LIMBONG: Michael Bond was born in 1926 in England. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It said simply, please look after this bear. Brown, who spots a label around the bear's neck. The bear shows up in a train station in London with not really much of a plan. LIMBONG: This is the audiobook of Thomas Michael Bond's first installment, 'A Bear Named Paddington' (ph). UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I used to live with my Aunt Lucy in Peru, but she had to go into a home for retired bears. (SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, 'A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON') And NPR's Andrew Limbong has this remembrance.ĪNDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: Paddington Bear arrived in England illegally in need of a home. Well, Michael Bond died yesterday at the age of 91. Usually he's got on a rumpled hat and duffel coat, and he loves marmalade.

A couple of years later, Bond turned him into a children's book character, a scruffy little guy who's prone to accidents but who means well. It was 1956, and he bought it for his wife. Please scroll down to see our current stock of books written by Michael Bond, including first editions and signed copies.The story goes that Michael Bond saw a teddy bear around Christmas in a British department store. Bond also wrote for an adult audience, including a series of comic detective novels in the Monsieur Pamplemousse series, but he will probably forever be associated with a furry bear in a battered hat. Initially published in small numbers, the book became very popular and Paddington went on to have further adventures for the next 50 years. In 1958 Collins agreed to publish his first book, entitled A Bear Called Paddington and engaged Peggy Fortnum to provide the illustrations. He started writing shortly after the end of WWII, and succeeded in having various short stories published. Bond grew up in Reading, Berkshire and frequently visited the railway station to watch the trains go through on their way from Paddington to the West coast – his life long love of trains undoubtedly had an influence on the naming of his most famous fictional character. Thomas Michael Bond is perhaps best known for his series of books about the well-mannered and well-meaning Paddington Bear.

Michael bond books