SAUGUS — The colorful misadventures of Paddington Bear became Saturday afternoon entertainment for some local children at the Saugus Barnes and Noble bookstore.
“We have readings every Thursday and Saturday afternoon,” Barnes and Noble employee Cathy Sang said. “We always get a different amount of kids.”
Paddington Bear celebrates his 60th anniversary this year. Michael Bond, creator of the beloved books, died last June at age 91. Paddington Bear’s last outing, which Bond was working on shortly before his death, will be published this June.
Four kids gathered around to listen to Sang read the story of how the talking bear from the jungles of Peru met the Brown family in London and got into quite the mess trying to eat human food and take a bath.
Greta von Lossnitzer, 3, of Melrose and Mackenzie Burch, 4, of Saugus were two members of the small audience enjoying the story and sharing hugs with a Paddington stuffed animal.
They passed the bear back and forth, getting some quality time before passing it off in a wonderful example of sharing.
Paddington was colored in all sorts of shades as the kids made use of the many crayons offered up on the small tables, but most made sure to use red for the bear’s signature hat.
One of Paddington’s favorite foods is marmalade, which Sang described to the kids as a sort of jelly.
“I like peanut butter and jelly,” Burch said.
For Greta the story was a perfect pregame for the Patriots’ big game later that night. She was sporting a Tom Brady jersey while listening to the story.
When asked who she thought would win the game she quickly said, “Tom Brady,” a claim that proved to be correct later that night.
After the story, the kids got to draw Paddington and take home a poster for the new Paddington 2 film that was released the day before.
