Cicely Mary Barker
Encyclopedia
Cicely Mary Barker was an English illustrator best known for a series of fantasy illustrations depicting fairies and flowers. Barker's art education began in girlhood with correspondence courses and instruction at the Croydon School of Art. Her earliest professional work included greeting card and juvenile magazine illustrations, and her first book, Flower Fairies of the Spring, was published in 1923. Similar books were published in the following decades.
Barker was a devout Anglican
, and donated her artworks to Christian fundraisers and missionary organizations. She produced a few Christian-themed books such as The Children’s Book of Hymns and, in collaboration with her sister Dorothy, He Leadeth Me. She designed a stained glass window for St. Edmund's Church, Pitlake, and her painting of the Christ Child, The Darling of the World Has Come, was purchased by Queen Mary
.
Barker was equally proficient in watercolour, pen and ink, oils, and pastels. Kate Greenaway
and the Pre-Raphaelites were the principal influences on her work. She claimed to paint instinctively and rejected artistic theories. Barker died in 1973. Though she published Flower Fairy books with spring, summer, and autumn themes, it wasn't until 1985 that a winter collection was assembled from her remaining work and published posthumously.
, Surrey, England. Barker was an epileptic
as a child, and cared for at home by her parents. Later, her sister and elder by two years, Dorothy Oswald Barker, continued the care.
The family of four was moderately well off, and belonged to the lower end of the upper middle class. A nanny
, a governess
, and a cook to prepare special meals for Barker were hired. She spent much time in bed at home amusing herself with painting books and a nursery library that included the works of Kate Greenaway
and Randolph Caldecott
– two artists who exerted strong influences on her later art.
In 1911, Raphael Tuck & Sons
bought four of Barker's "little drawings" for half a sovereign, and published them as postcards. In October 1911, she won second prize in the Croydon Art Society's poster competition, and shortly afterward was elected the youngest member of the Society. The art critic for the Croydon Advertiser remarked, "Her drawings show a remarkable freedom of spirit. She has distinct promise."
Following her father’s death in June 1912, the seventeen year old Barker submitted art and poetry to My Magazine
, Child’s Own, Leading Strings, and Raphael Tuck annuals in an effort to support both her mother and sister. Her sister Dorothy taught kindergarten in two private schools before opening a kindergarten at home. She brought in some money for the family's support while supervising the household.
, Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie, and the fairy-themed work of Australian Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
. Queen Mary
made such themes even more popular by sending Outhwaite postcards to friends during the 1920s. In 1918, Barker produced a postcard series depicting elves and fairies.
In 1923, Barker sent her flower fairy paintings to various publishers. Blackie paid £25 for 24 paintings with accompanying verses, but it wasn't until publication of Flower Fairies of the Summer in 1925 that Barker received royalties for her work. Mary Violet Clayton Calthrop, wife of author Dion Clayton Calthrop, wrote in April 1925 about Barker and Flower Fairies of the Spring: "She has such exquisite taste, besides draughtsmanship."
The children in the kindergarten modelled for the Flower Fairies until the kindergarten closed in 1940. In an interview in 1958, Barker said, "My sister ran a kindergarten and I used to borrow her students for models. For many years I had an atmosphere of children about me – I never forgot it." She also painted the children of relatives as well as Gladys Tidy, the Barkers' young housekeeper, who posed for the Primrose Fairy in 1923. The plants were painted from life, and if a specimen was not readily at hand, Kew Gardens staff would provide her the specimens needed. Barker designed and built the Flower Fairy costumes, and based each on the flowers and leaves of the particular plant to be illustrated. The costumes were kept in a trunk in her studio along with wings made of twigs and gauze. Each was broken down after an illustration was completed and the parts recycled for other costumes. She often referred to Dion Clayton Calthrop's English Costume.
Barker continued to attend evening classes at the Croydon Art School between the 1920s and the 1940s, eventually receiving a teaching position. She took sketching trips to Amberley
and Storrington in Sussex and to Cornwall
and the southern coast with family and friends. She visited and stayed with artist Margaret Tarrant in Gomshall, Surrey and with family in Ugglebarnby, Cornwall.
In 1940, the Barker's live-in maid retired, and Dorothy Barker closed her school at the back of the house in The Waldrons. She continued to supervise the household, and to give both her mother and sister the care they needed. Dorothy and her sister collaborated upon only two books: Our Darling's First Book and the Christian-themed, He Leadeth Me. In 1954, Dorothy Barker died of a heart attack. Barker was unable to pursue her art to any significant extent following her sister's death as all the care of her aged mother devolved upon her. She managed however to begin planning a stained glass window design in her sister's memory for St. Edmund's, Pitlake.
, Sussex, England bequeathed her by friend Edith Major and named it St. Andrew's. After taking up residence, her health began to deteriorate. She was in and out of nursing and convalescent homes, and tended by relatives and friends.
Barker died at Worthing Hospital
on 16 February 1973, aged 77 years. Two funeral services were held – one in Storrington Church and one in Barker's maisonette. Her ashes were scattered in Storrington churchyard. In 1989, Frederick Warne
, a division of Penguin Books
since 1983, acquired the Flower Fairies properties.
Kate Greenaway was a childhood favorite and an influence on her art. Barker's child subjects wear nostalgic clothing as Greenaway's children do, though Barker's children are less melancholy and less flat in appearance, due perhaps to advances in printing technology. Barker studied flowers with an analytical eye and was friend to children's illustrator, Margaret Tarrant.
The Pre-Raphaelites were a strong, life-long influence on Barker. She once indicated, "I am to some extent influenced by them—not in any technical sense, but in the choice of subject matter and the feeling and atmosphere they could achieve." She admitted a fondness for the early paintings of John Everett Millais
and "the wonderful things" of Edward Burne-Jones
.
social consciousness. Simon the Swan, intended as a sequel to Rushie River was outlined in 1943 with Groundsel, but only developed in 1953. It was published posthumously in 1988 and is critically considered less successful than Groundsel.
, and produced religious-themed works throughout her life. She published eight postcards and five guardian angel birthday cards for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1916 and in 1923 respectively. Christmas cards were designed for the Girls' Friendly Society over a 20 year period, and the first three designs sold out a combined printing of 46,500 in 1923. An original design for the society called The Darling of the World Has Come was purchased by Queen Mary
for ₤5.5.0 in 1926. The Croydon Art Society hung Barker's booklet cover design for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in its November 1919 exhibition.
Religious-themed books include The Children's Book of Hymns (1929) and He Leadeth Me (1933), the latter written in collaboration with her sister. Major religious works include the triptych
s in oil, The Feeding of the Five Thousand (1929), for the chapel in Llandaff House, a home for destitute women at Penarth
, Wales
, and The Parable of the Great Supper (1934) for St. George's Chapel, Waddon
. The Feeding has since disappeared, and only a black and white photograph dated 1929 reproduces the work. In 1941, she completed oil panels on the subject of the seven sacraments for the baptismal font
at St. Andrew's, South Croydon. She designed baptismal rolls for the wall behind the font in 1948 and 1962. In 1946, she completed the 4 x 7 ft. oil painting, Out of Great Tribulation, for the Memorial Chapel of Norbury Methodist Church. Following the death of her sister in 1954, Barker began designs for a stained glass memorial window depicting Christ preparing to wash the feet of his disciples. It was her last religious-themed work and installed in St. Edmund's, Pitlake, in 1962.
Barker was a devout Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
, and donated her artworks to Christian fundraisers and missionary organizations. She produced a few Christian-themed books such as The Children’s Book of Hymns and, in collaboration with her sister Dorothy, He Leadeth Me. She designed a stained glass window for St. Edmund's Church, Pitlake, and her painting of the Christ Child, The Darling of the World Has Come, was purchased by Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
.
Barker was equally proficient in watercolour, pen and ink, oils, and pastels. Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
and the Pre-Raphaelites were the principal influences on her work. She claimed to paint instinctively and rejected artistic theories. Barker died in 1973. Though she published Flower Fairy books with spring, summer, and autumn themes, it wasn't until 1985 that a winter collection was assembled from her remaining work and published posthumously.
Early life
Barker was born the second daughter and last child of Walter Barker, a partner in a seed supply company and an amateur artist, and his wife Mary Eleanor (Oswald) Barker on 28 June 1895 at home at 66 Waddon Road in CroydonCroydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, Surrey, England. Barker was an epileptic
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
as a child, and cared for at home by her parents. Later, her sister and elder by two years, Dorothy Oswald Barker, continued the care.
The family of four was moderately well off, and belonged to the lower end of the upper middle class. A nanny
Nanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
, a governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
, and a cook to prepare special meals for Barker were hired. She spent much time in bed at home amusing herself with painting books and a nursery library that included the works of Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
and Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced...
– two artists who exerted strong influences on her later art.
Art education and first professional work
Barker took correspondence courses in art, probably until about 1919. In 1908 at 13 years, she entered an evening class at the Croydon School of Art, and attended the school into the 1940s. In time, she received a teaching position.In 1911, Raphael Tuck & Sons
Raphael Tuck & Sons
In a little shop in Bishopsgate over a century ago, began a business that would have an artistic effect on most of the civilized world. Raphael Tuck and his wife Ernestine worked together in their little shop that opened in October 1866 on Union Street in London, and the influence of that event was...
bought four of Barker's "little drawings" for half a sovereign, and published them as postcards. In October 1911, she won second prize in the Croydon Art Society's poster competition, and shortly afterward was elected the youngest member of the Society. The art critic for the Croydon Advertiser remarked, "Her drawings show a remarkable freedom of spirit. She has distinct promise."
Following her father’s death in June 1912, the seventeen year old Barker submitted art and poetry to My Magazine
My Magazine
My Magazine was a British magazine for children of the 1910s and 1920s. It was published by Amalgamated Press, and had articles on science, technology, geography, and current events. Until 1915 it published under the name The Children's Magazine....
, Child’s Own, Leading Strings, and Raphael Tuck annuals in an effort to support both her mother and sister. Her sister Dorothy taught kindergarten in two private schools before opening a kindergarten at home. She brought in some money for the family's support while supervising the household.
Flower Fairies of the Spring, 1923
Fairies became a popular theme in art and literature in the early 20th century following the releases of The Coming of the Fairies by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, Peter Pan
Peter and Wendy
Peter and Wendy, published in 1911, is the novelisation by J. M. Barrie of his most famous play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up...
by J.M. Barrie, and the fairy-themed work of Australian Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was an Australian illustrator of children's books. Her work mostly depicted fairies....
. Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
made such themes even more popular by sending Outhwaite postcards to friends during the 1920s. In 1918, Barker produced a postcard series depicting elves and fairies.
In 1923, Barker sent her flower fairy paintings to various publishers. Blackie paid £25 for 24 paintings with accompanying verses, but it wasn't until publication of Flower Fairies of the Summer in 1925 that Barker received royalties for her work. Mary Violet Clayton Calthrop, wife of author Dion Clayton Calthrop, wrote in April 1925 about Barker and Flower Fairies of the Spring: "She has such exquisite taste, besides draughtsmanship."
The Waldrons
In 1924, the family moved into a three-level, semi-detached Victorian house at 23 The Waldrons. Barker had a studio built in the garden and her sister conducted a kindergarten in a room at the back of the house. The family lived frugally and attended both St. Edmund's and St. Andrew's in Croydon – "low" churches for the less privileged. Barker sometimes incorporated portraits of her fellow-parishioners in her religious works. She was described by Canon Ingram Hill as "one of the pillars" of St. Andrew's.The children in the kindergarten modelled for the Flower Fairies until the kindergarten closed in 1940. In an interview in 1958, Barker said, "My sister ran a kindergarten and I used to borrow her students for models. For many years I had an atmosphere of children about me – I never forgot it." She also painted the children of relatives as well as Gladys Tidy, the Barkers' young housekeeper, who posed for the Primrose Fairy in 1923. The plants were painted from life, and if a specimen was not readily at hand, Kew Gardens staff would provide her the specimens needed. Barker designed and built the Flower Fairy costumes, and based each on the flowers and leaves of the particular plant to be illustrated. The costumes were kept in a trunk in her studio along with wings made of twigs and gauze. Each was broken down after an illustration was completed and the parts recycled for other costumes. She often referred to Dion Clayton Calthrop's English Costume.
Middle years
In the late 1920s, Barker began to doubt she was doing enough for the church and considered focusing solely on sacred works. Family and friends recommended she continue secular and sacred works, and she did so.Barker continued to attend evening classes at the Croydon Art School between the 1920s and the 1940s, eventually receiving a teaching position. She took sketching trips to Amberley
Amberley
-Places:In Australia:* Amberley, Queensland, near Ipswich** RAAF Base AmberleyIn Canada:* Amberley, OntarioIn New Zealand:* Amberley, New Zealand, in north CanterburyIn the United Kingdom:* Amberley, Gloucestershire, England...
and Storrington in Sussex and to Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and the southern coast with family and friends. She visited and stayed with artist Margaret Tarrant in Gomshall, Surrey and with family in Ugglebarnby, Cornwall.
In 1940, the Barker's live-in maid retired, and Dorothy Barker closed her school at the back of the house in The Waldrons. She continued to supervise the household, and to give both her mother and sister the care they needed. Dorothy and her sister collaborated upon only two books: Our Darling's First Book and the Christian-themed, He Leadeth Me. In 1954, Dorothy Barker died of a heart attack. Barker was unable to pursue her art to any significant extent following her sister's death as all the care of her aged mother devolved upon her. She managed however to begin planning a stained glass window design in her sister's memory for St. Edmund's, Pitlake.
Later life and death
Barker's mother died in 1960, and, in 1961, Barker moved from 23 The Waldrons to 6 Duppas Avenue in Croydon. She restored a maisonette in StorringtonStorrington
Storrington is a village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, and one of two in the civil parish of Storrington and Sullington. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. As of 2006 the village has a population of around 4,600. It has one main shopping street...
, Sussex, England bequeathed her by friend Edith Major and named it St. Andrew's. After taking up residence, her health began to deteriorate. She was in and out of nursing and convalescent homes, and tended by relatives and friends.
Barker died at Worthing Hospital
Worthing Hospital
Worthing Hospital is a medium-sized District General Hospital located in Worthing, West Sussex, England. It has approximately 500 beds. In 2001 a £1.3m Children’s Centre opened, enabling almost all children’s healthcare needs to be met under one roof...
on 16 February 1973, aged 77 years. Two funeral services were held – one in Storrington Church and one in Barker's maisonette. Her ashes were scattered in Storrington churchyard. In 1989, Frederick Warne
Frederick Warne & Co
Frederick Warne & Co was a British publishing firm famous for children's books, particularly those of Beatrix Potter. It was founded in 1865 by a bookseller, who gave his own name to the firm.- History :...
, a division of Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
since 1983, acquired the Flower Fairies properties.
Art
Barker worked principally in watercolor with pen-and-ink, but she was equally competent in black-and-white, in oils, and in pastels. She carried a sketchbook with her for capturing interesting children. She once indicated, "I have always tried to paint instinctively in a way that comes naturally to me, without any real thought or attention to artistic theories."Kate Greenaway was a childhood favorite and an influence on her art. Barker's child subjects wear nostalgic clothing as Greenaway's children do, though Barker's children are less melancholy and less flat in appearance, due perhaps to advances in printing technology. Barker studied flowers with an analytical eye and was friend to children's illustrator, Margaret Tarrant.
The Pre-Raphaelites were a strong, life-long influence on Barker. She once indicated, "I am to some extent influenced by them—not in any technical sense, but in the choice of subject matter and the feeling and atmosphere they could achieve." She admitted a fondness for the early paintings of John Everett Millais
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Early life:...
and "the wonderful things" of Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
.
Depictions of children
Barker's sketches, drawings, and paintings of children were given to friends or to the parents of the subjects, donated to charitable institutions and church sponsored events, or exhibited through various art organizations. She illustrated magazine covers, dust jackets, and produced series of postcards for Raphael Tuck and other publishers such as Picturesque Children of the Allies (1915), Seaside Holidays (1918), and Shakespeare's Boy and Girl Characters (1917, 1920). Her own Old Rhymes for All Times (1928) and The Lord of the Rushie River (1938), a tale about a girl who lives among swans on a riverbank, were critically well received. Set about 1800, Groundsel and Necklaces (1943) tells of a girl named Jenny who rescues her family from poverty through the agency of the fairies. The story features an old Scrooge-like man called Mr. Petercoo and tonally suggests a DickensianCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
social consciousness. Simon the Swan, intended as a sequel to Rushie River was outlined in 1943 with Groundsel, but only developed in 1953. It was published posthumously in 1988 and is critically considered less successful than Groundsel.
Christian-themed works
Barker was a devout ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and produced religious-themed works throughout her life. She published eight postcards and five guardian angel birthday cards for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1916 and in 1923 respectively. Christmas cards were designed for the Girls' Friendly Society over a 20 year period, and the first three designs sold out a combined printing of 46,500 in 1923. An original design for the society called The Darling of the World Has Come was purchased by Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
for ₤5.5.0 in 1926. The Croydon Art Society hung Barker's booklet cover design for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in its November 1919 exhibition.
Religious-themed books include The Children's Book of Hymns (1929) and He Leadeth Me (1933), the latter written in collaboration with her sister. Major religious works include the triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
s in oil, The Feeding of the Five Thousand (1929), for the chapel in Llandaff House, a home for destitute women at Penarth
Penarth
Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and The Parable of the Great Supper (1934) for St. George's Chapel, Waddon
Waddon
Waddon is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, to the south west of central Croydon on the borders of the London Borough of Sutton. Waddon has an older area with 19th century properties, some even older, close to central Croydon. Further south is a large estate of Council-owned homes and a...
. The Feeding has since disappeared, and only a black and white photograph dated 1929 reproduces the work. In 1941, she completed oil panels on the subject of the seven sacraments for the baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
at St. Andrew's, South Croydon. She designed baptismal rolls for the wall behind the font in 1948 and 1962. In 1946, she completed the 4 x 7 ft. oil painting, Out of Great Tribulation, for the Memorial Chapel of Norbury Methodist Church. Following the death of her sister in 1954, Barker began designs for a stained glass memorial window depicting Christ preparing to wash the feet of his disciples. It was her last religious-themed work and installed in St. Edmund's, Pitlake, in 1962.
Cards
- Picturesque Children of the Allies; J. Salmon, 1916
- National Mission; Society for the Presevation of Christian Knowledge, 1916
- Shakespeare's Boy Characters; C.W. Faulkner, 1917
- Shakespeare's Girl Characters; C.W. Faulkner, 1920
- Seaside Holiday; J. Salmon, 1918, 1921
- Elves and Fairies; S. Harvey, 1918
- Guardian Angel; Society for the Presevation of Christian Knowledge, 1923
- Christmas cards; Girls' Friendly Society, 1920s, 1930s
- Christmas cards (US); Barton-Colton, 1920s, 1930s
- Beautiful Bible Pictures; Blackie, 1932
Books
- Flower Fairies of the Spring; Blackie, 1923
- Spring Songs with Music; Blackie, 1923
- Flower Fairies of the Summer; Blackie, 1925
- Child Thoughts in Picture and Verse (by M.K. Westcott); Blackie, 1925
- Flower Fairies of the Autumn; Blackie, 1926
- Summer Songs with Music; Blackie, 1926
- The Book of the Flower Fairies; Blackie, 1927
- Autumn Songs with Music; Blackie, 1927
- Old Rhymes for All Times; Blackie, 1928
- The Children’s Book of Hymns; Blackie, 1929; rep. 1933
- Our Darling’s First Book (written in collaboration with Dorothy Barker); Blackie, 1929
- The Little Picture Hymn Book; Blackie, 1933
- Rhymes New and Old; Blackie, 1933
- A Flower Fairy Alphabet; Blackie, 1934
- A Little Book of Old Rhymes; Blackie, 1936
- He Leadeth Me (written in collaboration with Dorothy Barker); Blackie, 1936
- A Little Book of Rhymes New and Old; Blackie, 1937
- The Lord of the Rushie River; Blackie, 1938
- Flower Fairies of the Trees; Blackie, 1940
- When Spring Came In at the Window; Blackie, 1942
- A Child’s Garden of Verses (Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
); Blackie, 1944 - Flower Fairies of the Garden; Blackie, 1944
- Groundsel and Necklaces; Blackie, 1946; reprinted as Fairy Necklaces
- Flower Fairies of the Wayside; Blackie, 1948
- Flower Fairies of the Flowers and Trees; Blackie, 1950
- Lively Stories; Macmillan, 1954
- The Flower Fairy Picture Book; Blackie, 1955
- Lively Numbers; Macmillan, 1957
- Lively Words; Macmillan, 1961.
- The Sand, the Sea and the Sun; Gibson, 1970
Posthumously published
- Flower Fairies of the Winter; Blackie, 1985
- Simon the Swan; Blackie, 1988
- Flower Fairies of the Seasons; Bedrick/Blackie, 1988
- A Little Book of Prayers and Hymns; Frederick Warne, 1994
- A Flower Fairies Treasury; Frederick Warne, 1997
- Fairyopolis; Frederick Warne , 2005
- Wild Cherry Makes A Wish; (collaboration with Pippa Le Quesne) Frederick Warne, 2006
- How to find Flower Fairies; Frederick Warne, 2007
- Return of Fairyopolis; Frederick Warne, 2008
Book covers
- A New Epiphany; Society for the Preservation of Christian Knowledge, 1919
- 43 Annuals; Blackie, 1920s, 1930s
Religious works
- St. Cecily's Garden; 1920
- Cradle roll design; St. Edmund's, Pitlake, 1922
- Banner design; St. Mary's, Sanderstead, 1923
- The Feeding of the Five Thousand; reredosReredosthumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
triptych, chapel at Penarth, Wales; 1929 - The Parable of the Great Supper; triptych, St. George's chapel, Waddon
- The Seven Sacraments; baptismal font panels, St. Andrew's, Croydon
- St. John the Baptist; central banner panel, Abesford church, 1943
- Lettering, sword, and shield; mount for a list of men and woman serving in the Forces, St. Andrews, Croydon, 1943
- Baptismal rolls; St. Andrews, Croydon, 1948, 1962
- The font in St Andrew's Church, South Croydon
- Out of Great Tribulation; memorial chapel, Norbury Medthodist church, 1948
- I Am Among You As He That Serveth; stained glass window design, St. Edmund's, Pitlake, 1962
External links
In West Sussex Horsham Forum's sundial history of local events and people refers to Cicely Mary (May) Barker- Cicily Mary Barker feature on the sundial