The Cricket in Times Square
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Author | George Selden |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Garth Williams |
| Cover Artist | Garth Williams |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Cricket in Times Square series |
| Genre(s) | Fiction, Children's Literature |
| Publisher | Yearling |
| Released | 1960 |
| Media Type | |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-44-041563-2 |
| Followed by | Chester's Countryside |
The Cricket in Times Square is a 1960 novel by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams. It won the Newberry Honor Award.
[edit] Plot
The story is based around Chester Cricket, a musically talented cricket who arrives in New York City on a train from Connecticut. He eventually makes his way to Times Square through a subway. Mario Bellini, whose parents run a financially struggling newsstand, finds Chester, takes him to the newstand and wants to keep him as a pet. Mama Bellni is concerned that the cricket will bring bad luck. At the newstand, Chester meets Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat, who spend their time scrounging the city for food and other thrown away items. During the story, Chester reveals his musical chirping talent, and eventually his perfect memory for music. Mario takes Chester to Chinatown, where he buys Chester a cricket cage from the Chinatown shop owner Sai Fong.
At one point, during a party that Chester, Harry and Tucker are having, they accidentally set fire to the newsstand. The fire is put out, but Mama Bellini is extremely angry and wants Chester to leave, much to Mario's dismay. However, at the right moment, Chester chirps Mama Bellini's favorite song, which leads her to change her mind. Later, Chester chirps classical music pieces and hymns for a music teacher, who is impressed and writes a letter to the New York Times about it. This makes the newspaper, and brings attention to the newsstand when Chester starts playing concerts there. This causes the fortunes of the newsstand to turn around, and they start selling their newspapers and magazines very well.
However, soon after, Chester becomes tired of the concerts and the attention, and he wants to return to the countryside. Tucker tries to convince Chester to stay, but Harry says that Chester should do what he wants with his life. With the advent of fall, Chester decides to go home to Connecticut. He gives a final concert that causes Times Square and blocks of New York city to fall still, everyone stopping to listen to the music. Harry and Tucker take him to Grand Central Station so that Chester can hop on to a train, and they all say good-bye.
[edit] Sequels
The book inspired the sequels Tucker's Countryside, Harry Cat's Pet Puppy, Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride and Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse.
