Editing Cicely Mary Barker (section)

== Early life ==
Cicely Mary Barker was born in 1895 in [[Croydon]], [[England]].<ref name=PH2>{{cite web |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/230545/cicely-mary-barker/ |title=Cicely Mary Barker |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Penguin Random House |publisher=|access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref> She suffered from [[epilepsy]] as a child and remained physically delicate for most of her life. She was unable to go to school, so she was educated at home and spent much of her time on her own, reading and drawing.

In 1908, when Cicely was 13, her father enrolled her at the Croydon Art Society, where they both exhibited work. She also enrolled in a Correspondence Art course which she continued until 1918. At 16, Cicely was elected a life member of Croydon Art Society, the youngest person ever to receive this honour.<ref name=WG2>{{cite web |url=https://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/blog/who-was-cicely-mary-barker |title=Who was Cicely Mary Barker?|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=25 October 2024 |website=Watts Gallery |publisher= |access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref> The art critic for the ''[[Croydon Advertiser]]'' commented: "Her drawings show a remarkable freedom of spirit. She has distinct promise."

In 1911, when she was 15 her father submitted some of her work to Raphael Tuck, the stationery printer, who bought four of her pictures for greeting cards. From this time onwards, she was able to sell her work to magazines, to postcard and greeting card manufacturers, and later to book publishers. This was very helpful to the family finances for her father died when she was 17, leaving Cicely, her elder sister and her mother in difficult circumstances.

Cicely was industrious and determined. She sent her flower fairy paintings to several publishers before [[Blackie and Son|Blackie]] accepted them for publication in 1923. She was paid only £25 for a total of twenty-four illustrations and verses in ''Flower Fairies of the Spring'', the first of the Flower Fairy series. Seven more little books about Fairies were to follow.