A bear called Paddington /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The original story of everyone's favourite bear, Paddington, now a major movie star!

"A bear on Paddington Station?" said Mrs Brown in amazement. "Don't be silly - there can't be."

Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same... for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved.

For more than sixty years, Paddington Bear has touched the hearts of adults and children worldwide with his earnest good intentions and humorous misadventures.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-The story featuring the marmalade-loving bear was first published in 1958 by William Collins & Son (now known as HarperCollins). The classic tale begins when a bear from Peru winds up in London's Paddington Station and is subsequently adopted by the Brown family (humans from the Notting Hill area). Unfailingly polite and affecting a rather shabby charm-accomplished in no small part by Peggy Fortnum's delightful line drawings-Paddington went on to have dozens of adventures over the years, spawning more than 50 titles translated into over 30 languages. A Bear Called Paddington covers the initial discovery of the bear at the train station and his first few days acclimating to life with the Browns as well as numerous episodic chapters filled with humorous mishaps. More About Paddington continues on a similar theme and includes episodes of the bubbling bear attempting to help with interior decorating, assisting at a bonfire party, and celebrating his first Christmas. With a major motion picture coming out in January 2015, a whole new generation of young readers will be introduced to the well-meaning, but ever accident-prone, bear. (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

Bright new cover art by Diane deGroat will attract young readers to these classic stories; devoted fans will be glad that Fortnum's original drawings still accompany the text of each book. From HORN BOOK Fall 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Thomas Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire, England on January 13, 1926. He dropped out of school at the age of 14. During World War II, he served in both the Royal Air Force and the British Army. He sold his first short story in 1945 to the magazine London Opinion. Over the next decade, he had numerous short stories published and radio plays performed. After the war, he joined the BBC Radio and later worked for BBC-TV as a cameraman from 1947 to 1965.

He gave his wife a teddy bear for Christmas in 1956. She it named Paddington after the London train station near their home. His first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published in 1958. He became a full-time author in 1965. He wrote more than 25 Paddington books including Paddington Here and Now and Paddington's Finest Hour. He chronicled his life with Paddington in his autobiography, Bears and Forebears.

His other works included A Day by the Sea, Something Nasty in the Kitchen, and Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Carbon Footprint. He was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1997 and then a commander of the order in 2015, for services to children's literature. He died after a short illness on June 27, 2017 at the age of 91.

(Bowker Author Biography)