, which she duly credited, was the artwork of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.For Conan Doyle, it was all about a search for another realm of being that related to life after death, vibrations, telepathy, telekinesis – this fascinating world on the edge of the limits of human perception," says Sage. "And obviously that's connected to the loss of his son in World War One." Clara Ingram Judson, writer who created her own Flower Fairies title, illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright, circa 1915. In 1916, Barker designed eight mission postcards, including Prayer, a picture of a young woman kneeling before an open window, possibly modelled on her sister. In 1923, she painted a series of five birthday cards featuring angels and babies for The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

This book was also another reread, but it felt very much like a new book to me, because it had been so long since I actually read through some of the poems! Before, I could only remember a handful of the poems – eg. Lily-of-the-Valley, Daffodil (my absolute favourite poem!), Mallow – and it turns out this is because the large majority of the poems are actually terrible. I mean, they’re truly awful, with terrible rhyme schemes and structure, and seem like they took about five minutes to write and no-one ever thought to improve them. But having said that, the illustrations (also done by the author) are by far the best and most memorable thing about this book, and the reason it got 4 stars from me on Goodreads despite mostly being utter drivel. Aside from said drivel, my favourite poems were those for the Bird’s-Foot-Trefoil, Michaelmas Daisy, Snapdragon, Fumitory, Gorse, and Pansy fairies. There were also several other memorable poems (for very different reasons though) such as: Traveller’s Joy, which sounds kind of ridiculous when read aloud, but this did elicit a lot of giggles from us; "Toadflax" sounds like a Harry Potter-esque swear word; and the Nightshade Berry fairy is straight up trying to murder children with his berries! What I found very intriguing was the fact that the author drew all of the illustrations botanically correct, so it's so much more than just a picture a child or any reader really, one get' s to see what a true sketch of the flower looks like and is then transported into the world of magic of how each little fairy has it's place among the flowers. Still, Sage is pleased to see the Flower Fairies exhibited in a fine art context at the Lady Lever gallery. For a long time, men painting fairies has been considered art – but when women do it, it's just silly flowery stuff for children. Cicely's flowers are always botanically accurate. If she could not find a flower close at hand, she enlisted the help of staff at Kew Gardens, who would often visit with specimens for her to paint. In a foreword to one of her early editions, she wrote that she had drawn all the plants and flowers very carefully from real ones and everything was as true as she could make it, that she had, however, never seen a fairy. [1] Christian art [ edit ] Secret Stories is a new departure for the Flower Fairies. Introduced in 2006, they feature the characters of the Flower Fairies Friends books in chapter book length stories for 6-10 year olds.

Select a format:

If so, it's likely you've been influenced by Cicely Mary Barker, the British illustrator who created the Flower Fairies. 2023 marks 100 years since the publication of her first book of poems and pictures, Flower Fairies of the Spring – an anniversary currently being celebrated in an exhibition at the Lady Lever Gallery in Merseyside, UK. Starting in 1920, Barker painted many religious works, including illustrated Bible stories, written with her sister Dorothy. She also painted panels and triptych for chapels and churches including The Feeding of the Five Thousand for the chapel at Penarth and The Parable of the Great Supper for the chapel of St. George's Waddon. As mentioned this is the perfect book for a mother and daughter to get in some bonding time, but this certainly does not mean you need to have a daughter or be a little girl yourself to enjoy this read. The book will serve as the perfect reminder of the time you spent with your mum in the garden, or when you played amongst the flowers and pretended you had your very own fairy friends.

Barker's art reflects several strong influences. Her family was deeply religious and she retained a strong Christian faith all her life. She greatly admired the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and her own work echoes their philosophy of being true to nature both in her meticulous depiction of flowers and plants and in the way in which the fairies represent their spirit. Having each fairy very specifically related to a particular plant was also commercially canny – whether Barker intended this or not, it created space for identification, for collectability, for a kind of innate brand franchising. "In children's culture, we create series that are collectable, that you identify with… It's like Pokemon or something!" laughs Sage. "When I speak to people about the Flower Fairies, especially groups of sisters, it's always 'which one were you?'" The Flower Fairies were an immediate hit – but Barker was far from the only artist of her era to find success with fairies. In fact, fairy fever swelled within the United Kingdom for over half a century, reaching something of a peak around the time the Flower Fairies emerged in 1923. Over 350 fairy books were published in the UK between 1920 and 1925, including in Enid Blyton's first fairy foray, a collection of poems called Real Fairies in 1923. Fairy art even had the stamp of royal approval: Queen Mary was a fan of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's ethereal drawings, and helped popularise them by sending them in postcard form.Cicely was also influenced by the huge popular interest in fairies which developed from the Victorian enthusiasm for fairy stories and was epitomised by the immense popularity of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan in the early part of the 20th century. Published in 1923, Flower Fairies of the Spring was well received by a post-industrial, war-weary public who were charmed by her vision of hope and innocence, which seemed to evoke a less aggressively modern world. This book is the perfect book for when nighttime falls, and the time to escape calls. Perfect for some special bonding time between mun and daughter. Through the beautiful illustrations the author brings to life the magic of flowers and how each has their very own special place in a garden. And through her words she transports any reader into a world where magic lives and fairies play.

Flower Fairies are illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker, created during the first half of the 20th century.Today, we associate fairies with little girls – but this was an era when fairy art was popular with grown men, too. And technology helped spread it: there was an explosion in sending postcards around this time. They were cheap to buy, and free to post to a serving soldier abroad. "Suddenly everyone can send fairies, and they're flying through the air and across the seas. You can’t underestimate the practical aspect of it," says Sage. The Flower Fairies are highly successful internationally and are sold in more than 35 countries. Flower Fairies merchandise includes items such as giftware, toiletries, cross stitch and stationery. The connection of seeing and then writing what I see is a art form not often done or done well, but Cicely Mary Barker did it with absolute perfection!