Daniel Hahn (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. Oxford University Press. p.433. ISBN 978-0-19-969514-0.

She once described herself as someone with a talent for being in the right place at the right time. Bernard Meninsky taught her at the Central School; she became an Augustus John groupie and claimed that his beautiful and taciturn wife, Dorelia, influenced her more than anyone - she remembered Dorelia with an armful of Siamese kittens, and, in her books, the kittens often come in armfuls. Augustus himself makes an appearance as the art master in Orlando's Home Life (1942). OK, so teenager Salvatore Tona has not invested real money in Mulberry, but he is investing his group's hopes of success in the brand. I think we have a good chance as the people who do this for a living have a clouded judgment, whereas we are the market," said Year 13 student Lauren Tye. "We're the ones buying these things. We know what people want."Orlando the Judge (1950) - When Mr. Gorgon suspects Mr. Zola of stealing his cheese, Orlando is in despair that his two friends are arguing. He is then called to Judge Wiggins, who has a cold and is not getting better as his arrogant pet cat named Fluffy takes everything he needs to eat. Orlando eventually takes his place while Grace boils Wiggins some milk, and the kittens investigate the mystery of the missing cheese. At the end of the book, it is revealed that Fluffy stole the cheese for his mouse-trap (for he is frightened of mice), and he eventually becomes a guard for the Old Mice's Home as punishment. Mr. Gorgon and Mr. Zola become friends again, and Wiggins' cold begins to get better.

Orlando is, of course, a utopian cat who, disliking the world as he finds it, wants to change it. In Orlando Becomes A Doctor, there is a perfect picture of a hospital as it might be. He takes on a French chef to improve his patients' diet; he evolves the ideal cure for the rich, which is to give away half their money to the poor. When you look at him closely, he is terribly alternative. Guests must be 36 inches tall to ride with a guardian, or 48 inches tall to ride without a guardian When Hale was 96, her autobiography, A Slender Reputation, finally appeared. The title was taken from Cedric Morris's query, "Do you mean to tell me Kathleen, that you have hung your slender reputation on the broad shoulders of a eunuch cat?" Her characteristically witty memoir contains an unforgettable account of her employment as Augustus Johns's secretary at the age of 22, where her most arduous duties entailed trawling the King's Road pubs to find the artist, once his aristocratic sitters had arrived. Kathleen Hale died in Bristol on 26 January 2000, aged 101. [8] Bibliography [ edit ] Orlando series [ edit ] In Paris, in the 1920s, she met Cedric Morris and Lett Haines. She was later a frequent visitor to their Benton End community in Essex, centre of the East Anglian school of painting, where art, gastronomy and horticulture mingled. She had a long liaison with the bisexual Haines, who called her "Moggy". He appears in Orlando's Silver Wedding (1944) as the cloth-capped cat napper whose feelings for the feline carry him away.Kathleen Hale was a British children's book author and illustrator, whose most enduring creation is a series of books featuring the adventures of Orlando, a marmalade (red tabby, or 'ginger') cat with a wife called Grace and three kittens — Pansy, Blanche and the mischievous Tinkle. After a childhood in which she showed promise in art, Kathleen spent time in London in the artistic circles of the 1920s, until she married and the family moved in the early 1930s to a large country house in Hertfordshire, where they raised two sons and kept various animals, including cats. Hale was the castaway on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 30 October 1994. She was interviewed by Sue Lawley and chose the Catalan song " Cobla La Principal de Peralada [ ca]" as well as pieces by Anton Karas, Gertrude Lawrence and Scott Joplin as her favourite records, Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time as her choice of book, and a djellaba made from golden cloth as her luxury item. [7] One of their cats was named Orlando, and he was a particular favourite of elder son Peregrine, who was devoted to him, and that is how the ginger cat came to be the central character in the stories. The first tales were written to entertain the young boys at bedtime; later they were lodged with a literary agent, but he did not find a publisher for them. That didn't happen until a friend of Hale's took them to Country Life, whose editor was known to the friend. He was enthusiastic and as a result the first two books, A Camping Holiday and A Trip Abroad were published in 1938 and 1939 respectively. After these two Kathleen learned to do the lithography herself, which took a great deal of time and dedication although it reduced costs. The Orlando (The Marmalade Cat) books were created by Kathleen Hale for her two children, and Orlando was inspired by their real-life cat Orlando. [1] When Country Life first published Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): A Camping Holiday, it became an instant success. Kathleen Hale then continued the series, giving Orlando a magic carpet in 1958, and ended the series with Orlando and the Water Cats (1972). Orlando - The hero of the series, he is a marmalade-coloured cat with eyes like two green gooseberries. He sometimes keeps his watch on his tail, and later on in the series he is friends with a living magic carpet named Fatima.

The idea of Orlando The Marmalade Cat came to Kathleen Hale when she was in Italy. She was travelling with her husband and their train had just pulled into a country station, and there was a voluminous woman standing behind a table selling lemonade. She called out "Orlando," rolling the Italian vowels, and a small boy emerged from under a white tablecloth and he had hair the colour of a Seville orange. Thus Orlando was born in 1938 and became an instant success as well as required bedtime reading for her own children. Incidentally she always stated that she took the Babar books as her models; the large format with distinctive colour illustrations was exactly what she was looking for. She married Douglas McClean, a young doctor working in medical research. They settled in Hertfordshire where they could bring up their two young sons and entertain their friends. She created Orlando and his world to entertain her children at bedtime. Orlando The Marmalade Cat 'with eyes like twin gooseberries' was one of the classic children's book characters of the 1940s and 1950s. The stories are known for their quirky wit and extravagant illustrations. They combine adventure with friendship and family life. As the creator of Orlando, Kathleen was awarded the OBE in 1976. a b Oxford University Press (21 June 2012). Benezit Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators. OUP USA. p.502. ISBN 978-0-19-992305-2.So what chance do these budding young financial whizzkids think they have against the team of professionals?