poetry friday: the complete book of the flower fairies

Did you know that Cicely Mary Barker was educated at home and largely learned on her own how to paint and draw?

She is well known for her ability to uniquely combine naturalism and fantasy in her botanically accurate and imaginative renderings of Flower Fairies.

The Daisy Fairy

Devoted to a career in painting, Cicely Mary Barker also wrote poetry to accompany her artwork.

The Primrose Fairy

Yearning for Spring, I am choosing The Song of the Primrose Fairy from The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies for Poetry Friday.

The Song of the Primrose Fairy

The Primrose opens wide in spring;

Her scent is sweet and good:

It smells of every happy thing
In sunny land and wood.

I have not half the skill to sing

And praise her as I should.

She's dear to folk throughout the land;

In her is nothing mean:

She freely spreads on every hand

Her petals pale and clean.

And though she's neither proud nor grand,

She is the Country Queen.

by Cicely Mary Barker

Visit the Official Flower Fairies Website with your kiddos for some online fun!

Affiliate link to The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker

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Linking up this week with:

Kara at Rogue Anthropologist for Poetry Friday

Mystie at Simply Convivial for Weekend Reads

Jessica at Housewifespice for What We're Reading Wednesday

poetry friday: how they sleep

Do you  know about Poetry Friday over at KidLitosphere Central?

I have wanted to participate for a while now, so I finally decided to pull this sweet vintage book of poetry off the shelf.

As I thumbed through the pages, I found a poem that would be the perfect followup to my post about Dream Animals.  If only bedtime with my four kiddos could be this simple ...

How They Sleep 

Some things go to sleep in such a funny way:

Little birds stand on one leg and tuck their heads away;

Chickens do the same, standing on their perch;

Little mice lie soft and still, as if they were in church;

Kittens curl up close in such a funny ball;

Horses hang their sleepy heads and stand still in a stall;

Sometimes dogs stretch out, or curl up in a heap;

Cows lie down upon their sides when they would go to sleep.

But little babies dear are snugly tucked in beds,

Warm with blankets, all so soft, and pillows for their heads.

Bird and beast and babe -- I wonder which of all

Dream the dearest dreams that down from dreamland fall!

-- author unknown

Affiliate link to A Child's Book of Poems illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa

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Other Ways to Follow
Beauty of the Picture Book

Bloglovin'
Feedly
RSS Feed 

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Linking up with:

Karen Edmisten for Poetry Friday

Mystie at Simply Convivial for Weekend Reads

Jessica at Housewifespice for What We're Reading Wednesday