Orlando Buys a Farm

This is a wonderful book. I read it as a child many times and now read it to my children. Orlando is such a lovable character.

Our family of five children was unanimous in feeling the Orlando books were the finest available. We liked the Orlando books so much, that we have had a succession of cats, all marmalade, all called Orlando, for fifty years. "Orlando Buys a Farm" and "Orlando Goes Camping" are the very best of the series currently in print, the pinnacle of children's literature. This series of books takes you back in time, before the days of your own childhood, to the culture and habits of a earlier England. Buy and savor, and gift them frequently.

I had the great fortune to grow up in Buffalo, NY just across the border from Canada, where my father was able to locate some of the Orlando titles for me; the rest we found in Burmuda. I have loved and reread all of Kathleen Hale's wonderful books for almost 40 years and they are just as dear to me as when I was a child. In this episode Orlando gives in to his three kitten's pleas for a pet. How they go about the selection process will have you in stitches! The matter of what kind of pet is solved for them by the advent of Bill, the poodle, a real take-charge-kind-of-dog. Against his better judgement, Orlando allows Bill a trial period as the cat family's pet. Bill's wild charge through the countryside with Grace, Orlando's wife and the kitten's mother, is not to be missed, when she takes Bill for a "walk". Those who appreciate punning pictures should pay particular attention to the landscape during this part. How Bill learns to overcome his instincts about chasing cats and wins their hearts is the whole point of the book. The premise of a family of cats keeping a dog twenty times their size as a pet is not to be missed. Bill makes only one other brief appearence in the series, in "Orlando and The Frisky Housewife", hopefully to be re-issued soon. If you or your children love cats then this is the series for you to collect, cherish and pass down through the generations.

This book was given to me by a family friend when I was about three (1948). My father read it to me many times. I loved the story then, and as I grew older I was able to appreciate the subtle jokes that only an older reader would catch. The story of Orlando and his wife Grace and their three kittens as they take over a farm and get it running is charming. The illustrations are wonderful. I still find myself smiling when I return to this now very worn favorite. I wouldn't worry that this book presents an out-of-date manner of farming: children will enjoy the story, and as they get older they will understand that there are changes in agricultural methods. The book is an appropriate gift for young children and will be a favorite with the children and with parents who read aloud. At age 50 I got a marmalade cat, and you can be sure his name is Orlando!

Absolutely wonderful story and even more fabuluous illustrations by a truly gifted author and illustrator. After reading this story, we went out and bought a french poodle!