Kathleen Hale
Kathleen Hale was a British author and illustrator, best known for her beloved children's book series featuring Orlando the Marmalade Cat. Born on May 24, 1898, in Scotland, Hale faced personal challenges early in life, including the death of her father and a difficult childhood experience with family dynamics. Her artistic education included attendance at Manchester High School for Girls, the Manchester School of Art, and Reading University College, where she took part in various artistic endeavors during World War I.
In the 1930s, seeking to provide comfort and joy to children, particularly wartime evacuees, Hale began creating stories and illustrations centered around her family’s pet cat, Orlando. This series of nineteen books showcased a whimsical feline family and resonated with readers for its themes of warmth, acceptance, and loyalty. While some critics pointed out structural weaknesses in her plots, Hale's characters and humorous narratives captured the hearts of many, leading to enduring popularity. Her work extended beyond literature; she also contributed to a ballet production about Orlando and had her art recognized in exhibitions, including one at the Gekoski Gallery in 1995. Kathleen Hale passed away on January 26, 2000, leaving a legacy that continues to delight generations of readers.
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Kathleen Hale
Writer
- Born: May 24, 1898
- Birthplace: Broughton, Lanarkshire, Scotland
- Died: January 26, 2000
- Place of death: Bristol, England
Biography
Kathleen Hale was born on May 24, 1898, at her parents’ vacation home, St Bede’s, at Broughton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the daughter of Charles Edward Hale, a piano salesman, and Ethel Alice Aylmer Hughes Hale. Both of her parents were English. When she was five years old, Hale’s father died, and she was temporarily separated from her older sister while their mother tended to her late husband’s business. Hale and her older brother stayed at her grandparents’ home at Shelf in Yorkshire, suffering an emotionally mean aunt.
By 1907, Hale moved to Manchester, England, to live with her mother and siblings. She studied at Manchester High School for Girls and the Manchester School of Art. Hale attended Reading University College on a scholarship from 1916 to 1918. In addition to art classes, she enjoyed working at the college farm. During World War I, Hale accepted employment with the Ministry of Foods and then served in the Land Army, tending horses and gardens.
Hale briefly lived and drew at Étaples in Normandy, France. During the 1920’s, she earned income with odd jobs and by creating art for publishers to use for dust jackets, book illustrations, and posters. She provided tales and accompanying art for Child Education magazine.
On April 30, 1926, Hale married bacteriologist Douglas McClean, whose father had treated her at the London Fever Hospital. They had two sons and settled in a country house, Rabley Willow, at Hertfordshire.
Bored by available children’s books, Hale began to create lithographs and write text in the 1930’s for stories she told her children, featuring their pet cat, Orlando. Hale’s writing fictionally created the security and closeness of the loving family she had been denied as a child. Emphasizing parental warmth, she hoped to comfort wartime child evacuees and young readers who needed nurturing families. In her series of nineteen books about Orlando the Marmalade Cat, Hale depicted a personified feline family that enjoyed fantastical adventures. She often appropriated incidents and characters from her life, basing the rebellious kitten Tinkle on herself and Orlando on her husband. Hale created the sets and clothing for a ballet about Orlando that was staged in 1951 at the Festival Gardens in London. She wrote several new Orlando stories and books featuring other characters every decade through the 1970’s.
Hale’s husband died in 1967. In 1976, she became an officer in the Order of the British Empire. London’s Gekoski Gallery staged a 1995 exhibition, honoring Hale’s lifetime artistic accomplishments. Hale published her autobiography, A Slender Reputation: An Autobiography, in 1994. She died on January 26, 2000, at Bristol, England.
Some reviewers criticized Hale’s Orlando books for lacking cohesive plots, but readers demanded her stories. Critics commented that Hale consistently provided readers happily resolved stories with humorous characters and situations and appealing themes of acceptance and loyalty. Some of Hale’s children’s publications were pop-up books. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) aired adaptations of Hale’s Orlando stories on its Children’s Hourradio program. Hale’s books retained appeal for several generations, with Frederick Warne Publishers issuing reprinted Orlando editions in the 1990’s.