My mother gave me a Yearling paperback copy of A Bear Called Paddington one year for Christmas. In Chapter Three, Paddington journeys into the Underground where he is trailed by a pack of dogs (this has to do with a piece of bacon stowed in the bear’s suitcase), involved in a nasty altercation with a ticket inspector, and attempts to run up a down-escalator. The whole business (pack of dogs, bacon in a suitcase, trouble with the authorities, wrong way on the escalator) struck me as hilarious. I dog-eared page 45 (“Paddington turned and tried to run up the escalator, but it was going very fast, and with his short legs it was as much as he could do even to stand still.”) so that I could easily find my way back to that scene, and so that I could laugh out loud whenever I wanted.
Just yesterday (when I was looking for another book), I pulled Paddington off the shelf and the book fell open to the dog-eared page. I read it. I laughed out loud. What an excellent, excellent gift.

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