10 Things To Know About The Paddington Author

    • nitya.shukla@timesgroup.com
    • Publish Date: Jul 19 2017 1:54PM
    • |
    • Updated Date: Jul 20 2017 1:14PM
10 Things To Know About The Paddington Author

If you know Michael Bond as the recently-deceased creator of the Paddington Bear, you are missing a lot! Here’s how a one-time cameraman became a globally loved children’s author...  


The author, who published over 200 books for children in his career, put out his first-ever book about the duffle-coat-wearing Peruvian bear in 1958. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold worldwide since then. And it all started with a lone toy bear sitting on an empty shelf. 

Meet Thomas Michael Bond: That’s the real name of the author who left school at the age of 14 (he didn’t enjoy it). After quitting, he worked at a solicitor’s office, volunteered for air crew services in the Royal Air Force, joined the army (which is where he began writing), and finally ended up producing short stories and plays while working as a BBC TV cameraman.   

A lonely toy bear inspired bond to write: Bond was inspired to create the character of Paddington Bear after seeing a toy bear left on a shelf at Selfridges department store, London, on Christmas Eve in 1956. He bought it as a present for his wife and wrote the first ever Paddington book ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ which was published in 1958. 

Why ‘paddington’ the bear: In the first book, the fictional character arrived in London from the ‘darkest depths of Peru’ wearing a duffel coat, red Wellington boots and a suitcase stuffed with marmalade sandwiches. On his coat was a label “Please look after this bear. Thank you”. A fictional family, the Browns adopted the Bear and named it after the train station they found him at, Paddington.   

prolific adventures: Bond became a full time writer in 1965. In his lifetime, he wrote over 150 Paddington titles which were translated into more than 40 different languages. The last Paddington story, ‘Paddington’s  Finest Hour’, was published in April 2017. The fictional character also inspired an animated TV series and a 2014 film entitled ‘Paddington’.

More characters:  The prolific author went on to create another posse of characters and stories, who all became famous in their own right. Like ‘The Herbs’ featuring Parsley the Lion, which became a TV series. Another was the Olga da Polga, the guinea pig who loved telling tales. Bond was equally popular in the adult reader category, who loved the character of Monsieur Pamplemousse, a retired detective turned restaurant critic and his bloodhound, Pommes Frites. 


What Is Your Favourite Book That You Read As A Child. Let Us Know.

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Comments

Bhavana Jaison Atomic Energy Central School No 2

Interesting...I used to love the Paddington books as a kid.

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