| Product: |
A Bear Called Paddington - Michael Bond |
| Date: |
11.12.01 (1616 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Classic children's literature.
Disadvantages: None really (although I prefer some of the later stories).
I was very disappointed when I did a search on Dooyoo for Paddington Bear. I found exciting new restaurants in Paddington, I found Paddington Station, and I even found Agatha Christie’s “4:50 From Paddington”. But alas, no bear. No duffel coats, marmalade sandwiches or battered brown suitcases. I bet that good for nothing Pooh Bear has been the subject of loads of opinions (just kidding Pooh, I love you really) so why no Paddington? Well it’s time to rescue Paddington from the depths of deepest, darkest Peru and launch him fully into the limelight.
Having said that, I’m sure Paddington needs no introduction. I can just picture him now; his blue dufflecoat, shiny wellingtons, big hat and grubby paws clutching a half eaten sandwich. So popular is Paddington that they even have a special stall devoted to him at Paddington Station where you can buy all sorts of Paddington memorabilia. So what is it about this bear that is so appealing? Well I guess we need to go back to the very beginning …
The idea for Paddington Bear came about one Christmas Eve when Michael Bond (the author) discovered a small toy bear left unsold on a shop shelf. Feeling sorry for the neglected bear, he decided to buy it as a present for his wife. He named him “Paddington” because he was living near Paddington station at the time (or so the story goes). Bond began writing stories about Paddington Bear and in 1958 published his first volume of stories “A Bear Called Paddington”.
“A Bear Called Paddington” is our first introduction to Paddington Bear. The book opens with the Brown family discovering Paddington in the lost luggage department at Paddington Station. He’s looking lost, clutching a battered suitcase and has a “please look after this bear” label stuck around his neck. You can’t help but love him. Luckily Mrs Brown talks her husband into taking him home with them. As
Mr Brown points out, there are surely laws against that sort of thing but as this is the magical world of children’s literature we won’t worry about little things like that. We also immediately accept that Paddington is a talking bear, after all we are dealing with a very special bear.
Paddington settles happily into his new home at No. 32 Windsor Gardens, living with the Browns, their two children Jonathan and Judy, and the housekeeper Mrs Bird. Paddington, however, is a bear who can’t help but get into scrapes and each chapter involves him getting into some new disaster.
We see Paddington flooding the bathroom floor, getting swept out to sea and getting lost on the underground (he spots a sign saying “follow the amber light to Paddington” and believes it is a notice especially for him). We also see him cause havoc at the theatre and inadvertently entering a painting competition. As Mrs Brown points out “I don’t mind him just thinking. It’s when he actually thinks of something that the trouble starts”. Paddington is a bear “who likes experiences”.
In one of his first adventures Paddington is taken to buy his now infamous duffel coat in the big department store “Barkridges”. The shop assistant is wonderfully snooty, “[he held] Paddington’s hat at arm’s length between thumb and forefinger. He looked at it distastefully. “I take it the young … er, gentleman, will not be requiring this any more, Modom?”. However, as you can imagine, Paddington is more than a match for the Barkridges staff. They are more than a little scared of his stern “very hard stares” which he keeps for special occasions.
Perhaps, my favourite chapter is the one where it’s Paddington’s birthday and unwisely the Brown’s buy him a box of magic tricks. As you can imagine Paddington gets in to no end of trouble when he att
empts to put on a magic show, with broken watches and disappearing marmalade. This is one of the best chapters because it’s our first introduction to the wonderful character Mr Curry, the bad-tempered, miserly next door neighbour. Mr Curry is the perfect antithesis to Paddington’s warm-hearted enthusiasm and naivety and their exchanges are wonderful.
This is a book which I fell in love with years after I’d left my childhood behind. I found a battered old copy sitting on my Mum’s bookshelf when I was back from university for the holidays and picked it up to have a look at. I couldn’t put it down; I was enjoying it so much. My copy of this book is an old 1976 edition which has the old pen and ink illustrations from the original illustrator Penny Fortnum. I understand that the more recent editions have different illustrators and whilst I like the original ink drawings some bright new illustrations sound like fun.
Bond is a wonderful writer. He is particularly good at bringing characters vividly to life using minimal prose; snobbish shop assistants, pretentious actors, grumpy taxi drivers and irate station guards populate the world of Paddington Bear. Occasionally some of the language might seem dated now with the odd exclamation of “whizzo” and such like making brief appearances, but I think this just adds to the charm of the book. Children will delight in the mischief Paddington causes, the flooded bathroom of soapsuds, the half eaten sandwiches stuck to this coat and so do I. There’s also the clever interplay in the lively dialogue and the selfish, manipulative Mr Curry is a wonderful comic creation.
After I’d read this book I had to go and get my hands on more tales of Paddington’s exploits and luckily there’s quite a few. There’s More About Paddington, Paddington Takes the Air, Padington Abroad (perish the thought!) and countless others. I actually prefer some of t
he later stories to the first book, the adventures are more eventful and I find them even more amusing (hence the four star rating for this one, instead of five).
I find the Paddington stories to be wonderfully therapeutic, so easy to read and enjoyable. They always make me smile. Paddington Bear is an undoubted children’s classic. If I ever have children, I’ll be making sure I introduce them to Paddington Bear. So go on, take this bear home and look after him, otherwise I shall be fixing you with a very hard stare!
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