Michael Bond

Thomas Michael Bond, CBE (13 January 1926 - 27 June 2017) was an English writer of children's stories; his best-known creation is Paddington Bear.

A Bear Called Paddington (1958)
Quotations are cited from the 1st US edition (New York: Dell, 1958).


 * "There aren't many of us left where I come from." "And where is that?" asked Mrs. Brown. The bear looked round carefully before replying. "Darkest Peru."
 * Page 9.


 * The bear bent down to do up its case again. As he did so, Mrs. Brown caught a glimpse of the writing on the label. It said, simply, PLEASE LOOK AFTER THIS BEAR. THANK YOU.
 * Page 10.


 * Paddington had a very persistent stare when he cared to use it. It was a very powerful stare. One which his Aunt Lucy had taught him and which he kept for special occasions.
 * Pages 53-54.

Criticism

 * Paddington…has become a part of the folk-lore of childhood, not because he appears in a great or even a particularly good book, but because there is something in his personality which lodges permanently in the imagination.
 * Marcus Crouch The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel in England, 1945-70 (London: Ernest Benn, 1972) p. 107.