Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973) was the illustrator and poet behind my lifelong love: the flower fairies.

This love begun in childhood when my grandmother gifted me a copy of "a flower fairies treasury". This version was published in 2002, so I imagine it was in the early-mid 00s that she gave it to me.

This book was a powerful influence on who I would become, who I am now. It gave me respite in the hard times of childhood. I learned how to identify plants and flowers through the illustrations, and would find peace in imagining small fairies frolicking amongst nature.

my collection:
- flower fairies of the spring (1930s, hardback)
- flower fairies (1974, soft cover) collection: alphabet, summer, autumn, wayside [missing: garden, trees]
- flower fairies minitiaure library (1981, hardback) collection: spring, summer, blossom, and berry flower fairies
- the flower fairies gardening year (1983, soft cover)
- the original flower fairies annual (mid 1980s, maybe 1986 - really hard to date, hardback)
- garland of flower fairies (1994, hardback) [pendant missing]
- flower fairies: the meaning of flowers (1996, hardback)
- the complete book of the flower fairies (1997, hardback)
- a flower fairies treasury (1997, hardback)
- flower fairies (1999, hardback) collection: spring, trees, garden [missing: summer, autumn, winter, wayside, alphabet]

- flower fairies fancy dress book (1999, hardback)
- a flower fairies treasury (2000, hardback)
- flower fairies secret world (2002, hardback)

other:

- cicely mary barker illustrations (? 1980s maybe... hard to date, 54pc jigsaws) collection: mountain ash fairy (complete), windflower fairy (2pcs missing), winter jasmine (1pc missing), almond blossom fairy (complete), lord of rushie river illst (1pc missing), rhyming rainbow illt[missing: ?]
- cicely mary barker illustrations (? 1980s maybe... hard to date, 54pc jigsaws) collection: mountain ash fairy (complete), windflower fairy (2pcs missing), winter jasmine (1pc missing), almond blossom fairy (complete), lord of rushie river illst (1pc missing), rhyming rainbow illt
[missing: ?]