BOOK REVIEW: The Cricket in Times Square

TITLE: The Cricket in Times Square
SERIES: Chester Cricket and His Friends, Book #1 
AUTHOR: George Selden
ILLUSTRATOR: Garth Williams 
PUBLISHER: Yearling
DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 1, 1970 (first published 1960)
FORMAT: Paperback, 160 pages
GENRE: Juvenile Fiction, Classics
ISBN: 0-440-41563-2

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS:

Chester, a cricket, takes up residence in a New York City newsstand and teams up with a fast-talking mouse, a cat and the son of the newsstand owner to rescue the business from financial ruin. A Newbery Honor Book.

MY REVIEW:

I read this book aloud to my daughters. It won the Newbery Honor in 1961 and the Massachusetts Children's Book Award in 1976. I am sure that I read this as a young girl, but I did not remember it.

We all loved the book! The displaced cricket, Chester, from Connecticut is found in Grand Central Station in New York by a little boy named Mario, who takes Chester to his family's newspaper stand and builds a bed for him. Chester befriends two other creatures in Grand Central Station: a cat named Harry and a mouse named Tucker. The unlikely trio has several adventures, and they band together to help keep Mario's family from going bankrupt.

There are six other books in this series, and we intend to continue reading about the adventures of Chester Cricket and his friends!

MY RATING: 4 stars!

This book qualifies as:
#2 for my 2011 100+ Reading Challenge
#5 for my What an Animal Reading Challenge IV
#1 for my 1st in a Series Challenge 2011
#1 for my 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up