A Flower Fairy Alphabet

Flower Fairies

by Cicely Mary Barker

Barker's classic "A Flower Fairy Alphabet" features a newly designed jacket paired with her original artwork and poetry, providing a nostalgic look into the Romantic Age. Full-color illustrations.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Fairies, Fantasy, Fiction, Nature

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Cicely Mary Barker was the illustrator who created the famous Flower Fairies; those ethereal smiling children with butterfly wings. As a child she was influenced by the works of the illustrator Kate Greenaway, whom she assiduously copied in her formative years. Her principal influence, however, was the artwork of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Reviews

[Calista]

This is still the same fairy poetry as all the others but in an alphabet layout. Some of these we have seen before and most of them are new.

I do recommend the 4 season fairy books first. I think they are the best, but this one is good too. I felt some of the rhymes in this one had more to do with the alphabet than the plant, but some were all about the plant.

These are from a bygone era. I want to own the collection someday.

[maddie ʚ♡ɞ]

the poetry in this book is actually really good and the drawings are so pretty

[Elevetha]

Lovely. So pretty. It's truly amazing when you think that she taught herself how to draw and paint. She taught herself well!

[Kayleigh]

These poems are beautiful and adorable.
I love looking at the illustrations, I get so nostalgic from these little books

[Cécile]

ik wil ook een fairy zijn die in een bloemetje woont

[Bea]

A very cute read inbetween, cleansing the soul with the cute little elves and pretty flowers.

[Jaimie]

Most of the other flower fairies books hold their strength simply in their illustrations; their poems are weak and not particularly engaging. Yet, this alphabet breaks the trend, as Barker's short poems pair well with their fairies and read like a true alphabet book. Her fairies have always shown personality, but even more is revealed when we get language that matches the visuals properly. Even more surprising is that Barker engages the reader directly, breaking the fourth wall if you will, by discussing the hard choice of flower and fairy for some of the letters for which there is abundance. This breaks the narrative flow of the book a touch, but besides the illustrations which tie everything loosely together Barker has never really concerned herself with "story." WE're almost at the finale of the collection of flower fairy books, so I'll be sad to see them finish, but I'm sure I'll revisit these many times again for inspiration!

[Persephone Abbott]

Charming illustrations of course, catching the twin faces of sweet children and flowers. The poems leave a little to be desired, but as far as simple descriptions go to help one linger over the drawings, they serve well. Before being given a few of Barker's inspirational books recently I, remembering having seen the fairy drawings, dipped into this fairy world once to write a poem "Fairy Tea At The Museum" published at: http://blogs.angloinfo.com/nectar-fro...

[Leah]

This is such a sweet little collection. I'm so glad my nan stumbled upon them at a charity shop! They are very much loved.

This book had my favourite illustrations of the whole collection, the fairy on the front cover was my absolute favourite. It was just so elegant and I loved the way she hung like the flower itself.

I just wished that Barker would have considered doing a story. The poems were beautiful, but a story conbining the fairies would have been magical!

[Kristen]

lovely illustrations

[Lacey]

This edition isn't the audio book but they don't have it on here so I chose one and but that it was a CD/ audio book. Cute but eh...

[Michael Fitzgerald]

A clever way to do an alphabet book.

[Christina]

Barker’s artwork is beautiful as usual in this alphabet themed book of flower fairy illustrations and poems. The poems are a bit of a mix in terms of strength. Some are strong and like those in her other books, focused on the flower and telling the reader something about them. Others seem comprised mostly of “there are so many flowers that begin with this letter, like…I chose this one.” And U and X don’t get flowers, but are included and become the focus of V and Y poems. I think it would have been stronger if she focused on the flowers and not the letters and alphabet theme of the book. I suspect the poems where she did were where she chose a flower based on her desire to illustrate it over other flowers beginning with that letter, then had to write a poem to go with it.

Nevertheless, this is still a charming classic. Her knowledge of flowers is impressive both in terms of the insights about their botanical nature and cultural significance reflected in the poems, as well as her excellent illustrations, and how she reflects the flower in the costume of the companion fairy.

[Araksia Pendergast]

1 Awards: NYTimes bestseller
2. Appropriate grade level:
3. Summary: Publication in 1923, Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies have enchanted both adults and children alike around the world. The accurate drawings of the enchanting fairy images based on real children from Cecily's sister’s nursery school. This book appeals to our innate sense of magic and wonder. Originally accompanied by a poem or verse dedicated to the individual Flower Fairy the charming characters and detailed artwork have also been translated into fiction for young readers.
4:Review:This is a great book for both adults and children. It catches children attention by giving them a very powerful creature which they believe which comes to life for them. It brings their imaginary creatures to life.
5.In class use: this book is great to catch children interest in learning the Alphabet. The pictures are there to help the children remember the picture of the fairy and the letter which it represents. it a beautifully illustrated book.

[Libby Taylor]

The Song of the Lily-of-the-Valley Fairy

Gentle fairies, hush your singing:
Can you hear my white bells ringing,
Ringing as from far away?
Who can tell me what they say?

Little snowy bells out-springing
From the stem and softly ringing-
Tell they of a country where
Everything is good and fair?

Lovely, lovely things for L!
Lilac, Lavender as well;
And, more sweet then rhyming tells,
Lily-of-the-Valley's bells.

[Vj]

Not my typical reading choice, but I came across this while looking for "fairy books" for my granddaughter. This little old lady who loves flowers did enjoy reading the poems, looking at the illustrations, and researching the flowers. However, I must mention that the book was published in 1934, and the poet/artist was from England, so some of the flowers depicted aren't native to North America.

[Hannah Belyea]

Nearly every letter of the alphabet has a flower associated with it - and thus a fairy - now revealed to children everywhere through poetry and full-page illustrations, each unveiling the personalities and habitats of the fae realm and their respective flora. Barker brings young readers a beautifully styled collection of cute poems and utterly charming artwork.

[Lissa]

Lovely artwork with fun poems - a great way to learn the names of flowers!

This one, unlike many of it’s ilk, is still in print.

This is the eighth in the Flower Fairies series.

Of all eight, I think this one has the best poems.

I read this as part of “The Complete Book of Flower Fairies”.

[Jennifer]

What fun to scour the pages of flowers and fairies from the 1930s. Same publisher as Beatrix Potter. Same style little book

[Tibia]

Beautiful illustrations!

[Kelee]

What a beautiful book with the most delicate and gorgeous illustrations.

[doris]

perfect for reading to the kids!!

[Ehryn]

In this book my favorite poem was THE SONG OF THE JASMINE FAIRY, while my favorite piece of art was for letter G: the Gorse Fairy!

[S.L.]

Cute with beautiful art

[Rosie]

A collection of Flower Fairies for the Alphabet, poor U and X don't get one though.

A lovely collection.

[Dora Witherell vandenberg]

A light relaxing read.

[Maria]

Suloiset kuvitukset, kukkarunojen suomennokset ei miellyttänyt.

[Janie]

The verses make you want a little fairy-loving three-year-old to cuddle and recite to. Their flower lore lends a non-fictionish aura to the proceedings —pleasantly, oddly apropos.

As kids, my sisters and I used to pore over the CMB fairy books we got from the library, and claim fairies for ourselves based on likeness (sort of a "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the fairiest one of all?") So I did that here, too. Iris looks like my sister-in-law C; Thrift looks like my sister L; I look most like Columbine.

Line for 2013-Books found poem:
- "'When gorse is out of blossom,' / (Its prickles bare of gold) / 'Then kissing's out of fashion,' / Said country-folk of old."

[James Crawford]

This is a book originally published in England in 1934. Although this is the alphabet, there are actually two letters left U and X, are part of other letter's poems.

The book starts with a table of the flowers in the book along with their English name, the botanical name, and the taxonomic order that they are in.

All the fairy drawings are in color.

Each of the letters that are used are represented by a type of fairy and include a short poem/prose about them.

[Cara Patel]

These are nostalgic poetry and art collections I revisited while offline at my parents’. Absolutely gorgeous artwork and sweet nature-themed poems. They're a five-star for doing exactly what they set out to do.