Paddington Abroad

Michael Bond's Paddington Abroad is a funny holiday story for 7 year olds in which Paddington is put in charge of the Browns' trip to France.

What happens

This is the fourth Paddington book, and it's Paddington's first real holiday. Mr Brown hands him all the maps and something called an itinerary. Paddington isn't sure what that is until Judy explains it's a list of everything they'll do (and bears are very keen on lists).

His version starts with a large breakfast, then a "Snak", then elevenses. He spells it "EYETINNERY" because he couldn't find it under E in the dictionary. Who could argue with that?

Getting ready is an adventure all of its own. Mr Gruber lends him a pile of books and a real French beret with moth holes that he decides will do nicely for his ears. A trip to the bank to collect his savings goes so wrong that the police, the fire brigade and an ambulance all turn up. Then there's a very anxious moment at the airport when everyone remembers that bears might need passports.

Once they're in France he gets them properly lost, following signs to a town that turns out to be no town at all. The chapters run on from one to the next like a real family holiday, with Paddington feeling terrible about every wrong turn and then having a plan to make it right.

It's super gentle and very silly. The Browns are lovely with him, Mrs Bird is ready to fight anyone who's unkind to him, and his hard stares are as good as ever.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

In the first chapter a crowd in the Portobello Road decides Paddington must be a French onion seller, and one man sums up foreigners as very excitable. It's a passing joke and nobody in the story agrees with him, but it's an attitude of its time. It's an easy one to chat about if your reader picks up on it.

If your child loves a holiday story where everything that can go wrong does, this is a treat. It's especially good for anyone with a trip of their own coming up.

What to read next

If they're keen for more, Paddington at Large brings him back home to Windsor Gardens, where he's grown a garden full of enormous marrows and Mr Curry has a job for him that's far bigger than it sounds.