Paddington Bear’s creator, Michael Bond
died on 27 June 2017, aged 91
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This week, Ferdushi Mohshin returns to tell us about Paddington Bear, in memory of the gifted author who created him, Michael Bond.
In memory of Paddington Bear’s creator, Michael Bond
On a railway platform…
In the late 1930s and 1940s, a young Michael Bond, who would one day become the beloved author of Paddington Bear, witnessed something that would never leave him. At Reading Station, he saw Jewish refugee children, part of the Kindertransport, stepping off trains into an unfamiliar country, fleeing the unimaginable horrors of Nazi Europe.
These children, vulnerable and far from home, carried small suitcases holding their most treasured possessions. Around their necks hung hand-written labels with their names and addresses. These were fragile lifelines in a strange new world.
Decades later, in 1958, those memories stirred in Bond as he sat at his typewriter searching for inspiration. He began with a simple, powerful sentence: “Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform…”
“I remember seeing children with labels around their necks,” Bond shared in an interview. “They all had a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions… So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee”.
With his blue duffle coat, red hat and battered suitcase, Paddington Bear quietly carries the legacy of those children and their silent courage. The label around his neck, “Please look after this bear. Thank you,” is more than a charming detail: it’s a plea for safety, for kindness, for care. These are the very things every refugee child longs for and surely every human being.
Bond recalled how his family once took in Jewish children during the war. “They would often sit in front of the fire, quietly crying,” he said. “They had no idea what had happened to their parents, and neither did we.” That sorrow, that longing, that resilience became the heart of Paddington’s story.
Please Look After This Bear
Michael Bond passed away on 27 June, 2017 at the age of 91. The words etched on his gravestone are the same ones that welcomed Paddington into the hearts of millions: “Please look after this bear. Thank you.”
Devastatingly even today, millions of children are still fleeing war, persecution and unimaginable hardship from Syria, Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine and beyond. Paddington’s story reminds us that behind every refugee is a child like him: scared, brave, full of hope simply longing to be welcomed with compassion. It’s a timeless lesson and more urgent than ever; every child deserves to be looked after.
This is why World Book Day holds such special meaning for me. As a lifelong reader, books were once my sanctuary and a way to escape, to dream, to make sense of a complex world. As a mother, I’ve watched stories become a shared language between myself and my children where we explore, imagine and build values together. Now as a teacher, I’ve seen the incredible power stories have to shape hearts and minds to teach empathy, spark understanding and open eyes to other lives and truths.
Books Change Us
Reading, for me, is no longer just about pleasure. It’s about purpose. Stories are not just something we enjoy. They are something we live through. They’re bridges across time, culture and experience. Sometimes, as in Paddington’s case, they carry the deepest of truths hidden gently inside a bear’s suitcase.
I’m so deeply grateful to my children for walking this path with me, for being open to these stories, for seeing beyond the surface and for embracing the bigger lessons they carry. Their empathy, curiosity and compassion give me hope. They remind me that through the eyes of a child, whether Paddington’s or my own, we can keep striving for a kinder, more caring world.
Once again, Ferdushi, many thanks for sharing your love of reading, and why Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear stories continue to be important and necessary.
Writing Challenge
Books Change Us
Ferdushi writes openly and honestly about the power of reading, how it can change our thinking and give us insight into situations others live through. What books have had that impact on you?
For example, for me:
This week I have been thinking of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, set in Afghanistan in 1975. The comfortable life of twelve-year-old Amir is shattered when the Russians invade Afghanistan and Amir is forced to flee by hiding in an empty petrol tanker. Hosseini vividly describes Amir’s nausea and fear hidden in the complete darkness and stifling heat of the fuel-smelling tanker. As a refugee, Amir seeks asylum in the United States.
Recommended reading!