I went off the novelty fabric deep end at the Depot the other night and bought these three Paddington Bear prints. The boys are going to FREAK. I'm thinking about placemats. I know, a tiny bear from Darkest Peru is not exactly this week's super hero, but we are all big fans regardless.
We have a few Paddington bits around the house and I try to pick up the novels used when I'm up visiting my parents. I love the original illustrations by Peggy Fortnum and I'm always on the look out for books with pictures taken from the stills of the animated show from the 70s. While I don't think we ever owned them (maybe my cousins did?), I did a little dance at the thrift store the first time I ran across one. At any rate, they are hard to find.
The reason that the boys (and Sam in particular) have a certain affinity for Micheal Bond's bear, is that we have listened to A Bear Called Paddington read by Stephen Fry IN ITS ENTIRETY dozens of time. A fact which I'm always amazed by, considering it's whimsy far outweighs its high-flying adventure.
Mr. Fry, evidently your voice soothes the beasts within and has me rifling through the "licensed character" section at the fabric store. Thank you for using your power for good.
