The Cricket in Times Square

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 Citythe 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 guidesand friendsthan Tucker and Harry. The trio have many adventuresfrom 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 onenot even Chester himselfrealizes that the little country cricket may just be able to teach even the toughest New Yorkers a thing or two.

George Selden (1929-1989) wrote not only the adventures of Chester, Harry, Tucker, and their friends but also The Genie of Sutton Place, which was one of School Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year.
 
Garth Williams (1912-1996) illustrated all of George Selden’s Chester Cricket books. His other distinguished work includes Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and the Little House books.

“The story of a musical cricket and his friends, a mouse and a cat of real character, who took up their abode in a Times Square newsstand . . . Most appealing whimsy with beautiful illustrations by Garth Williams.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review “Delightful reading for the whole family.”—The Horn Book Magazine
 
“This is absolutely grand fun for anyone, a nine to ninety book with the most enchanting portraits by Garth Williams.”—The New York Herald Tribune