I read this book for the first time back in 1998 and rated it a 9. I didn’t like it as much this time for whatever reason.

The Brown family finds a small bear from the darkest jungles of Peru sitting alone on the Paddington railroad platform. They decide to take him home. Paddington is a polite, loveable bear with a penchant for getting in trouble. He overfills the bathtub and almost drowns. He gets lost in the subway station and creates havoc on the escalator. He goes shopping at a department store and knocks over the display of pots and pans in the window. The show he puts on trying to reconstruct the pyramid attracts the largest crowd in the store’s history, making him a hero. He paints over one of Mr. Brown’s paintings and wins first place at an art show. He visits the theater and goes backstage at intermission to chew out the villain. When the concept of theater his explained to him, he gets a job as the prompt boy for the night, making him a hero again. On a trip to the beach, he falls asleep and gets temporarily swept out to sea. At his birthday party, he puts on a magic show that makes the annoying next-door neighbor leave and not come back. In short, he bumbles his way through life and endears himself to everyone he meets.

Cute, and I can see why a kid would love it and want a bear just like Paddington. His penchant for getting in trouble but emerging as the hero is a gift that I would find annoying in another person, but could tolerate in a bear.