On the Trail of Paddington Bear — intransit.blogs.nytimes.com

The Paddington Bear phenomenon began on Christmas Eve in London in 1956 when Michael Bond spotted a lone toy bear on the shelf at Selfridges and, feeling sorry for it, took it home to his wife. Two years later, the first of more than 150 titles in Mr. Bond’s Paddington Bear series was published. ‘‘A Bear Called Paddington’’ shared the adventures of an anthropomorphized bear that wound up orphaned and alone on a platform at the Paddington train station with a battered suitcase, a rumpled coat and a slouchy hat, and wearing a tag that read, ‘‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’’

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