Ahh Paddington, where to begin with this most splendid and fabulous of bears.
Paddington has been a firm favourite for generations and I fondly remember reading each and every new Paddington book as soon as I could get my marmalade-covered paws on it as a wee nipper.
It goes without saying that as soon as I could pass the torch to Charlotte I made sure she enjoyed some of Paddington's adventures in book form, so we were utterly delighted to hear that Michael Bond wasn't done with his most famous creation just yet - and at the grand old age of 90 he's written yet another fantastic Paddington book.
"Paddington's Finest Hour" could be just that too, it's a fabulous knockabout tale that once again sees this 'ordinary bear' doing the most extraordinary things, with all the trademark wit and beautiful timing that Bond has always had in his children's stories.
Paddington tussles with the police (but don't worry, he's such a polite soul that it's sure to be a huge misunderstanding rather than anything to do with surreptitious marmalade sandwich theft), he appears on a TV cookery show and also uses one of his trademark hard stares on a would-be hypnotist.
Reading a recent interview with Bond, he is extremely protective and yet suitably humble about his fabulous furry friend Paddington, and made it absolutely clear that he'd hate to think of anyone trying to write new Paddington stories after he's gone.
With that, I wish him a very long and prosperous life way beyond his nineties. There are times where you feel that this is Bond's swansong, that he's bowing out but wanted to do so on a big bang with this brilliant book but secretly both Charlotte and I are hoping that there'll be a few more yet.
"Paddington's Finest Hour" by Michael Bond with illustrations by Peggy Fortnum and R.W. Alley is out now, published by HarperCollins Children's Books. (kindly supplied for review).