Paddington Goes to Town (Paddington #8)

Genres Childhood, Fantasy, Classic

7.5/10

One of the many sequels to Paddington’s adventures, in this one Paddington gets to discover the (relative) joys of gold with Mr Curry and explores the magic of Christmas with the Browns.

Highlights

It’s more of the same but that’s comforting here
A more obvious continuity between chapters
The way Paddington is treated can feel a bit off/hostile
A perfect read with hot chocolate around Christmas time

Can I add much to review this book without repeating everything I said in A Bear Called Paddington review? Not really, it’s pretty similar in tone, rhythm and style as the first book. The same characters are present and the chapters still revolve around Paddington discovering something new or getting himself into a new situation and the consequences of that. It’s still fun, it’s still cute and with this book partially taking place around Christmas time it was a perfect evening read whilst tucked under a warm blanket and a hot drink as it starts getting to freezing temperatures in the UK.

There are some changes in how the chapters link up though. Despite the continuity between books and chapters still being loose and the books being readable in almost any order (I mean I read the 8th entry here completely skipping everything between 1 and 8), some of the chapters here directly reference a previous chapter and in a way that does help story structure. It felt like if Michael Bond at a slightly larger idea for a story he didn’t force himself to make it fit in a small chapter and simply rode along and split it in two with each chapter still telling a satisfying rounded mini-story if one wanted to take a break.

The one negative point I noticed and the reason I score this book a bit lower than its predecessor is that the way people were treating Paddington felt off, like most characters had lost all patience for him and even the Browns show a degree of negativity around what Paddington might do. In a way it is realistic, Paddington does get into a lot of trouble and fundamentally having a child aged bear run amok in a hospital pretending to be a doctor would be unnerving to most but it also takes a bit of the child magic away. I’m probably overcritical here and/or overthinking it but reading Mr and Mrs Brown immediately going to fear and frustration as soon as Paddington wants to do anything new just didn’t quite fit the comfy vibe I was otherwise hoping for.

Nevertheless, it’s Paddington, he always gets his joyful ending regardless of how much people might be annoyed at him before and it still works as a book for children that also works for adults.