Book: The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

To follow up last week’s post on a book I am still unsure was a new or re-read, I have another book from my childhood—one that I can saw with certainty I have read before. How can I be so sure? I can tell you when I read it: in the fall of 1995 as a read aloud in Mrs. Lint’s Fourth Grade class. I was so inspired by the story of Chester Cricket that I insisted on dressing up as him for Halloween that year. My mom had to spray paint some fairy wings black, and I glued a bunch of googly eyes to a mask to make insect compound eyes. I am sure not a single person knew what the costume was supposed to be, but I was so proud of it. Oh the joys of being a weird kid.

Of course, that was many years ago. Obviously it is a book I enjoyed as a kid, but not one that I thought about often. Until recently: last year, it was in a pile of books to discard at the school library, as the cover was damaged and no students had checked it out in several years. I added in onto my bookshelf then, and shortly after discovered that it was among the free audio books I could access through my district online library. At only 134 pages and roughly 2.5 hours audio, this was a nice fit for a long walk on a winter day. My only regret is that the story would have been a better fit for an evening stroll in late summer or fall.

I am not quite going to claim that I loved this story, but I think that it speaks to its appeal for children by the fact that seeing it on a shelf triggered such a detailed and specific memory. I suspect the idea of the friendship between different animals held a high appeal for me. And as an adult, I still think the idea of a cat and mouse becoming friends in New York City is fitting. I did think the ending was a bit sad, with Chester becoming burnt out with something he loved and leaving his new friends to journey home—but the tiniest bit of research led to me the fact that this is the first book in a series! While I do not now feel the need to continue, I imagine that would have been valuable information to my Fourth Grade self.

Even with the somewhat sad ending, I think there is a good message there for kids: sometimes we get tired of the things we like, and we might need a break. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining story with a cozy feel to it, and a good fit reading difficulty and interest wise for middle grades. It is a little dated, having been written in the 60s, but I think it has aged fairly well.

Minka’s Thoughts: “I don’t know if I’m cultured enough to have friends that would be so fun to chase. 3 paws.”