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The Cricket in Times Square
(Chester Cricket and His Friends #1)
by
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
...more
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Paperback, 134 pages
Published
April 1st 2008
by Square Fish
(first published 1960)
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Bug
My gentle 6yo boy loved this as a read-aloud.
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Muhammad Ahmad
This is a cricket lover book? if you cricket lover then visit
Community Reviews
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Start your review of The Cricket in Times Square
All of us writers have so much to learn from this book. If you are not a writer, skip this paragraph. If you are, or aspire to be, a writer, try this exercise: 1. Type out the first few paragraphs of A Cricket in Times Square as you read them. Feel the music in your fingers. Feel the light quickness of the sentences. 2. Turn to the end of the book (if you have read it before!), and type out the last few paragraphs. Take a moment to feel it again. You have just felt in your own fingers a little b
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I remember my third grade teacher reading this book aloud to us every day after lunch, and I remember really enjoying it, but I could barely remember the main characters when I recently picked it up again! I fell in love with it while reading it this time, it's such a charming story. I love this kind of children's book - a self-contained book with appealing characters you root for, amusing escapades, a unique and distinct setting that you grow to know and understand, and an overarching plot that
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Dec 31, 2017
Lata
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kids-and-ya,
x2017-read
3.5 stars. Would have been higher but for the kind of painful portrayal of two Chinese gentleman and of Mario's mother; they felt rather like stereotypes.
This was one of my favourite stories as a kid. I read this and "Tucker's Countryside" several times over. The characters are gentle and kind, even somewhat greedy Tucker mouse. Harry cat remains sleek and cool on this reread, which doesn't surprise me as that's what cats are. ...more
This was one of my favourite stories as a kid. I read this and "Tucker's Countryside" several times over. The characters are gentle and kind, even somewhat greedy Tucker mouse. Harry cat remains sleek and cool on this reread, which doesn't surprise me as that's what cats are. ...more
I loved this book when I was a kid. It's a good book to read right now (early September) because it ends in September. (According to the book, crickets chirp most in late summer. This book spans from the beginning of summer to September.) It is also a good book to read if you are planning a trip to New York City, or even Connecticut (Chester's original home.)
The Chinese man's accent is just awful and I cleaned it up when I read this book aloud to my son, but basically it has a good depiction of ...more
The Chinese man's accent is just awful and I cleaned it up when I read this book aloud to my son, but basically it has a good depiction of ...more
A lot to like (loved the scenes that depicted NYC in all its glory), but several instances where characters' actions rang a sour note. They acted one way for chapter upon chapter then said or did something that rang completely untrue. Took you out of the story. In a way, it felt almost like a talented self-published author's first publication. There was a lot to like but it was marred by several glaring mistakes that should have been instantly recognizable.
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Really glad to give this a reread. I read it in grade school, far away from NYC, long before I thought of living here. (Tangentially, I bought this copy at Half Price Books near Iowa City.) I know that absolutely none of the details of New York came through for me then, because they were entirely outside my frame of reference, so I was really curious about them now.
Well, 4 stars for the New Yorkiness! It really does a great job, and feels really accurate. A lot of the environment is completely r ...more
Well, 4 stars for the New Yorkiness! It really does a great job, and feels really accurate. A lot of the environment is completely r ...more
I wish I could give this book five stars instead of three. George Selden had a gift for very quickly developing delightful characters, both human and anthropomorphic, as well as writing stellar dialogue. The exchanges between Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat frequently made me laugh, and I found myself sharing some of them aloud with my husband. Garth Williams contributed fantastic art, as usual, and, while each book is totally unique, this combination of story + illustrations is on par with Mrs. Fris
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It would seem churlish to give this book two stars, but three seems generous. It's a pleasant enough diversion, I suppose, apart from its plausibility problems: Chester Cricket ends up travelling from Connecticut to Times Square in a picnic basket, gets claimed by a kid whose folks run a newsstand in the train station, and befriends a mouse who's a bit of a hustler (Tucker, the closest thing to an interesting character in the book) and a quiet, feral (in name only; he acts anything but feral) ca
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Very cute!
Love. Love. Love.
It's one of the cutest stories I can think of and will always be one of the first several books I'll recommend to a parent looking for a fun read-aloud for her five to eight year old.
Ages: 5/6+
Cleanliness:
Children's Bad Words: sucker, gosh
Attitudes/Disobedience - 2 Incidents: The cricket accidentally eats a two-dollar bill and feels very sad about it. His friend the mouse suggests various ways to hide the incident or to blame someone else to get them in trouble, but the cricke ...more
It's one of the cutest stories I can think of and will always be one of the first several books I'll recommend to a parent looking for a fun read-aloud for her five to eight year old.
Ages: 5/6+
Cleanliness:
Children's Bad Words: sucker, gosh
Attitudes/Disobedience - 2 Incidents: The cricket accidentally eats a two-dollar bill and feels very sad about it. His friend the mouse suggests various ways to hide the incident or to blame someone else to get them in trouble, but the cricke ...more
My wife and I are currently reading this book out loud to our little rascally offspring. When we started, I had a dim memory of the book from when I first read it as a child, ages ago. Selden's style and story stand both the test of time and the test of multi-generational readability.
Cricket is a delightful book, written with a gentle touch that shows both affection for the characters and readers. The characters, Chester the cricket, Tucker the mouse, Mario the little Italian news stand boy, et ...more
Cricket is a delightful book, written with a gentle touch that shows both affection for the characters and readers. The characters, Chester the cricket, Tucker the mouse, Mario the little Italian news stand boy, et ...more
I first read The Cricket in Times Square as part of a school project in fifth grade. I had high hopes for the story, as my teacher Mrs. Williams had at that point required us to read three books that are still among the best I've ever read (E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan, John D. Fitzgerald's More Adventures of the Great Brain, and Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia).
The Cricket in Times Square turned out to be another big hit. The narrative follows the misplaced Chester Cricket wh ...more
The Cricket in Times Square turned out to be another big hit. The narrative follows the misplaced Chester Cricket wh ...more
This book was dated, written in the 50s I believe, so the old Chinese man in Chinatown spoke with an "l" in lieu of "r"s ("velly" instead of "very", etc.). That was a bit on the not-so-good side and brought this book down a star, but the rest of the book was really quite sweet. There was one scene where I was actually tearing up, but mostly because I was imagining that scene actually happening, that people would all unite in silence and peace at the same moment, and be as one. It was really movi
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May 08, 2019
M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-book
Being forced to read this in school and doing the retarded homework assignments/projects related to this pretty much fucking ruined it for me.
You dun goofed, educators of the public school system. ...more
You dun goofed, educators of the public school system. ...more
This was one of my favorites growing up and I recently re-read it. Guess what? It's even better than I remember. A great adventure with engaging characters.
My Rating: 5 stars ...more
My Rating: 5 stars ...more
A truly delightful and heartwarming little tale for all ages. It touches upon themes of homesickness, prejudice, fame and friendship between Chester Cricket and his human and animal friends. The perfect story to read on the plane coming home from a New York City vacation!
This was a great all ages read aloud for my kids. It has all the things they love: anthropomorphic animals, underdog hero, and manageable moments of “oh no!” surprise. We enjoyed studying crickets as we read, too!
Omg the librarian gave this to me and said it was a Newbery winner. It was, won an honor, but my god, I only sat through it because I thought it was on the list of award winners, not honors. I should have checked more closely. I hated this book so thoroughly and I'm not sure if it was the book, or the fact that the audio recording is so divinely hideous, it belongs in one of Dante's layers of hell. The mouse sounds like a bad Gilbert Godfrey and speaks volumes louder than anyone else. The cat so
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Apr 23, 2008
eRin
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2008,
juvenile
A cricket, a mouse, and a cat are an unlikely trio--but that's the primary cast of friendy characters in this book. Chester Cricket is from the country and accidentally ends up in the Times Square subway station in Manhatten. It's there that he meets spunky Tucker the mouse and quiet Harry the cat. Chester is found by Mario, a younf boy who works at his parents newstand. Surrounded by new friends, Chester is excited to see new sights and experience new things. And his friends are thrilled to fin
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Mar 23, 2017
Calista
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
genre-fantasy,
series,
series-unfinished,
award-newberry,
classic,
bage-middle-grade,
1960s
What a lovely little book from the past. I love the innocence of the characters and the simplicity of the story. I also love that this is a cricket that plays classical violin concerto's and opera. I also love the little Chinese myth about the cricket buried in the middle of the story. I also appreciate the change in mamma throughout this quick little story. I should have read this when I was young and I'm glad I read it sometime.
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Because the Owlet fell in love with Trumpet of the Swan (we read it five times in a row!) I bought her this for Christmas. After one more go round with E.B. White we dove in, me hoping to prove that there is more than one good chapter book in the world.
There is.
Now I just need a third gentle, excellent chapter book about anthropomorphized animals who are musically inclined.
There is.
Now I just need a third gentle, excellent chapter book about anthropomorphized animals who are musically inclined.
This was a childhood favorite (I still own my original copy!) and I re-read it both to pass off a reading challenge category and because I'd been wanting to remind myself of the story. The cuteness of the story held up well. The only thing that didn't hold up was the stereotyped and possibly racist characterization of Mario and Chester's Chinese friend.
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5 stars & 5/10 hearts. Oh my heart, this book. I admit I was nearly in tears at the ending. It was just simply beautiful. So sweet, so heart-tugging, so realistic. This story was a fun mixture of the realistic and the unrealistic—along the lines of E.B. White’s books, except the humans weren't able to hear/understand the animals' talk. As far as the stuff I didn't like: the book kept mentioning crickets were lucky, and I guess it kind of promoted that idea...? It was so understated, though, if i
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Charming and cute - I somehow missed reading this and my youth. Like the title implies this story is about a cricket who ends up in New York City after getting stuck in a picnic basket. A young boy who works at his family's newsstand has never seen a cricket before and rescues a scared and confused Chester Cricket. Chester starts to live a comfortable life at the newsstand and becomes friends with a mouse and a cat. Together the trio get into mischief and discover that Chester is very talented a
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The Cricket in Times Square is not exactly a rip-off of (the far superior) Charlotte's Web; it's not even an imitation; rather, it's Charlotte's Web-adjacent. Instead of a spider, you have a cricket; instead of writing in a web, you have a cricket playing opera and classical music; instead of saving a pig's life, the cricket is repaying debt. You get the gist though. These two books are in the same fantasyland, next-door neighbors to one another, or maybe even long lost cousins. The weirdness of
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Read this aloud with my son for his One Book Blitz - a very cute book (with some dated side stuff about a man from China - an opportunity to talk about race, immigration, etc.) Very much enjoyed it and teared up at the end!
A perfect book, from beginning to end. Delightful characters, a warm-hearted story, beautifully read by Tony Shaloub. When Chester the cricket says good bye to his friends at the end of the book, it was a very emotional experience for me as well. An extremely pleasurable listening experience for me, and certainly one of the finest children’s books I have ever read or listened to.
I loved this book so much I read the back cover of my old copy off and yet I managed to give myself amnesia over the Sai Fong parts. 2020 update: That... sure was written in 1960...
[Tumblr-type post where I posit a human AU where Harry and Tucker are Chester's gay uncles introducing him to life in NYC redacted, but you're welcome, I only speak truths] ...more
[Tumblr-type post where I posit a human AU where Harry and Tucker are Chester's gay uncles introducing him to life in NYC redacted, but you're welcome, I only speak truths] ...more
What a delightful story! Sometimes, it really is good to be a kid again.
this was fine. it was not exciting in any way but good.
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George Selden (1929-1989) was the author of The Cricket in Times Square, winner of the 1961 Newbery Honor and a timeless children's classic. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Selden received his B.A. from Yale, where he was a member of the Elizabethan Club and contributed to the literary magazine. He spent three summer sessions at Columbia University and, after college, studied for a year in Rome on
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“I guess I'm just feeling Septemberish," sighed Chester. "It's getting towards autumn now. And it's so pretty up in Connecticut. All the trees change color. The days get very clear―with a little smoke on the horizon from burning leaves. Pumpkins begin to come out.”
—
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“Talent is something rare and beautiful and precious,
and it must not be allowed to go to waste.”
—
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and it must not be allowed to go to waste.”
