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Paddington Bear is back 50 years on
I love Paddington Bear, and I still have all the books on tape that I used to listen to as a child to help me get to sleep.
It has been 50 years since Michael Bond asked people to 'please look after this bear'. To celebrate the occasion, Bond has created a new adventure for the much-loved bear.
It all began with this paragraph: “Mr and Mrs Brown first met Paddington on arailway platform. In fact, that was how he came to have such an unusual namefor a bear, for Paddington was the name of the station.”
That great English (and Darkest Peruvian) institution, Paddington Bear, is 50this year. His creator, Michael Bond, is 82. Together they have sold morethan 35 million books in 40 languages. Now Bond has written a newfull-length Paddington book, which throws the much-loved bear with the hardstare into the mad modern world of car clampers, anti-burglar paint, limos,refugees – and being doorstepped by tabloid journalists.
Doorstepped by the quality press in his white stuccoed house on the canal inLittle Venice, London, Bond could not be more welcoming. He has, as onemight expect, Paddington’s good manners. Visitors’ coats are hung on properhangers, and his wife Sue brings tea in china cups and rounds of shortbread.Bond settles down in a leather chair in his study, where the walls arecovered in watercolours of R.W. Alley Paddington illustrations, and hundredsof books about France.
Bond seems a mite surprised to be back in the spotlight with Paddington. “Ihaven’t written a long one for nearly 30 years, wasn’t planning to, but thepublishers asked me for the 50th birthday.” Perhaps he doubted his writerlyskills in their ninth decade, but the book Paddington Here and Now isas funny as ever, going by tests with the proof copy on a willingeight-year-old.
“I wouldn’t take an advance for it,” said Bond, raising bushy eyebrows. “Iwanted to be sure it worked. If a disaster hadn’t befallen Paddington withina few pages, something would have been terribly wrong. But it did.” The bearis arrested after his bun-filled shopping trolley is taken away by carclampers. We all know the feeling.
The original storybook, A Bear Called Paddington, was written in a mere tendays and published in October 1958, but it spawned an empire that was to gofrom picture books to television series to millions of stuffed toys and evenPaddington dustbins. It is a fortune – to put it baldly – made off anillegal immigrant from Darkest Peru.
When Bond put the label “Please look after this bear” around Paddington’sneck, he was thinking mostly of the child refugees in wartime Britain andEurope. He was born in Newbury in Berkshire and left school at 14 during thewar. “I saw those cinema newsreels of refugees pushing all their belongingsacross the countryside. People uprooted in mid-life. I see it again inDarfur – the worst thing is there is nowhere to escape to. That was thefirst image I had of Paddington, left alone with all his belongings in asmall suitcase on a station platform.”
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May 3, 2008 at 11:03 pm by amyjudd, 1321 views, 14 comments
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Comments (14)
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Janet 59 - computer playing upat 02:35 on May 4th, 2008
Paddington Bear was my favourite childhood book. I just had to buy this one recently - mind you I am 61 now!!
Janet 59 - computer playing up has contributed a photo to this story.
at 03:21 on May 4th, 2008
I had always enjoyed the stories of Paddington Bear. On a trip to England I figured I had to buy a bear in his home country while I was there.
slightly.mad has contributed a photo to this story.
at 08:50 on May 4th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's a cute story.
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Sammi Janeat 09:45 on May 4th, 2008
I snapped this photo on my way through Paddington railway station
Sammi Jane has contributed a photo to this story.
at 09:45 on May 4th, 2008
I've always liked his jacket.
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P22earlat 13:40 on May 4th, 2008
While strolling around the toy musuem of Figueres in Northern Spain, i glanced Paddington thro the door to an office. He looked like he was waiting to attend an important meeting. i would have liked to have shoke his paw but he looked like he was there on serious business.
P22earl has contributed a photo to this story.
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redsvt03at 15:31 on May 4th, 2008
I purchased Paddington Bear for my 6-year old niece. So my niece could see where he had been, I photographed PB outside of my hotel.
redsvt03 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 14:55 on May 5th, 2008
I took this in Marks&Spencer, the colours really caught my eye, and I firmly believe that all bears should be looked after.
Thiefree has contributed a photo to this story.
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lainskiat 04:32 on May 6th, 2008
In Cusco, Peru....
lainski has contributed a photo to this story.
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Cooky2at 23:36 on May 6th, 2008
This is just a little Paddington Bear, you squeeze his arms and they clip onto things. Someone gave him to my late husband who was from Brighton, UK.
So he now goes on my Christmas tree every year
Cooky2 has contributed a photo to this story.
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Ching Manat 03:35 on May 7th, 2008
Hi, this is my paddington bears.
Have a nice day!
Ching Man =)
Ching Man has contributed a photo to this story.
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mchanat 22:33 on May 9th, 2008
Happy 50th Birthday to PB!!!!!
mchan has contributed a photo to this story.
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adorable_dorat 03:07 on May 11th, 2008
Paddington Bear in Sydney.
adorable_dor has contributed a photo to this story.
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lkwrnrat 07:37 on May 12th, 2008
This picture of Paddington was taken at Paddington Station, and features a 2 metre high, great big fluffy cuddly bear!
His legacy still lives on . . . and I want him!
lkwrnr has contributed a photo to this story.