Reviews: (by author)

Bond, Michael. Paddington At Large. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. $15.00. ISBN 0-3959-1294-6.

Another set of gently amusing adventures by Paddington Brown, the young gentleman bear whose life in London always seems to lead to small disasters. But things always turn out well for Paddington. The trip to the hospital isn't caused by a horrible illness; it's caused by homemade toffee in the fur. He causes havoc in the department store basement while giving a pancake-flipping demonstration. But it turns out that the pancake batter all over the customers' coats helps sell the spot-remover at the demonstration table next to his and Paddington. Grumpy people are properly stared down by Paddington's little bear eyes, while good-natured people treat him with affection and respect. And at the end of the day, there's always a marmalade sandwich or two tucked into his hat.

The Paddington books are really charming. Paddington's difference is more often the occasion of admiration than dismay, and he feels quite at ease in the parks and shops and homes of London. Despite the London setting, these books have more the feel of a small town; Paddington lives in a community of people who know each other well and get along together. The book is rather loosely plotted. None of the adventures depend the previous events, so this is a good book for children who have trouble following complicated plots. It might make nice bedtime reading over, say, two weeks. It is a quite conventional, reassuring, pleasant little book and one that many young children would enjoy.

Recommended reading level: Age 7-9

Reviewed by Jamie Madden

Bond, Michael. Paddington On Top. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000 (originally published in 1974). 133 pp. ISBN 0-618-07041-9. $ 15.00.

Paddington the bear from Darkest Peru used to be one of my favorites, but the new encounter with him in this "revised edition" (I have not compared it with the old, so I cannot judge the scope and nature of revisions) was a disappointment. While the other famous literary bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, is eternal, Paddington feels slightly outdated. The reason is apparently the lack of depth in the stories. Basically, they are conventional "naughty child" stories, and although the size and disposition of the lovable bear certainly adds to the book's appeal, it does not tolerate repeated reading, as do the Pooh books.

Reviewed by Maria Nikolajeva

 

Back to Reviews A-C