There’s really not long to go now until Paddington 2 opens in cinemas here in the UK and I’m thrilled that other people can finally see the film as I absolutely loved it. I’ve already written all about what I thought of it, but there’s another special part of the story to tell you about – Paddington Pop-Up London.
Just as soon as you’ve seen Paddington 2 you’ll understand why Paddington Pop-Up London is such a key part of the film. I don’t want to give away any major spoilers, but the Pop-Up is basically the reason Paddington ends up going to prison. It’s a beautiful book that shows off our capital city at its absolute best. But at the same time it also hides a secret. One that several people want to get their hands on.
This may all be in the film, but those wonderful people at Harper Collins have brought the book to life and you can now follow Paddington around London’s landmarks, as he shows Aunt Lucy what the city has to offer. In Paddington Pop-Up London Paddington takes Aunt Lucy to London Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament and it shows off my favourite city perfectly. The detail in this book is amazing, as are the pop-ups themselves. I’ve never seen a book quite like it. When I opened it up for the first time Little Miss C and Master C had a collective intake of breath as they London Bridge come alive in front of their eyes. Master C summed it up well with just one word. Wow.
Our copy of Paddington Pop-Up London arrived on the day that we were set to head into London to see the film and, knowing that we’d have a bit of spare time during the day, we took the book with us so that we could use it to guide us round a few of the landmarks. The children thought it was a magical idea, but what I was not counting on was the fact that we were going to find a giant version of the book at one of the landmarks.
We approached St Paul’s Cathedral as we walked from City Thameslink station and stopped to pose the book for a photograph (much to the amusement of some passing tourists) and then decided to carry on down towards the Thames to take the kids over the Millennium (or Wobbly!) bridge over the river. On our way there though we were delighted to find a giant book on Peter’s Hill, open at the page for Piccadilly Circus.
In conjunction with Visit London, five of these large Pop-Up books have appeared across the city (Peter’s Hill, More London, Bankside, Greenwich Peninsula and Paddington Station – see full details here) and they are a wonderful way of bringing the film to life – and encouraging people to explore London.
We found both children and adults eager to have their photograph taken with Paddington – and that’s before the film is even in cinemas. Everyone know and loves Paddington though. And for many visitors, especially from overseas, he’s a huge draw to London.
The kids absolutely love Paddington Pop-Up London and Master C was so keen to show it off to everyone that I had to stop him from sneaking it into his school bag for show and tell until I’d got round to writing about it. I do have to remind him to be gentle when closing the book on a couple of the pages, so as not to damage the pop-ups, but I can understand why he is so excited about it. As a child who gets to visit London relatively often I know that him and his sister love the city and having also fallen in love with Paddington 2, Paddington Pop-Up London is a wonderful way of bringing the film and the city to live again once you’re home from the cinema. It really would make the most perfect give for a Paddington fan, or anyone who just loves London.
Paddington Pop-Up London is available to buy online here ISBN 978-0-00-825452. It is priced at £25.
For full details of the giant Paddington’s Pop-Up London books and where they are can be found on the Visit London site here.
For Paddington 2 fans there are other books published by Harper Collins that also tie in with the film:
In addition the following titles also tie in with the original Paddington film:
Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Paddington Pop-Up London and the other titles mentioned above along with tickets to a screening of Paddington 2. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.
Leave a Reply