"Michael Bond recalls in his own words how Paddington first came into being:

"I bought a small toy bear on Christmas Eve 1956. I saw it left on a shelf in a London store and felt sorry for it. I took it home as a present for my wife Brenda and named it Paddington as we were living near Paddington Station at the time. I wrote some stories about the bear, more for fun than with the idea of having them published. After ten days I found that I had a book on my hands. It wasn’t written specifically for children, but I think I put into it the kind things I liked reading about when I was young."

Paddington had my heart for many, many years. I feel in love with him when he visited my school library, I think I was in kindergarten. It is nice to go back to the first story ever written and get to know him all over again.

thanks for the heads up jennifer