One of our Books of the Year 2014 The classic story of Paddington Bear, so called because the Brown family first meet him on Paddington Station and decide to take him home. Paddington Bear has travelled all the way from Darkest Peru with a label round his neck that reads: “Please Look After This Bear”. Paddington Bear is a most delightful companion but he is not exactly house-trained and having him living with them brings the Browns all sorts of adventures. Stephen Fry reads the accompanying CD brilliantly.
A Bear Called Paddington CD & Gift Book Edition Synopsis
A new edition and CD pack.
"A bear on Paddington Station?" said Mrs Brown in amazement. "Don't be silly - there can't be." The original story of Paddington, the classic bear from Darkest Peru, read by Stephen Fry. The Browns first meet Paddington on a railway station - Paddington station, in fact. He has travelled all the way from Darkest Peru with only a jar of marmalade, a suitcase and his hat. The Browns soon find that Paddington is a very unusual bear. Ordinary things - like having a bath, travelling underground or going to the seaside become quite extraordinary, if a bear called Paddington is involved.
Paddington will come to our cinema screens in time for Christmas 2014. David Heyman, best known for his work with Harry Potter, will produce this major new release which sees Nicole Kidman join a stellar British cast including Hugh Bonneville, Peter Capaldi and Sally Hawkins. See the trailer on www.paddington.com
Praise for the Paddington series: 'I've always had great respect for Paddington... He is a British institution. Stephen Fry
'Paddington has joined Pooh as one of the great bears of English children's literature.' The Teacher
'Michael Bond's accident-prone bear...has become one of the most enduring of children's characters.' The Bookseller
Author
About Michael Bond
Michael Bond 13 Jan 1926 - 28 June 2017. Born in Newbury, Berkshire, England he was educated at Presentation College, Reading. During World War II Michael Bond served in both the Royal Air Force and the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army. He began writing in 1945 and sold his first short story to a magazine called London Opinion. This experience helped him decide that he wanted to be a writer.
Michael Bond never thought of writing for children but, after producing a number of short stories and radio plays, his agent suggested that he adapt a television play for children. His first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published in 1958 by William Collins & Sons (now HarperCollins Publishers). At the time, Michael Bond was working as a television cameraman for the BBC.
After the first Paddington book was accepted, Michael Bond went on to write a whole series and by 1967 his books were so successful that that he was able to give up his job with the BBC in order to become a full-time writer.
In 2015, Michael was awarded a CBE for his services to children’s literature, to add to the OBE he received in 1997.
In 1997 Michael Bond was awarded an OBE for services to children’s literature and this was followed by a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2015.
For the last 37 years of his life Michael Bond lived in London, not far from Paddington Station where it all began. He continued to write until shortly before he died on 27th June 2017, aged 91.
