How to Be More Paddington: A Book of Kindness: The perfect gift for fans of Paddington

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This wonderful book is nothing less than absolutely delightful and I believe that everybody could afford to Be More Paddington. I have read this by myself and also with my two year old; it is a gift to the both of us and one to be treasured always. Confronted by a problem, I often find myself wondering how he would deal with it, and mentally take note of his advice. He takes delight in the small things, he is always grateful, he gives everything his best shot, he is unfailingly polite. This book is a sweet compilation of gentle thoughts and words to live by from the books, reminding us to be innocently wise and kind and well-intentioned just like Paddington Brown, even though the results may be mixed.

I’m thoroughly embarrassed to admit that this was my first experience of reading about Paddington bear. I must admit that Paddington Brown really does hold a special place in my heart so this book could not be more perfect.From winning the hearts of the Brown family, to sharing elevenses with Mr Gruber and lending a paw around the neighbourhood, Paddington always tries to do his very best for others…even if there are a few well-intentioned mishaps along the way! Bond also wrote culinary mystery stories for adults featuring Monsieur Pamplemousse and his faithful bloodhound, Pommes Frites. You can even imagine him getting in a muddle with the hand sanitiser and the face masks of the pandemic. Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire on 13 January 1926 and educated at Presentation College, Reading. This will be what I turn to when in need of cheering up, or in need of comfort, and who else to provide this but Paddington himself?

But while it would be easy for Paddington to have become hopelessly dated, instead he seems to represent us at our best. Over the past few years of seeking out Paddington stories for my own child, I have found the newer R W Alley illustrations strangely jarring - this is not the bear that I grew up with. We bought it for a couple of friends for Christmas and I had a flick through to check the content was good enough! From arriving in London and winning the hearts of the Brown family, to sharing elevenses with Mr Gruber and lending a paw around the neighbourhood, he always tries to do his very best for others… even if there are a few well-intentioned mishaps along the way!My son has a 'My First Paddington' gifted by some lovely friends and a Paddington car seat toy which he has found variously amusing and terrifying. It had been a lot of hard work but he was glad it had all been worthwhile—even if there was a lot of mess to clear up. Peggy Fortnum's wonderful illsutrations are accompanied by lines from various Paddington books by Michael Bond. I recognised images that clearly accompanied stories from my son's own collection - I do understand why publishers felt the need to modernise.

How to Be More Paddington is more celebration of this fantastic character's warmth than sincere self-help but it is incredibly special nonetheless. Indeed, so many of the values and points of manners which are so important to Paddington feel like they belong to a different age. He served in the Royal Air Force and the British Army before working as a cameraman for BBC TV for 19 years.

This is an extremely minor point though and I can understand why this aspect of his character would be trickier to include in a book that is just a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Explore Paddington’s unique and universal take on life in this very special collection of warm words about friendship, family, love, laughter … and everything in between.

Paddington was brought up to show good manners and he will not engage with those who fail to treat him with the same - he knows how to employ a good Hard Stare. In 2015, Michael was awarded a CBE for his services to children’s literature, to add to the OBE he received in 1997. Despite Paddington and his duffle coat being quite so iconic, he has gone through quite considerable change.The illustrations of Peggy Fortnum are charming and took me right back to my first encounter with the illustrious ursine fifty years ago.