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Flower Fairies
Fairyopolis: A Flower Fairies Journal
Brand New. Will be shipped from US.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 2005
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3339 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
January 23, 2010
During the summer of 1920 Cicely Mary Barker kept a journal of her time in Storrington, it was during this time she felt most inspired by her fairy friends, and so decided to entrust her journal to The British Faerie Folklore Society for preservation. It is this journal we are presented with here.
Storrington is a place of tranquillity surrounded by beauty and wild flowers. And as Cicely Mary Barker discovered, it is also surrounded by fairies. Day after day Cicely discovers more and more evidence of fairies. From tiny foot prints, to enchanting music, fairy wings and fairy dust, and also fairy's in photos.
It is an invaluable journal full of tips and hints on identifying fairies, and where they can be found. There is a guide to fairy trees and fairy rings and also tales of fairy. And there is also a recipe for blackberry jam! But above all else there are fairies themselves dancing through the pages of this journal.
I love the interactivity with this book. Fairyopolis is a magical guide into a world not often seen, but often imagined. There is so much magic and beauty to discover within these pages, and I hope any fairy lover will take the time to uncover it.
Storrington is a place of tranquillity surrounded by beauty and wild flowers. And as Cicely Mary Barker discovered, it is also surrounded by fairies. Day after day Cicely discovers more and more evidence of fairies. From tiny foot prints, to enchanting music, fairy wings and fairy dust, and also fairy's in photos.
It is an invaluable journal full of tips and hints on identifying fairies, and where they can be found. There is a guide to fairy trees and fairy rings and also tales of fairy. And there is also a recipe for blackberry jam! But above all else there are fairies themselves dancing through the pages of this journal.
I love the interactivity with this book. Fairyopolis is a magical guide into a world not often seen, but often imagined. There is so much magic and beauty to discover within these pages, and I hope any fairy lover will take the time to uncover it.
June 9, 2019
This is a beautiful, nostalgic book that I've owned since I was very young, and just rediscovered recently, the illustrations are so lovely and whimsical, and are still a style of illustration that I have grown to love even more- looking back at certain childhood books I realise 'no wonder I hold them so close to my heart, I've loved them since I was a wee one'
September 7, 2022
I have a fascination with fairies since I was born so naturally I had to get this book when I found out about it:)
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This book brought me so much joy. It is quite short and it’s not long or complicated but it made my inner child smile so much!! It’s written like a journal and has so many drawings sand art and all kinds of stuff that just make this book so magical!
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I love Cicely Mary Barker with my whole heart and her flower fairies drawings are such beautiful artwork that I admire almost daily. I loved reading a book about her and how she discovered her love of fairies.
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This truly felt like magic between a few pages. There were flowers and sparkles and glitter and everything was absolu astonishing and beautiful beyond imagination. I loved every single page of this book🫶🏼
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This book brought me so much joy. It is quite short and it’s not long or complicated but it made my inner child smile so much!! It’s written like a journal and has so many drawings sand art and all kinds of stuff that just make this book so magical!
.
I love Cicely Mary Barker with my whole heart and her flower fairies drawings are such beautiful artwork that I admire almost daily. I loved reading a book about her and how she discovered her love of fairies.
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This truly felt like magic between a few pages. There were flowers and sparkles and glitter and everything was absolu astonishing and beautiful beyond imagination. I loved every single page of this book🫶🏼
June 3, 2021
Simply may be the best book I’ve ever read in my life I think it shaped my entire personality
February 17, 2025
A magical nostalgic book for your inner child loving fairies
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January 29, 2022
Having this book in elementary school was fundamental to who I am as a person today.
December 31, 2022
The illustrations in this book are beautiful, and really add to the reading experience!💫 There are little add-ons such as letters and items in envelopes which make the journal interactive! The book is more so a diary where the author writes about some of the mysterious things happening around her, which she believes are because of fairies. Most of the information she writes about fairies are based off of readings she's done herself. I expected the book to be about her own research based on her first-hand experiences, rather than her regurgitating someone else's research. As well as this, I expected the author to write about all the fairies she's seen and giving in-depth detail about them, but in fact, she's never actually seen a complete fairy. She just eludes to the fact that she *probably* has seen one, which was slightly disappointing. But overall, it is a cute, pretty and magical read, that suggests that fairies are all around us!🧚🏻♀🧚♂️
November 29, 2023
Very cute book in a diary style with lots of fun little parts that look authentic and could be part of a diary. The details are lovely, the fold out stuff etc was nice, too. The storyline wasn't overly captivating and I was expecting a bit more information or lore. But still this is a really cute book to have with nice illustrations.
November 18, 2024
I’ve wanted this book ever since I was a little girl and I finally got it recently for my birthday! I loved this and loved how interactive it was. The imagery is beautiful!! I have always loved fairies and am so happy to finally own this book. It’s a book I will treasure forever! 🧚🏻♀️💜
August 25, 2023
The childhood nostalgia got me feeling all warm and fuzzy!
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October 10, 2024best book of the year (the year is 2005)
March 16, 2022
Apparently this is a reproduction of an illustrated journal kept by Cicely Mary Barker during the summer of 1920. Vacationing in a friend’s home in the village of Storrington in Sussex, England, Ms. Barker paints and researches the history of fairies. This is just a gem of a book, and a keepsake.
February 3, 2018
(5/16/2016 - edited for clarity)
While I might defend the silliness of the -Ology series until my dying day, the same can't be said for this fairy inspired offshoot.
FAIRYOPOLIS is Victorian fairy-tale goofiness vaguely inspired by the Cottingley fairies hoax rather than legitimate folklore. Or least, that's what I think it's about--the stylized cursive is difficult to read, and the story is mostly spent with Cicely Mary Barker's unsettling happy-go-lucky attitude while she discovers "flower fairies" during a summer vacation. It's a shame, because the author is an interesting historical figure, and there's a wealth of interesting and bizarre elements of fairy legends and folklore instead of this watered down nonsense.
Furthermore, FAIRYOPOLIS is extremely short for an -Ology styled novelty book, and the interactive elements are almost negligible in their uninspired glory. Too many times the illustrations were taken from public domain sources or outright traced--yes, the "author" is supposed to be the real life "flower fairy" illustrator Cicely Mary Barker, but the book reeks of unoriginality. It also just didn't sit right with me that the attributed author is an actual person who died over forty years ago; am I really supposed to believe that she wrote an -Ology style novelty book decades before the originals were published? While I’m sure her estate agreed to her name and art’s usage in this book, it feels dishonest in a way that the -Ology books don’t.
But I’ll be the first to the admit that I’m being cynical. In fact, I have a better explanation for the format: if the book truly was written in 1921, which the copyright information indicates that it is, then it’s public domain. Maybe Penguin just didn’t want to publish something that would be accessible for free once published (e.g. the plain journal). Throwing it into a novelty book is a clever way of getting around that, I must admit.
That's not to say that the book is completely absent of creativity; there are little segments like the envelope of fairy dust or the tiny letters that add a touch of adorableness to the "journal" in question. The artwork is gorgeous, so I could easily see very young children enjoying the pretty pictures and pop-out elements while a parent reads to them or the like. But at the same time, it feels like a cash-in on a popular series and it's not memorable given the plethora of cutesy fairytales already in existence.
It's a shame I don't like this more than I do, as I love Barker's artwork and owned several of her seasonal fairy books as a child. It’s not a bad book, but I just couldn’t get into it at all.
While I might defend the silliness of the -Ology series until my dying day, the same can't be said for this fairy inspired offshoot.
FAIRYOPOLIS is Victorian fairy-tale goofiness vaguely inspired by the Cottingley fairies hoax rather than legitimate folklore. Or least, that's what I think it's about--the stylized cursive is difficult to read, and the story is mostly spent with Cicely Mary Barker's unsettling happy-go-lucky attitude while she discovers "flower fairies" during a summer vacation. It's a shame, because the author is an interesting historical figure, and there's a wealth of interesting and bizarre elements of fairy legends and folklore instead of this watered down nonsense.
Furthermore, FAIRYOPOLIS is extremely short for an -Ology styled novelty book, and the interactive elements are almost negligible in their uninspired glory. Too many times the illustrations were taken from public domain sources or outright traced--yes, the "author" is supposed to be the real life "flower fairy" illustrator Cicely Mary Barker, but the book reeks of unoriginality. It also just didn't sit right with me that the attributed author is an actual person who died over forty years ago; am I really supposed to believe that she wrote an -Ology style novelty book decades before the originals were published? While I’m sure her estate agreed to her name and art’s usage in this book, it feels dishonest in a way that the -Ology books don’t.
But I’ll be the first to the admit that I’m being cynical. In fact, I have a better explanation for the format: if the book truly was written in 1921, which the copyright information indicates that it is, then it’s public domain. Maybe Penguin just didn’t want to publish something that would be accessible for free once published (e.g. the plain journal). Throwing it into a novelty book is a clever way of getting around that, I must admit.
That's not to say that the book is completely absent of creativity; there are little segments like the envelope of fairy dust or the tiny letters that add a touch of adorableness to the "journal" in question. The artwork is gorgeous, so I could easily see very young children enjoying the pretty pictures and pop-out elements while a parent reads to them or the like. But at the same time, it feels like a cash-in on a popular series and it's not memorable given the plethora of cutesy fairytales already in existence.
It's a shame I don't like this more than I do, as I love Barker's artwork and owned several of her seasonal fairy books as a child. It’s not a bad book, but I just couldn’t get into it at all.
March 19, 2018
Even though I highly doubt that this book is based on Cicely Mary Barker's real journal, I'm willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of its charm. Its pages are filled with a haphazard array of Barker's musings on her summer home and drawings of the fey creatures she comes to believe are living around it and causing mischief. Her fictitious journal lacks the adject wonder of Brian Froud's Lady Cottington publications, but it is clearly geared towards younger readers who are generally more impressed by an overabundance of imagery and small tidbits of fairy lore than for serious (or may not so serious in Froud's case) fairy scholars and art enthusiasts. What I wonder most, though, is whether Barker's papers (including her journals) do exist in an archive somewhere, and whether it wouldn't have been a more interesting concept to base the book on her actual diaries. Her publications do contain her own poems afterall, so it would be very intersting to get a glimpse into her actual research, collection ideas, and real life inspirations.
August 4, 2016
I wanted to love this as I do the 'ology' books. I absolutely devoured Dragonology, and enjoyed Pirateology as a kid, but they held an adventurous element this lacked. This was simply boring.
Considering my lifelong fascination with fairies and all things magical and otherworldly, I was hopeful as I spotted the book in the library shelf and turned it over in my hands, but it has disappointed my curious nature. Perhaps it is simply for a different audience. I'm sure many are content with what is delivered.
This reminded me of sitting at a tea party in an uncomfortable itchy dress, keeping up with the expectation that I should keep my legs crossed despite nature's obvious design to have them parted.
I will gladly keep Dragonology at my side.
Considering my lifelong fascination with fairies and all things magical and otherworldly, I was hopeful as I spotted the book in the library shelf and turned it over in my hands, but it has disappointed my curious nature. Perhaps it is simply for a different audience. I'm sure many are content with what is delivered.
This reminded me of sitting at a tea party in an uncomfortable itchy dress, keeping up with the expectation that I should keep my legs crossed despite nature's obvious design to have them parted.
I will gladly keep Dragonology at my side.
August 18, 2012
My five-year-old granddaughter can't get enough of this book, even though the back cover states it is recommended for ages 6+. She said "I like this book" then the next time said "I really like this book". Subsequent times together we'd go through the book, taking little notes out of envelopes, unfurling the map, reading the back of postcards, touching the fairy wing and fairy dust. Next my granddaughter said "I LOVE this book" and then "I want this book." I first wanted to share it with a friend in Writers' Club who writes and illustrates her own faerie stories. Dear Granddaughter will receive the book next week when I see her again.
July 29, 2017
L'edizione sicuramente fa l'occhiolino alle bimbe, essendo loro il pubblico a cui il prodotto è principalmente destinato, ma una volta aperta la copertina ci si ritrova davanti ad una serie di illustrazioni che sono una gioia per gli occhi. La cura dedicata ad ogni pagina, l'effetto tridimensionale dell'impostazione grafica che, unito al font calligrafico, dona maggiore realtà al "diario", i piccoli inserti da esplorare, lo rendono un libro apprezzabile da chiunque ami le storie di fate e non solo ai più piccoli.
April 12, 2009
I loved this book! Every page had some little surprise on it. It was so much fun to turn the pages and see what was coming next. It reminded me of Dear Toothfairy - a favorite book of my niece, Amy.
http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Tooth-Fair...
http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Tooth-Fair...
March 5, 2017
Fairies are awesome. This book is beautiful.
June 8, 2019
A gorgeously crafted and fun interactive book! I would not leave young children alone with it though, many of the pieces and flaps are easily torn by careless hands.
December 4, 2022
I love Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies but I don’t know much about her or her life. Fairyopolis is allegedly a journal that she kept during the summer of 1920, which she spent in her friend’s summer house in Storrington. I’m not sure how much of this journal is fact and how much is made-up. It does feel authentic in that it makes sense within her universe – this is how I would imagine someone that has drawn and written about fairies, right at the beginning when they were just discovering the fairy world.
This journal is more of a scrapbook complete with journal entries, sketches, photographs but also things like train or admission tickets, maps, recipes or bits of “evidence” of the existence of fairies (such as fairy dust or a piece of fairy wing). It’s not very long but reading it mirrors the exploring and discovering happening on the pages – each flap, each booklet, each envelope with its contents brings a new surprise.
The magic of the book doesn’t just lie with the fairies; it transports us to a nostalgic past and to a summer with all its warmth, sweet scents, innocence and a bit of mischief. We follow Cicely’s attempts at getting a glimpse of fairies who are very good at eluding people; learning more about them - what they are like, what they like and dislike.
At the end of the day, it’s not so important weather the story is real or not. It could be. One of the things to take away is paying attention to the world around us, especially natural world and its inhabitants. To try to live in harmony with it, observe it, pay attention to the little details. And maybe leave a treat outside for the fairies, just in case :)
This journal is more of a scrapbook complete with journal entries, sketches, photographs but also things like train or admission tickets, maps, recipes or bits of “evidence” of the existence of fairies (such as fairy dust or a piece of fairy wing). It’s not very long but reading it mirrors the exploring and discovering happening on the pages – each flap, each booklet, each envelope with its contents brings a new surprise.
The magic of the book doesn’t just lie with the fairies; it transports us to a nostalgic past and to a summer with all its warmth, sweet scents, innocence and a bit of mischief. We follow Cicely’s attempts at getting a glimpse of fairies who are very good at eluding people; learning more about them - what they are like, what they like and dislike.
At the end of the day, it’s not so important weather the story is real or not. It could be. One of the things to take away is paying attention to the world around us, especially natural world and its inhabitants. To try to live in harmony with it, observe it, pay attention to the little details. And maybe leave a treat outside for the fairies, just in case :)
October 1, 2022
This is the kind of book I would have gone absolutely heart-eyed over when I was little, and which I would treasure for life; alas I found it a few years too late, but perhaps my niece will enjoy it in that way!
A gorgeous concoction, lovingly and artfully put together with a variety of details to get lost in. Ostensibly this book is about fairies, but it is also a celebration of nature and our place in it. We learn about the goings-on among various garden animals and plants throughout the growing months of the year. The book also quietly incorporates "old-fashioned" values like patience, industriousness, pride in one's surroundings, and gratitude.
The book is designed to look like someone's journal, and is entirely written in cursive, with lots of "inserts" including postcards, calendars, recipes, "fairy" wings, mini books, invitations, event tickets, etc. It really does feel like you're browsing someone's journal, which adds a feeling of personal connection to the story. Quite sweet and nostalgic.
A gorgeous concoction, lovingly and artfully put together with a variety of details to get lost in. Ostensibly this book is about fairies, but it is also a celebration of nature and our place in it. We learn about the goings-on among various garden animals and plants throughout the growing months of the year. The book also quietly incorporates "old-fashioned" values like patience, industriousness, pride in one's surroundings, and gratitude.
The book is designed to look like someone's journal, and is entirely written in cursive, with lots of "inserts" including postcards, calendars, recipes, "fairy" wings, mini books, invitations, event tickets, etc. It really does feel like you're browsing someone's journal, which adds a feeling of personal connection to the story. Quite sweet and nostalgic.
August 17, 2020
Very torn on this book. It has some elements I like and it could have been so great. But if definitely feels like a cash grab. I especially dislike the photoshop feeling paint splotches and magical blurs around some of Mary’s art. Not only does it mess with her illustrations it’s tacky looking and does not feel like it matches the supposed era of the book. That said I feel confident I’d have been mesmerized by this book as a kid and I still do enjoy it. I love the little bit of art nouveau in it. The mention of rock candy and the interactive bits. Best for older kids as it has easily ripped parts.
January 6, 2022
This is the most GORGEOUS interactive classic work of faerie history. It would make an amazing gift for anyone who loves faeries, flowers, trees and magical stories that are wholly wholesome and delightfully believable. The illustrations literally jump out of the pages at times - making it feel like you really are seeing faeries out of the corner of your eye, and you know what? Maybe… you are! ✨🧚🏻♀️💫🧚🏻✨🧚🏻♂️💫
September 27, 2023
I loved this book as a kid. My grandma would read it to me and I remember being so fascinated by all the details and the flaps. I always thought about the book but never found it. Recently I had told her about my fond memories about the book, and about a month ago it showed up on my doorstep. She told me it made me so happy as a kid, and figured it would be nice to look at whenever I needed something to cheer me up. I’ve re-red it so many times, it’s just wonderful.
November 5, 2023
This book is clearly designed for children or adults who connect with their magickal inner child. A fun, beautiful, diary/scrapbook style book filled with vintage images and fantastical ideas.
This is a short "read", but I believe the design is intended more to stir the imagination and inspire creativity and imagination with it's interactive elements.
If you are looking for more of a reference-style book on fairies or fae folk, this may not be the find for you.
This is a short "read", but I believe the design is intended more to stir the imagination and inspire creativity and imagination with it's interactive elements.
If you are looking for more of a reference-style book on fairies or fae folk, this may not be the find for you.
January 16, 2022
We found this at a used book store last summer and it immediately became one of my daughters favorites! It is a fun interactive book along with beautiful illustrations. The diary narrative is also enchanting to read and we have spent just as much time discussing whether fairies are real as we have reading the book.
December 3, 2020
This illustrated journal is great fun. I enjoyed all of the letters, postcards, and fairy facts sprinkled throughout the journal. It renewed my interest in faeries, and I’ve started conducting my own research and revisiting fairytales I once loved. This is a quick yet substantial read.
May 17, 2023
This is a fun and interactive book on fairies. I especially liked the little piece of possible fairy wing, and fairy dust. The journal aspect was enjoyable and this is a great introduction to fairies. I just wished that there had been more.
August 23, 2017
I read this book as a kid and absolutely fell in love with the illustration and unique storytelling. I have very fond memories of this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews