A Bear Called Paddington

I think I was seven when I

met Paddington. My son is ten.

I tried to introduce them earlier,

but it didn't take. This time there's

a bit more of a connection.

What's interesting lately is how much

more my son both withdraws and engages

during reading. Pauses are longer, and

when I read (we alternate pages) he often

wraps up in a blanket and doesn't look

(I sometimes resist this by having him

read Paddington). He also will act out

parts of the story (crawling for "Paddington

crawled on his paws") and comment on or

question parts of the story.

I do not know how 

much he is retaining, I do not quiz him.

I want this to be fun, or at least funnish.

Paddington has fewer and less clear

pictures (the word "thunder" made him

think that Paddington was under an

umbrella and not a bowl) than I usually

choose. But this is such a good and 

enduring story, I feel it's worth a bit

of effort. The story itself is clear and

doesn't have a lot of difficult emotional

or cultural concepts to decode.

Here's his review:

Paddington was a bear.

But Paddington was also the train station

I didn’t like the man when he didn’t know 

about the bear’s name.

Still, he was called Paddington.

I liked the part when he was in hot water.