Cricket Chirps Pure Magic

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Dear Saralinda*:

The children's authors who achieve immortality are those who can take something ordinary and common and transform it into something magical. It is this transformation that George Selden accomplished with The Cricket in Times Square, a novel that has been weaving its magic to generations of children since 1960.

I first became enchanted with this book when I was a pre-teen and I recently returned to the magic when my son and I listened to it on tape while driving down to see your cousin graduate from Marine boot camp.

It has many elements that stamp "children's literature" all over it, but I hope you won't let that dissuade you from taking a journey through its pages.

Of Insects and Rodents

The Cricket in Times Square is the story of Chester, a cricket from Connecticut who finds himself in a Times Square subway station. He is rescued by Mario, a boy who works at his parents' news stand. Mario thinks crickets are lucky and wants to keep him as a pet. His parents reluctantly agree and Chester's adventures begin.

Once Mario leaves for the night, the cricket gets to meet the other denizens of Times Square, primarily Harry the Cat and Tucker Mouse. Both become fast friends with him and the trio gets itself into no end of mischief.

Chester, though, has a special gift that keeps him from being dumped in the trash. He is able to play music like no other creature Times Square has ever seen. He has perfect pitch and is able to recreate everything he hears on the radio. This, as you can imagine, creates quite the sensation.

Sweet Stories

While every story must have a conflict, there are no ogres in this story. Even Mama Bellini, the woman who insists several times that the cricket has to go, is a benign antagonist. The conflict comes in a country cricket adjusting to city life and the way innocent errors can cause harm and heartache to others.

The story is fast-paced and can be read quickly. George Selden creates characters that we like and sympathize with. He infects us with both their joy and their melancholy. We feel Chester's longing and we empathize with Mario's friendship and loss.

The Cricket in Times Square is easy to befriend and it is a friendship that is all the more precious when it is revisited many years later.

Love,
Aunt Bridgette

I'm reading and reviewing juvenile fiction in search of books that my niece would enjoy. With each book that I send her, I'm enclosing a letter sharing my experience with the book. After I strip out the strictly personal information that the letters contain, I'll post them here as reviews. After all, my goal in the letter is to encourage her to read the book and make her experience with it more enjoyable, perhaps I can do the same for you.

* I've changed my niece's name to protect her identity. Saralinda is a name I borrowed from another beloved children's book. She's the princess in James Thurber's The 13 Clocks. --B. Redman