Flower Fairies of the Winter

I was a bit worried at the outset of this book - what flowers legitimately bloom in winter - but Barker deftly sidesteps the question and focuses on the winter forms of a few flowering plants (post-flower fairies, if you will), wintering berries, and a few flowers that herald the coming of spring. The fairies which started off this book were not particularly interesting, being mostly comprised of dull brown and wintered green tones, and echoing the bland tones with expected poses, but barker hit a better stride further into the collection. The tricksy Burdock fairy was one of my faovurites (how can you resist his impish charm and pointy attire) and the story that accompanied the rush-grass and cotton-grass fairies (our first duo) was a show more nice echo of country folk lore. Barker rounds out the collection with a jaunty holly fairy, whose costume is absolutely adore in its impracticality, but I could have done without the typical and uninspired Christmas tree fairy. At least we are finally left looking towards Spring again with the Winter aconite fairy - like him we can't wait for Winter to end! show less

This was a book that was given to me by my sister for our monthly book club. And for such a small book it is a beautiful work both with its simplistic poetry and its beautiful artwork.

The artist introduces you into the world of plants during the autumn season with a detailed yet whimsical picture of the plant with its fairy during that time of the season and a little poem to match. The poem itself isn't just some frivolous words together but simple verses that also contribute to your education of the plant itself.

As a final word this was a good compilation and putting together of a book after the author's death. The use of her work from various other works was a genius stroke that fits in with the other seasonal books.

Love it and show more will be working to collect the series.... show less

Our most Recent Addition to our growing Fairy Collection

I've been reading these since I was little and recently bought them for the little in my life, we both love fairies. These make the long walks we take in each season so much more enjoyable, we recite the little rhymes and look extra close for the fairies

Beautiful pictures, sweet illustrations, makes for a lovely, cuddley, read-aloud book with children, or a quiet little read in the garden.

Although an editor's note explains that Flower Fairies of the Winter was compiled using illustrations from the seven flower fairies books published when Cicely Mary Barker was alive, I think it's worth owning. We get to have winter flowers and trees in one book. The same note states that there are more winter fairies in the 1990 edition than there were in the original 1985 edition.

These are the fairies that appear in this book, in alphabetical order:

Blackthorn Fairy
Box Tree Fairy
Burdock Fairy
Christmas Tree Fairy
Cotton-Grass Fairy (appears with the Rush-Grass Fairy)
Dead-Nettle Fairy
Groundsel Fairy
Hazel-Catkin Fairy
Holly Fairy
Lords-and-Ladies Fairy
Old-Man's-Beard Fairy
Pine Tree Fairy
Plane Tree Fairy
Rush-Grass Fairy (appears with the show more Cotton-Grass Fairy)
Shepherd's Purse Fairy
Snowdrop Fairy
Spindle Berry Fairy
Totter-Grass Fairy
Winter Aconite Fairy
Winter Jasmine Fairy
Yew Fairy show less

Wonderful, whimsical world of Cicely Mary Barker.