By Linda Serck
The Peruvian bear who landed at Paddington Station actually can trace his origins to Newbury, the birthplace of his creator Michael Bond. Now, the little bear is donning his duffle coat and heading to the town's racecourse for a special party.
Paddington Bear hails from darkest Peru, never goes anywhere
without his duffle coat and hat, is a bit accident prone and is very fond of
marmalade.
The little bear, one of the most popular characters in
children's literature, is the creation of Michael Bond, who was born in Newbury
on January 13, 1926.
Now, the bear is celebrating his 50th anniversary by
visiting Newbury Racecourse to hold a special teddy bear's picnic at the annual
Family Fun Day on Sunday 3 August.
Children are invited to bring along their favourite teddy
bear and share some of Paddington's favourite marmalade sandwiches.
But what are the origins of this world famous bear?
Michael Bond was educated at Presentation College in
Reading. During his time as a BBC cameraman he landed on the idea of Paddington
Bear after he bought his wife a bear toy.
"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."
His first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published in
October 1958 and Bond went on to write a whole series.
By 1967 his books were so successful that that he was able
to give up his job with the BBC in order to become a full-time writer.
"The great advantage of having a bear as a central
character is that he can combine the innocence of a child with the
sophistication of an adult.
"Paddington is not the sort of bear that would ever go
to the moon - he has his paws too firmly on the ground for that. He gets
involved in everyday situations. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and
doesn't take kindly to the red tape bureaucracy of the sillier rules and
regulations with which we humans surround ourselves. As a bear he gets away
with things. Paddington is humanised, but he couldn't possibly be 'human'. It
just wouldn't work."
The Paddington books have sold more than thirty-five million
copies worldwide and have been translated into over forty languages.
In 1997 Michael Bond was awarded to OBE for services to
children's literature. He is married with two adult children and lives in
London, not far from Paddington Station.
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