Ode to Cicely Mary Barker

Cicely Mary Barker

1895-1973

Cicely Mary Barker suffered from epilepsy, so that she was unable to go to school and was educated at home. When she was 15 her father submitted her drawings to a stationery printer, who bought four of them for greeting cards. Her father died when she was 17, and Cicely Mary Barker's art sales became the main source of income for herself, her sister, and her mother. Her first book, Flower Fairies of the Spring was published in 1923, and it was a hit.

I love her illustrations because the fairies look like real children.This is appropriate as Cicely Mary Barker used live models for all her illustrations, usually children from her sister's kindergarten class. She would paint the child with a flower in his or her hand, enlarging the flower to the size of the child in the paintings. These flower fairies were often given characteristics similar to their live models.

In today's world of Barbie, and overly sexualized Disney Pixies, I love to see beautiful fairies that haven't reached puberty. Her poems are lovely, though not really geared to kids. In fact when Flower Fairies of the Spring first came out I think it was marketed to adults. She wrote a total of seven books, complete with flower fairy illustrations and accompanying verses. These books are all still in print, and I think they just put a new "cooler" cover on them this year.

But more than what she wrote, I love the books that Cicely Mary Barker's work inspired. Penguin, the publisher that owns the rights to her work, has stories about the fairies that are based on the characteristics she gave each one in her original verses. They have pop-ups and newly discovered flower fairy journals. These are the books for kids, and they are wonderful.

Fairy & Princess Books

I just found out my friend's 4-year-old daughter, Mollie, has cancer.

http://www.allaboutmollie.blogspot.com/

With a situation so frightening, I tend to feel helpless, and worse, unable to help. But Mollie likes fairies and princesses, so the least I could do was send some books. This list includes the four books I sent Mollie, and some additional favorite fairy titles.

Princess Fairy Tales by Margaret Clark
In opening "The Classic Treasury of Princess Fairy Tales" one will find refuge in a quiet, sun-dappled forest where magic still can and does happen. Featuring eight of the best loved princess heroines of all time, from Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, little girls will revel in the fantasy world the beautifully rich artwork creates and long for the stories to never end. (Click on the picture to link to Spellbinder's Website to see details.)


Flower Fairies Alphabet Colouring Book by Mary Cicely Barker
Mary Cicely Barker is the queen of the flower fairies. She has beautiful books of poetry and her illustrations are incredible. This colouring (British spelling) book introduces young children to the alphabet with the help of Barker's delightful Flower Fairies. From A to Z, there is a Flower Fairy to color in for each letter of the alphabet. Constructed of heavy paper suitable for crayons, marker, or paints. Line drawings. (Click on the picture to link to Spellbinder's Website to see details.)

Everything Princess!: My First Tiara & Gemstone Activity Book with Sticker and Other Jewelry by Alex Toys
The title really says it all, but the official description is: "This lavish kit is perfect for every little girl who dreams of being a princess Inside you'll find a pretty pink tiara, die-cut and visible through the front cover, 120 gemstone stickers, 5 large jewels, an adjustable ring, cuff bracelet, and best of all--a special pop-up vanity mirror So not only can girls decorate, then wear, their very own princess creations, but they can also check out their new princess looks in their very own mylar mirror Inside the full-color book are fun princess-themed activities on 40 card stock pages, including 8 punch-out pages to make a magic wand, a princess fan, a picture frame, and so much more." (Click on the picture to link to Spellbinder's Website to see details.)

Fairies: Clipboard Activity Pack with Sticker & Poster & Stencils & Note Pad & Activity Guide by DK Publishing
I have biases for and against certain publishers, and DK is one of my favorites. I love their graphics and the quality (paper and binding) of their books. While this fairy activity pack isn't quite as extensive as the princess one listed above, it's still quite nice, and it is less than half the price. (Click on the pictures to link to Spellbinder's Website to see details.)


Fairyopolis & How To Find Flower Fairies by Mary Cicely Barker
I know I said it before, but Mary Cicely Barker is the queen of flower fairies. Fairyopolis is supposed to be her long lost journal. It is very cool, though a little hard to read. How To find Flower Fairies is an incredible pop-up book, it's my favorite of the two. Robert Sabuda is coming out with a separate fairy pop-up book this summer, and I'm sure that will be wonderful as well. (Click on the picture to link to Spellbinder's Website to see details.)


Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine
This chapter book introduces young readers to the fairy community that Tinkerbell lives in when she is away from Peter Pan. There may be a TV series attached as well, I'm out of the TV loop. This is a Disney book and I have to admit that Disney is one of those publishers I am biased against. However, this book is not only beautiful, it is written by Gail Carson Levine, who received a Newbery Honor Award for Ella Enchanted. Disney or no Disney, Gail Carson Levine can write! This book is great. (Click on the picture to link to Spellbinder's Website to see details.)

Review: New YA Action/Adventure Novels

ACTION/ADVENTURE FOR YOUTH (AND ADULTS)

What makes a good action/adventure novel for teens? While there may be differences of opinion, my personal take is that a good teen adventure novel is just like a good adult adventure novel, but with less swearing, graphic violence, and sex (a child or teen protagonist also helps). In fact a number of famous adult mystery/adventure writers have realized this, and are jumping into the youth market, but this review is not about them, this review is about the titles above.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Last week I read Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, and I couldn't put it down! The theme of teenagers fighting against the Department of Homeland Security didn't really appeal to me at first, but I was home sick and the book had made it onto the Indie Bestseller List, http://www.bookweb.org/indiebound/bestsellers/national.html, so I thought, "why not?". I am so glad I picked it up!

First of all Little Brother is heavy on the computer science behind everything the main character, Marcus does. But instead of scaring me off as most computer language does, Doctorow makes it fascinating! He should earn a Pulitzer for that alone.

The basic plot synopsis is that while Marcus and friends are cutting school to play a computer game, terrorists attack the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Marcus and friends are picked up by the Department of Homeland Security as possible suspects and detained offshore for an unreasonable amount of time in wretched conditions. A condition of release is that they not tell a soul what happened to them, but one of the friends doesn't return. What Marcus does about his missing friend and the fear state the Department of Homeland Security creates in San Francisco is the book. And it is a great book! Really really fun.

I can't remember any swearing, and any violence is pretty minor, other than the death and destruction of the terrorist attack of course. There is one sex scene, between a 17-year-old couple, a condom is used. As far as teen sex go it was great, pretty realistic; afterwards they threw on clothes and felt shy around each other. There is one party scene that includes under-age drinking, but no one was wasted, no one drove, and it was used to move the plot forward, again, realistic. I would feel comfortable giving the book to my 11-year-old niece, she hears worse stuff from her friends. That said, my niece is an advanced reader, kids would need to be reading at an 8th grade level to fully get into the book.

***** - I loved it.

The Missing Book 1: Found

by Margaret Peterson Haddix
SPOILER ALERT!!!! In order to explain why I think this book is so cool, I have to tell you the end, so if you don't want to know what happens STOP READING NOW!

In Found, Jonah receives weird mail that he first assumes is some prank kids are pulling because he is adopted. But then his neighbor Chip also gets the same mail, and Chip didn't even know he was adopted. Confused Jonah gets his dad to call the adoption agency, who says there is a new name attached to his file, and FBI agent's name. While the FBI is no help what-so-ever, his family's conversation with the agency does bring up a lot of mysterious questions that Jonah, his sister Katherine, and Chip are determined to solve. The book is their solving of the mystery.

Now here is what makes this book great, it isn't the mystery, it isn't the kids working to solve it, what makes this book great is the book what is coming next. Found is clearly the START of a really fun series. You see it turns out the kids are all famous babies (think Anastasia Romanov) stolen from the past centuries to be sold to future families for high adoption fees. Except their plane accidentally landed in the wrong time, the late 20th century, and the kids were adopted by normal American families. Now to fix the ripples in time their kidnapping caused, but still be allowed to return to their 21st century families, they have to go back to the centuries they first came from to make things right. Book two starts in the 15th century, I can't wait. This a great book for kids 10-14.

**** - I liked the book, but I think I am going to LOVE the series.

Gone by Michael Grant

I read the advance reader's edition of Gone, which had a plain blue cover. If it had the cover it is now being sold with I would never have picked it up. Come on this is a kids book, a young kids book at that, ages 10 - 14. I do not want to see 14-year-old nipples on a book cover! Mr. Grant do your best to get a different cover for the paperback edition, PLEASE.

Gone is a science-fiction thriller where suddenly all adults and children over 14 years of age disappear from a community, and the children left in that community start developing strange powers. The factions the youth split into, the good leaders, the bad, this is the story. There is a lot of violence, but no sex, and I can't remember any swearing. Like Found, Gone is the start of a series. But unlike Found I am not clamoring to read the next installation. That said Gone is a good read, entertaining, mysterious, and thrilling. I would have given it four stars if it weren't for that wretched cover. Now it only gets three.

***- Good, but not great.