Author & Illustrator Profile
Cicely Mary Barker
15 Books
Cicely Mary Barker was an English illustrator and author best known for her enchanting "Flower Fairies" series, which blends botanical accuracy with fantasy. Her delicate watercolors and accompanying poems have captivated generations of readers since the 1920s. Famous works like "A Flower Fairy Alphabet" showcase her unique ability to bring the natural world to life through art and verse.
Autumn leaves, berries, nuts, and hidden garden corners become tiny doorways into Cicely Mary Barker’s classic Flower Fairy world.
In this illustrated poetry collection, each autumn plant has its own guardian fairy, shown in delicate full-color artwork and paired with a short poem. You may meet fairies among rose hips, acorns, horse chestnuts, and other seasonal treasures, all drawn with Barker’s careful eye for nature.
Gentle, magical, and observant, Flower Fairies of the Autumn invites readers to look more closely at the ordinary world outside. It is a lovely choice for children who enjoy poetry, fairy stories, nature study, and timeless illustrated classics.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
55 Pages
A is for Apple Blossom, Z is for Zinnia, and between them waits a whole alphabet of flower fairies.
In this beautifully illustrated collection, Cicely Mary Barker pairs fairy poems with familiar flowers, using the alphabet as a gentle path through the natural world. Each page introduces a different flower and its fairy companion, blending careful observation of plants with the soft magic that has made Barker’s work beloved for generations.
A Flower Fairy Alphabet is ideal for readers who have moved beyond simple alphabet books but still enjoy letter-by-letter discovery. With lyrical poems, classic watercolor art, and a graceful fairy theme, it offers a charming bridge between early learning, poetry, and imaginative nature reading.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
56 Pages
Jenny’s wish is dazzlingly simple: a different necklace for every day of the year. To the fairies, that sounds like a challenge worth taking up.
The Fairy Necklaces is a short fairy story with a bright, wishful premise and a gentle magical mood. As the fairies set out to satisfy Jenny’s desire, the story invites young readers into a world where small wishes can grow into something much more surprising.
With its classic fairy-tale feeling and child-centered longing for beauty and wonder, this book suits readers who enjoy brief magical stories, enchanted gifts, and the delicate charm associated with Cicely Mary Barker’s fairy books.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
62 Pages
A nearby plant may be watched over by a fairy, if only you know how to look closely enough.
Flower Fairies Secret World offers a glimpse into the hidden lives of Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies. Through poems, illustrations, and fairy-lore details, readers learn what the fairies look like, how they dress in petals, leaves, buds, and seed pods, what jobs they do, and how they play when they are not caring for their flowers.
Part nature fantasy and part illustrated guide, this book is especially appealing to children who love secret worlds, garden details, and the idea that magic may be tucked into ordinary plants right outside the door.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
30 Pages
Step into a garden where crocuses, snapdragons, and other flowers each have a fairy of their own.
Flower Fairies of the Garden gathers Cicely Mary Barker’s illustrated poems about the fairies who live among cultivated blooms. Each poem is paired with Barker’s graceful artwork, creating a page-by-page meeting with a different flower and its tiny guardian. The book’s magic grows from close attention to real plants, turning familiar garden sights into something secret and enchanted.
Quiet, lyrical, and beautifully visual, this classic collection is a strong choice for readers who enjoy poetry, fairy books, garden flowers, and art that rewards careful looking.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
50 Pages
A girl finds safety among swans. A young swan sets out into danger, hoping to prove himself.
The Lord of the Rushie River and Simon the Swan brings together two gentle animal-centered stories by Cicely Mary Barker. In the first, a child escapes a cruel and dishonest guardian and is cared for by the swans of Rushie River. In the second, Simon leaves home on a risky quest in the wide world, driven by the wish to make his father proud.
With original illustrations and a classic storytelling tone, this collection offers adventure, tenderness, and riverside wonder for readers who enjoy animal stories with emotional stakes and a fairy-tale atmosphere.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
96 Pages
The fairies have hidden their homes in flowers, trees, maps, flaps, and secret little places waiting to be opened.
How to Find Flower Fairies is an interactive novelty book that expands the Flower Fairies world through pop-up scenes, lift-the-flaps, booklets, maps, and other paper surprises. Each spread reveals more about the magical places the fairies call home, inviting readers to explore rather than simply read from beginning to end.
Richly visual and full of discovery, this book is best for children who like hands-on books, secret compartments, fairy lore, and imaginative nature settings. It carries the charm of Cicely Mary Barker’s fairies into a more playful, three-dimensional reading experience.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
24 Pages
Simon is a young swan with something to prove. Hoping to make his father proud, he leaves the safety he knows and sets out on a dangerous journey into the wider world.
Simon the Swan is an animal adventure with a classic, heartfelt tone. Its story centers on courage, growing independence, and the powerful wish to be seen as capable. Young readers who enjoy stories about birds, journeys, and brave choices will find Simon’s quest easy to follow and emotionally clear.
Simple in premise but rich in feeling, this book suits children who are ready for a gentle adventure beyond everyday life, with nature and family pride at its center.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
51 Pages
Lily has just climbed out of her flower for the very first time, and Fairyopolis is waiting.
Eager to explore and make friends, Lily discovers a leafy scroll with a poem of clues leading toward the Secret Garden. Her journey carries her through treetops, over a glimmering stream, and across a field of poppies, with pop-ups and novelty features bringing each stage of Flower Fairyland to life.
Magical Secret Garden is a lush interactive gift book for readers who enjoy riddles, fairy journeys, hidden places, and paper surprises. Its gentle adventure and visual details make it especially appealing for children who like to explore a story with their hands as well as their imagination.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
24 Pages
Spring arrives with snowdrops, daisies, bluebells, and the tiny fairies who belong among them.
Flower Fairies of the Spring is Cicely Mary Barker’s classic collection of illustrated poems celebrating spring flowers and their guardian fairies. Each page pairs a flower fairy painting with a poem, inviting readers to notice the details of petals, stems, colors, and seasonal change through a blend of natural observation and gentle fantasy.
First published in the 1920s, this beloved book remains a graceful introduction to poetry, art, and the beauty of spring. It is especially suited to children who enjoy fairies, flowers, nature walks, and timeless illustrated books.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
57 Pages
Dulcie remembers the fairies, but remembering is not the same as seeing them again.
Set in 1933, Return to Fairyopolis follows Dulcie as a fifteen-year-old in London, years after her childhood encounters with the Flower Fairies. Missing that lost magic, she begins to investigate where the fairies have gone, recording her thoughts, research, and correspondence with Cicely in a journal-like format.
This companion to Fairyopolis blends mystery, memory, and fairy lore in a more reflective style than a simple picture book. It is a good fit for readers who enjoy immersive fantasy journals, hidden worlds, and stories where the search for magic feels personal and full of longing.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
24 Pages
A tiny door in a new house is only the beginning.
In Flower Fairies Magical Doors, a little girl discovers a hidden entrance into the world of the Flower Fairies. As she explores her neighborhood with a friend, more fairy doors appear, each with its own shape, color, markings, and clues. Pop-ups, paper ephemera, and interactive features invite readers to open, investigate, and imagine what lies beyond each secret threshold.
Designed for children who love hands-on discovery, this novelty book turns reading into an exploration of fairy homes and hidden places. It is full of visual detail, gentle suspense, and the magical charm of Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies world.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
16 Pages
Winter has its own secret sparkle in Cicely Mary Barker’s classic Flower Fairies world.
In this illustrated poetry collection, you meet fairies inspired by the plants and flowers of the coldest season, from holly and snowdrops to winter jasmine and the Christmas tree. Each fairy is shown in Barker’s delicate watercolor art and paired with a poem that gives the plant a small, magical voice.
Gentle, lyrical, and full of close-looking wonder, Flower Fairies of the Winter invites you to notice beauty in bare branches, bright berries, and quiet winter gardens. It is a lovely choice for readers who enjoy classic children’s poetry, nature, fairies, and artwork that feels both realistic and enchanted.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
57 Pages
Summer fields, garden blooms, and bright wildflowers become tiny stages for Cicely Mary Barker’s beloved Flower Fairies.
This classic illustrated collection pairs poems with full-color artwork of more than twenty summer flowers and their guardian fairies. You may meet fairies linked to roses, forget-me-nots, buttercups, poppies, and other familiar blossoms, each drawn with Barker’s careful eye for nature and her gentle sense of fantasy.
Flower Fairies of the Summer is a graceful book for readers who like poetry, fairies, gardens, and beautiful illustrations. Its short pieces make it easy to browse, while the detailed pictures invite you to slow down, look closely, and see the magic hidden in the natural world.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
56 Pages
Along country paths and roadsides, ordinary flowers become fairy-sized wonders.
In Flower Fairies of the Wayside, Cicely Mary Barker celebrates the plants that grow beside lanes, fields, and hedgerows. Each page brings together one of her delicate fairy illustrations with a poem inspired by a wayside flower or plant, including favorites such as red clover, white bindweed, and Jack-Go-To-Bed-at-Noon.
This classic collection is gentle, imaginative, and beautifully observed. It is well suited to readers who enjoy fairies, nature walks, poetry, and art that blends careful botanical detail with a magical world just small enough to hide among the leaves.
6-8 Years
9-12 Years
52 Pages
