PADDINGTON HERE AND NOW
by Michael Bond & illustrated by R.W. Alley
In the past 50 years, very little has changed for the residents of 32 Windsor Gardens. They still live with a bear from Darkest Peru who happens to go by the name of Paddington. Moreover, Paddington is just as curious and prone to getting himself into trouble as he has always been. One minute he’s been arrested for not having a driver’s license, the next he’s given the local travel agent seven kinds of fits. Though most of the stories in this latest Michael Bond title are independent of one another, the last few tales concern a visitor from Paddington’s past and a lovely surprise for the whole family. Interior pen-and-ink illustrations by R.W. Alley act as the perfect complement to Bond’s infinitely lovable bear. Even alongside such modern details as cell phones and the London Eye, Paddington’s stories retain a timeless charm that will satisfy old fans and surely lure in new ones. Children’s literature in its finest, purest form. (Fiction. 5-10)