"Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform. In fact that was how he came to have such an unusual name for a bear, for Paddington was the name of the station." Thus began the first of the Paddington books, A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond, first published in England in 1958 by William Collins. While doing some Christmas shopping in 1957, Michael Bond saw a lone bear sitting on a shelf and bought him for his wife. They named him Paddington because this was the area of London in which they were living. Michael started to write stories about the bear, which became A Bear Called Paddington, and has since been followed by a further 12 novels and countless other formats such as picture and novelty books, and some 70 titles in all which have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide in 30 languages. To the delight of all Paddington fans there is a bronze statue of Paddington on Paddington station to celebrate the place he was found.
Paddington, who is made from alpaca, is joined and surface washable. Only available in the USA, European Union and Japan.
