Charming personified animal characters, good story.

books:


	• The Cricket in Times Square George Selden, Garth Williams (Illustrator) Yearling, 1970 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 114 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

A bug and his buds

This is a fun book. It's a nice book to read a chapter at a time as a bedtime book, because nothing particularly stressful or traumatic happens. The chapters are reasonable short and benign. There is tension, there is some drama, there are rich characters struggling with their individual challenges. But there aren't many chapters ending on cliffhangers that will leave young readers or listeners feeling unsettled.

The strength of the book is the warm friendship between a displaced country cricket, a scheming but kind-hearted urban rodent, and an unflappable feline. There is also the human protagonist, Mario, a young boy who labors in Grand Central Station at his parent's newsstand. Mario's family dynamic, with the passive dad and the hard-boiled, derisive mother, sets up a nice juxtaposition. We see the sweet sap of childhood innocence standing its ground against a well-meaning but distrustful adult world.

I bought this book to read to my kids because I remember loving it so much as a little kid myself, both the book and the filmstrip adaptation, which I believe I can picture myself watching in an overcrowded mobile home that was functioning as a second grade classroom.

There's one distressing flaw to the book, which I don't remember from my own childhood because I wouldn't have noticed or cared at the time, but there is a part of the book that takes place in China Town, where it feels as if the story gets a dose of 1950's borcht belt race humor. The wise old Chinese man's dialect is achieved by switching every `R' into an `L.' As is "Vely solly." Since I was reading it to my kids, I just improvised a little and avoided doing the accent, but if an older kid is reading the book for themselves it merits a discussion. A little social-historical context.

That aside, we had a great time reading this book. The part I am asked to reread is when Chester Cricket, while dreaming that he is home eating leaves, waked up and realizes he's half-chewed through a two dollar bill borrowed from the newsstand register. There's brief panic and then excited brain-storming with his mammalian accomplices. As always, some credit goes to my unsubtle vocal performance, and I'm sorry, you can't buy that at Amazon. But it is funny stuff.

for more information click here

Charming book

I preview all of the books I assign to my kids to read. I enjoyed this one. Vivid descriptions allowed me to vividly imagine the scene and hear the music the cricket plays. This is a book I will have my 11 and 13 year-old read.

for more information click here

Charming personified animal characters, good story.

My daughter loved the book, and we have given copies of it several times as birthday presents, to 7-9 year old friends. I bought this CD as a gift for my 7 y.o. nephew, who wanted Books on CD so could listen in the car. This is a quality children's story, which adults can enjoy too. A good adventure, without buying into a whole series and marketing machine! Boy and Mom love The Cricket in Times Square book on CD.

for more information click here

Beautiful reading of a classic

An engaging dramatic reading of this fabulous animal adventure and story about friendship. This is great for a car trip.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

After Chester, a cricket, arrives in the Times Square subway station, he takes up residence in a newsstand. Between escapades in New York City, Chester and four new friends manage to bring success to the almost bankrupt newsstand.

hot