"Paddington At Large" is Michael Bond's fifth collection of stories about Paddington the bear, who was discovered by the Brown family in London's Paddington Station and became a member of their family.

This anthology is less cohesive than the last two; its stories are only loosely connected, but all involve the antics of the talking bear and the trouble he gets into and out of while trying to do good.

Of the seven tales contained herein, my favourite was "Paddington Hits the Jackpot" in which the young bear appears on a television game show and outsmarts the host by explaining why each of his answers is correct, despite what is written on the host's card.

In other stories,

Paddington has a disastrous time mowing the lawn of his mean neighbor Mr. Curry;

At a concert in the park, Paddington is annoyed to learn that one of the symphonies is "unfinished"

Paddington confronts a repairman in the Brown home

A recipe for toffee proves too much for a young bear to handle

Paddington causes chaos in a department store

A local playwright recruits Paddington for his stage production in which the bear saves the day

Each story is short and each one made me smile.