Summary
Tucker is a streetwise city mouse. He thought he'd seen it all. But he's never met a cricket before, which really isn't surprising, because, along with his friend Harry Cat, Tucker lives in the very heart of New York City--the Times Square subway station. Chester Cricket never intended to leave his Connecticut meadow. He'd be there still if he hadn't followed the entrancing aroma of liverwurst right into someone's picnic basket. Now, like any tourist in the city, he wants to look around. And he could not have found two better guides--and friends--than Tucker and Harry. The trio have many adventures--from taking in the sights and sounds of Broadway to escaping a smoky fire.
Chester makes a third friend, too. It is a boy, Mario, who rescues Chester from a dusty corner of the subway station and brings him to live in the safety of his parents' newsstand. He hopes at first to keep Chester as a pet, but Mario soon understands that the cricket is more than that. Because Chester has a hidden talent and no one--not even Chester himself--realizes that the little country cricket may just be able to teach even the toughest New Yorkers a thing or two.
The Cricket in Times Square is a 1961 Newbery Honor Book.
George Selden Thompson was born in Hartford, Connecticut on May 14, 1929. He graduated from Yale University in 1951 and studied in Rome for a year on a Fulbright Scholarship. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 15 children's books and 2 plays under the name George Selden. His first book, The Cricket in Times Square, was published in 1960. It won a John Newbery Medal in 1961 and was made into an animated film in 1973. His other works include Tucker's Countryside, The Old Meadow, and Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse. He died from complications from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on December 5, 1989 at the age of 60.
(Bowker Author Biography)
