The artwork is not like some of the freakish fantasy fanatic stuff that you usually think of. If you have a little girl or ever loved fairies yourself, this is a great book to have. The poetry, while not the best I've ever read, is sweet and often clever. The fairies are beautiful Victorian children, scaled to size, with a set of wings and clothes made from parts of the plant. Barker does a beautiful job with the details-they were considered equal to 'botanist' standards at the time (since things were drawn more than photographed in her time). Each page features a particular flower with it's fairy, and a poem about the flower. The book is separated into categories (of the original books)-Spring Flowers, Summer Flowers, etc.

Barker was a Victorian age artist and poet. I was ecstatic when I found this book, which is a compilation of many smaller books that Cicely Barker created. 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 think it is a must for every child’s bookshelf – beautiful and just as enchanting as when the first book appeared in 1923. Not only does it work as a collection of poems, but it also helps teaches children about flowers and plants and enriches nature for them. I think this collection is just wonderful and one of the books my daughter pores over the most. My daughter and niece not only love the poems and illustrations – but they enjoy copying the drawings. There is a useful index, an introduction about Cicely Mary Barker – which is fairly short but long enough that most children will probably read it - and (of course) the poems and the pictures are just gorgeous. None of my children have ever liked the paper covers on hardback and always remove them, so I was pleased to see that this has a nice cover underneath (some hardbacks just have plain cloth covers, but this looks good with or without the slip cover). Both are hardback, with good quality paper and includes the original books: Flower Fairies of the Spring, Flower Fairies of the Summer, Flower Fairies of the Autumn, Flower Fairies of the Winter, Flower Fairies of the Garden, Flower Fairies of the Trees, Flower Fairies of the Wayside and A Flower Fairy Alphabet. My daughter has the earlier version and I purchased the newer version for my niece, as they both adore it.

This is a new edition of a previously published book.

The complete flower fairies