Michael Bond - Definition

Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appears in 11 books by Michael Bond.

Paddington is an anthropomorphised bear, and in the illustrations resembles a teddy bear rather than a real bear. He wears a duffle-coat and wellingtons.

Like Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest he was found on a railway station (Jack Worthing being found at Victoria). To be precise he is found at Paddington in London, coming from "deepest, darkest Peru" and with a note attached to his coat reading "please look after this bear, thank you". The Brown family takes him in and the stories follow Paddington's adventures and mishaps in England. He is notably fond of marmalade sandwiches. He is a clumsy bear and always get things wrong, however he is known to "try so hard to get things right". The fictional Brown family live at the address of 32, Windsor Gardens which is close to the Portobello Road.

First published in 1958:

• 11 novels, 2 collections of short stories
• many appearances in picture books & other publications
• merchandise (such as stationery aimed at the school market).
• televised by the BBC and produced by Michael Bond. (This was a mixture of stop-motion puppetry and two-dimensional background animation. Animator Ivor Wood also worked on The Magic Roundabout and Postman Pat.) The series was narrated by Michael Hordern, who was later knighted, although probably not just for that reason.

Street traders on the Peruvian shores of Lake Titicaca now offer tourists home-made finger-puppets of Paddington.

Paddington's influence on fashion has been limited to his hat. At Paddington's first appearance, the upturned brim at the front of his crush hat was irretrievably gauche, By the end of the 1990s it had become de rigueur among Sloane Rangers.

External links

• http://www.paddingtonbear.co.uk/
• BBC Paddington theme tune (http://www.cobweb.nl/wcoumans/paddington.wav)