A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.
Title: A Bear Called Paddington.
Author: Michael Bond.
Country: England.
Language: English.
Publication Date: 1958.
Summary: Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington Station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same... for perfectly ordinary, every-day things things become quite extraordinary when a genuine but accident-prone bear called Paddington is involved.
My rating: 8.5/10.
My review:4
♥ Paddington looked at the drawer and then at his suitcase. "I don't seem to have very much. That's the trouble with being small - no one ever expects you to want things."
♥ He stared hard at the man, who looked away uneasily. 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.
♥ He looked round thoughtfully. "Oh dear," he said to the world in general, "I'm in trouble again." If he'd knocked all these things down, as he supposed he must have done, someone was going to be cross. In fact, lots of people were going to be cross. People weren't very good at having things explained to them and it was going to be difficult explaining how his duffel coat had fallen over his head.
♥ They all reached him at the same time and began talking together.
Paddington sat down on his case and watched them. There were times when it was much better to keep quiet, and this was one of them. In the end it was the important-looking man who won, because he had the loudest voice and kept on talking when everyone else had finished.
♥ "Whatever it is," replied Mrs Bird, "you're worth your weight in gold."
Paddington took this remark very seriously, and spent a long time weighing himself on the bathroom scales. Eventually he decided to consult his friend, Mr Gruber, on the subject.
..One day, having weighed himself carefully on the scales, Paddington had discovered he weighed nearly sixteen pounds. That was... he looked at his piece of paper again as he neared Mr Gruber's shop... that was nearly two hundred and sixty ounces, which meant he was worth nearly two thousand five hundred pounds!
Mr Gruber listened carefully to all that Paddington had to tell him and then closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He was a kindly man, and he didn't want to disappoint Paddington.
"I've no doubt," he said at last, "that you're worth that. You're obviously a very valuable young bear. I know it. Mr and Mrs Brown know it. Mrs Bird knows it. But do other people?"
He looked at Paddington over his glasses. "Things aren't always what they seem in this world, Mr Brown," he said sadly.
Paddington sighed. It was very disappointing. "I wish they were," he said. "It would be nice."
"Perhaps," said Mr Gruber, mysteriously. "Perhaps. But we shouldn't have any nice surprises then, should we?"
♥ "I'm just thinking."
Mrs Bird closed the door and hurried downstairs to tell the others. Her news had a mixed reception. "I don't mind him just thinking," said Mrs Brown, with a worried expression on her face. "It's when he actually thinks of something that the trouble starts."
♥ "You know, Henry," said Mrs Brown, as they watched Paddington go up the stairs to bed, looking rather sticky and more than a little sleepy, "it's nice having a bear about the house."