Artist Cicely Mary Barker's the Flower Fairies are a captivating combination of botanical accuracy, innocence, and sweet, winged beings. The first Flower Fairies book, Flower Fairies of the Spring, was published in 1923 by Blackie & Son in Glasgow. Such was the charm and beauty of the illustrations that they have been in print ever since. Cicely Mary Barker's talent as an artist was recognised at an early age. Her father enrolled her into Croydon School of Art when she was 13 and she had her first work - a set of four animal illustrations - accepted by publisher Raphael Tuck & Son in 1911. As a child, her style was greatly influenced by the Victorian illustrator Kate Greenaway (1846-1901), and as an adult by the Pre-Raphaelites. Cicely believed, as the Pre-Raphaelites did, in representing 'truth to nature' in her work, painting each flower from life and enlisting the help of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to find and identify plants. "So let me say quite plainly, that I have drawn all the plants and flowers very carefully, from real ones," she said, "and everything I have said about them is as true as I could make it.
"* For her first book, Flower Fairies of the Spring, Cicely Mary was paid £25 for 24 illustrations and verses. The book was well received by a war-weary public, charmed by her vision of nature and innocence. Fairies were very much in vogue at the time, and Queen Mary frequently sent postcards of fairies to her friends. The Fairies were also painted from life - Cicely Mary used children from her sister's kindergarten as models, and supplied them with handmade wings and costumes. However, as a devout Christian, she was keen to stress that the fairy world she created was imaginary: "I have never seen a fairy; the fairies and all about them are just 'pretend'."* There are 170 Flower Fairies in total and each originally came with a verse written by Cicely that described them. Her idea was that these tiny creatures lived in trees, marshes, the forest, wayside, and gardens. Wherever and whenever a seed sprouts, a Flower Fairy is born, going on to live in their flower, which they look after and keep strong and healthy.
Her books are not just 'pretend', however. They are also an introduction to the flowers of the country, garden, and wayside for children and adults alike. Such is the accuracy of the drawings, they serve as a useful guide to flower identification. (*as Cicely notes in the foreword to Flower Fairies from the Wayside, in 1948.).