Fans of the creator of that charismatic small bear from Peru have the opportunity to send birthday greeting to his creator, author Michael Bond, who was born in Newbury and grew up in Rading, and celebrates his 90th birthday on Wednesday, January 13.
It was while serving in the Middlesex Regiment in 1945 that he wrote his first short story which sold for seven guineas – not bad for that time - to a magazine called London Opinion.
He continued to write short stories and radio plays, never thinking that he might turn his talents to writing for children, but a lonely bear left on a shelf in Selfridge’s toy department on the Christmas Eve of 1956 changed his mind.
In October 1958 the first Paddington adventure was published.
The small bear has captured the hearts of his readers since, resulting in thirty five million copies of the Paddington books being sold worldwide.
His creator was appointed the OBE in 1997 and the CBE in 2015 for services to children’s literature.
To mark this special birthday Paddington fans are being invited to send video or photo messages wishing Mr Bond a happy birthday.
A selection will be compiled into a special video which will be posted on Paddington.com and social media channels on January 13th 2016.
For more details on how to submit your recording or image follow this link
by Caroline Franklin
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