Showing results by author "Michael Bond" in All Categories

Paddington finds himself at a loose end, which spells trouble for the Brown family! They have lots of suggestions for jobs to keep him occupied, but Paddington’s way of doing things are not always what’s expected.

Paddington is very excited. He is going on a day trip around the city with his friend, Mr Gruber. With his suitcase full of marmalade sandwiches and Mrs Bird’s umbrella in case it rains, the bear from darkest Peru is ready for anything. Or almost. How is Paddington to know that the other tourists will think he was their tour guide? And how could he guess that they will follow him everywhere? Chaos and humour are hand-in-hand in this new story about the bear who always gets it right in the end.

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 ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is around. This fun-filled collection brings together six laugh-out-loud stories.

How is it that we can walk unfamiliar streets while maintaining a sense of direction? How can we come up with shortcuts on the fly, in places we've never traveled? The answer is the complex mental map in our brains. This feature of our cognition is easily taken for granted, but it's also critical to our species' evolutionary success. In From Here to There, Michael Bond tells stories of the lost and found - Polynesian sailors, orienteering champions, early aviators - and surveys the science of human navigation.

Living in the magical Herb Garden, Parsley the lion is never quite sure what’s going to happen to him next...especially with an excitable friend like Dill the dog around. Parsley made his debut in 1968 in the children’s animated TV series The Herbs, written by the creator of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond. Capturing the hearts of viewers, he went on to star in his own TV series The Adventures of Parsley in 1970, as well as in a series of books and on a wide range of merchandise.

But at the zoo things don't go to plan. There are some very fierce, not to mention hungry animals there. It is not Paddington they are after though, it is his elevenses!

Paddington Bear first met the Brown family at a railway station–Paddington station, in fact. He had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru with only a jar of marmalade, a suitcase and a label reading ‘Please look after this bear’. Without further ado, Mr and Mrs Brown promptly welcomed the adventurous bear into their family, and in honour of their meeting place they named him Paddington. The Browns soon discover that Paddington is a most unusual bear. Ordinary things–like having a bath–become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is around.

When Mr Gruber takes Paddington to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard, there are so many people in the way he can’t see a thing. Luckily, a mysterious someone ‘on high’ appears to like small bears…

For Paddington, one of the nicest things about being a bear and living with the Brown family is being able to share their lovely garden. And though he may not have “green fingers”, the fact that paws and marmalade are never far apart leads to some unexpectedly colourful results during National Garden Week!

From the author who brought the world Paddington Bear, comes the new book in the delightful Parisian mystery-series featuring Monsieur Pamplemousse and his canine partner, Pomme Frites. In this latest adventure, they must get to the bottom of a mystery surrounding the tarnishing of the integrity of Le Guide - France's premier hotel and restaurant guide. What they couldn't anticipate was that the case would involve a nun who is in the habit of joining the Mile High Club...

When the Browns go out for the day, Paddington decides to surprise them by baking a chocolate cake and spring-cleaning the house. However, it isn’t a good idea to try to do both things at the same time, as Paddington soon finds out.

When Mr. Gruber shows Paddington an outdoor painting exhibition he is inspired to take up a new hobby… After attending an Outside Exhibition, Paddington is inspired to take up painting himself. He gets busy with his own paints and holds his own exhibition, but is discouraged by the problems of self-portraiture – forgetting what he looks like in the mirror! Then a mystery art collector buys up his entire works. This is just the boost he needs, and he’s soon busily trying his first family portrait!

Paddington is delighted to discover that the Browns are throwing him a birthday party. But when the magic trick he performs goes awry, Paddington needs something more than a tap of his wand to set things straight.

Paddington enjoys a fun-filled day at the fair with the Browns. He tries his paw at the coconut shy, slides down the helter-skelter and even jets off on the sky-rocketing Space Craft ride! All in all, a rather exhausting day for a small bear as the fortune-teller knowingly predicts.

There’s nothing Paddington likes better than a bedtime snack. But what with nightmares, a bath in his pyjamas and a week’s worth of washing to do, perhaps eating marmalade sandwiches in bed isn’t such a good idea after all?

When the Browns take Paddington on a trip to the seaside, a storm threatens to dampen their day. Will an extra-special ice cream and some wishful thinking bring the sun out again?

Paddington is excited to be organising an Easter egg hunt for his neighbours. But, from finding empty supermarket shelves, to buying a box of broken Easter eggs, Paddington wonders if the hunt can ever go ahead. That is, until Mr Gruber’s book on Roman mosaics and some sticky marmalade give him a brilliant idea . . .

When the Browns find Paddington lying on the lawn, unable to remember where he is or even what the word bun means, they immediately realise something is seriously wrong and send for an ambulance. It’s Paddington’s first time in hospital, and the doctors and nurses soon discover that he is rather an unusual patient!

Paddington gets into a sticky situation yet again. As ever, he thinks he’s helping out, but he ends up having to be rescued when he tries to help the trapeze artists in the circus. However, he comes out on top when the audience decided that he’s the star of the show.

Fans takes the listener on a journey through a constellation of fandoms, and along the way demonstrates some fundamental truths about the human condition. Part behavioural study, part entertainment, at its heart the book is a story of collectives, of what happens to us when we interact with people who share our passions. The human brain is wired to reach out, and while our groupish tendencies can bring much strife (religious intolerance, racism, war, etc.), they are also the source of some of our greatest satisfactions.