Paddington Bear heads to St Paul's in late author's last work
LONDON (Reuters) - Dressed in his red hat and blue duffle coat, Paddington Bear heads to London’s St Paul’s cathedral in late creator Michael Bond’s last book about the much-loved children’s character.
The author was working on “Paddington at St Paul’s” before his death last year at the age of 91.
In his latest adventure, the marmalade-loving bear, prone to all sorts of mishaps, visits the famed London site where, in a commotion, he is mistaken for a member of the choir.
“Paddington was always part of our lives, he was never far from his mind,” Karen Jankel, Bond’s daughter said of her father on Wednesday at an event at St Paul’s to promote the book’s release on Thursday.
“I think when he came here, the idea of Paddington coming here sort of came to him and that ... inspired him.”
The book comes out 60 years after Bond’s first story about the bear named after the London train station where he is found following his arrival from Peru, “A Bear called Paddington”.
Bond went on to write more than 20 Paddington Bear books, of which 35 million copies have been sold worldwide, inspiring two films.
Dressed in his usual attire, a Paddington Bear figure greeted visitors to the cathedral on Wednesday, where a memorial service for Bond was held in November, and children took part in an arts and crafts session.
“It would be nice to think that it would carry on for another 60 years,” Jankel said of her father’s legacy. “And maybe beyond that, you never know.”
Reporting by Lisa Keddie; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Alison Williams