A Bear Called Paddington:
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1998 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of A Bear Called Paddington. British author Michael Bond introduced this lovable bear to the world in 1958 with his first title, and the naive-yet-adventuresome character has since become so well known on this side of the Atlantic that we forget he's named for a London railway station.
Paddington has also become a television star, which is only fitting as Bond was a TV cameraman when he bought a small soft toy bear, sitting all alone on a shelf, one Christmas Eve as a present for his wife. Shortly thereafter he wrote the first book about the bear, whom he named Paddington because he lived near the station at the time. Bond has now written 14 novels and 2 collections of short stories about the little bruin, and there are at least 70 different Paddington books in 19 languages. The sun never sets on dear old Paddington. Watch for Paddington and other familiar characters from the stories (remember grumpy Mr. Curry?) to appear in new picture books, board books, and novelty books with illustrations by Robert Alley.
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