After Chester Cricket is inadvertently transported via picnic basket from his rural Connecticut home to New York City, he becomes the much-loved pet of a sweet, responsible boy named Mario, whose Italian-immigrant family is trying to make ends meet running a news stand in Times Square. With help from his newfound four-legged friends, Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat, this musical insect helps his adoptive family in their quest to achieve the American Dream. But in spite of the winged-instrument-playing critter becoming the talk of the town, he can't shake the feeling that...there's no place like home. That gained in the book on CD, with the most offensive part, the kind Chinese storekeeper's stereotypical language (rs substituted with ls) replaced with Chinese-accented English, is lost in the portrayal of Chester's musical talents, which is better left to the imagination.

The Cricket in Times Square, G-rated and with excellent illustrations, is an uplifting, inspiring story of friendship that is best when read aloud to your favorite six to eight-year-old bookworm. Also good: The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell, and Frederick by Leo Lionni.

This book was a favorite from my youth. Since my kids are becoming readers, I thought it would be great for me to read this book to them. They loved it. A story about a cricket who can play amazing music; and his two friends the adorable cat & mouse. It was a walk down memory lane to read this book to my kids.

Still a classic. I remembered this book from when I was a child. My daughter (7) is now enjoying it on her own. I would say it's a upper elementary reading level but a great way to learn more.

received item within days of ordering
book is in great condition just what seller said.
i would buy from them again.

I love this book.

I understand it is a stereotype of the Chinese immigrant man. However, every single Chinese immigrant I know has trouble with the Rs and Ls in English, and I live in a big city surrounded by many immigrants.
Chinese Americans do not have this problem.

Tony Shalhoub (of Monk and Wings fame) does an excellent job narrating this story. His voices are right on. The cricket's voice is a little annoying, but he doesn't talk much, and he's a cricket.

I read this story when I was a child, and when my daughter read it at school a few years ago, I was so happy that she enjoyed it as much as I did. We've all (even my 4 year old) enjoyed this audiobook as well.

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.

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.

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

This book portrays very old racist stereotypes of Chinese people. It portrays Chinese people as speaking in stereotypical accents with all r's replaced by l's. It portrays Chinese people as not knowing when to stop bowing to each other. It portrays Chinese people wearing Japanese Kimono's. If you MUST buy this awful ignorant book, do not let your child read it without teaching them about the racism and teaching them how not to be as ignorant.

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.

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.

Oldie but goodie. Both of my children had to read it for school. It was very enjoyable.

A readable book with authentic characters that a youngster can relate to, although the book is quite old. Unlike so many current books that are PC with some sort of "message", this book is just a straight ahead story.

My 2nd grader and I listened to the audio book on a long drive, and then he read the book himself early in third grade. It is a quiet, slowly-unfolding story, with memorable characters, as well as a great tribute to "old" New York City. Characters include a very realistic Italian immigrant family who own a newsstand underground at a subway entrance, an elderly Chinese man, exotic to the young lead boy character, yet approachable and very kind, and a host of helpful and sometimes mischievous animal life that gets particularly busy when no humans are around, including of course, the cricket with a talent for opera singing.
My son and I are voracious readers, and we rate this evocative, tender, and imaginative story in our top 5 of all time, along with classics like Charlotte's Web.

This book gives you a warm feeling inside as you settle down to read this tale. It is a good rainy day book. The ending is somewhat, well different, but it doesn't leave you sad or hanging. I would recommend this book to other thirteen-year-olds. It is not way to easy, or overly difficult to read. I would actually reccomend it to ages 11-14. All in all it is a good beginning book for a series of entertainment.

My 5th grader enjoyed this book! It was necessary to read for a school project due in September. The book was read in 1 day by my child.

This was a big hit with our three-and-a-half year old. It was the second chapter book I read aloud to him, and perfect for his age. As other reviewers have noted, the tense scenes are minimal, all the characters are appealing (although there is a bit of ethnic stereotyping), and the themes of friendship and loyalty are positive.

This book was very cute. It has very, very few scary situations, and it features the always-popular theme of talking animals, so it would be a great read for youngsters. It reminded me a lot of "Stuart Little", which is a good thing. Themes of strong friendship run through the story, and there are no mean or evil characters. The plot is whimsical and amusing, and stars characters that are wholesome, yet still funny and varied. The book is a little too short and easy for older readers, but it's a quick treat that'll leave you smiling.

This is my favorite childrens book, I love the story and the wonderful Times Square setting. The drawings by Garth Williams are some of the best of the genre. The innocence of the period is heartwarming and the characters are unforgetable. I can remember the excitement I had reading this book as a child, I could not wait to get home from school to read more, when I think of this book I always smile and return to my youth and it lifts me up. It is always the first childrens book I recommend it is that special.

I think this book is a very interesting and adventurous story. The characters that appear are a cricket, Chester, who came from Connecticut and a boy, Mario, whose parents run a newsstand in Times Square Station in New York where a mouse, Tucker, and a cat, Harry, are living. Chester is shy, Tucker is a good joker, Harry is funny and cool, and Mario is a very nice and responsible boy. Tucker is my favorite character. They get in a lot of mischief but they try to solve the problems helping each other.

In my favorite part of the book, Mario goes to Chinatown because he doesn't know how to take care of Chester so he goes to the Chinese man called Ms. Fong who tells a story that crickets are a symbol of good luck. But Chester sometimes brings Mario's family bad luck instead.

You may feel sad when Chester gets homesick and wants to go back to Connecticut because four of them become best friends eventually. I'll never forget this book, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the story. I also read another book called Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books about Chester and his friends.

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Hi my name is Ted. I love this book. it is my life. i read it in fourth grade and i am now a junior in high school. i just reread it yesterday. everyone should read this, because it will stay in your heart forever.

We think it's a great book. We enjoyed reading it. It's sad and kind of exciting at the same time. We recommend this book to other third graders, although other kids may like it, too.

This was a nice children's story about a country cricket named Chester who accidentally finds himself taken to New York City. There he is rescued from a pile of dirt in Time Square's Subway station by a little boy named Mario, and he takes Chester in. Mario and his mother and father, Mr. & Mrs. Bellini, own a news stand at the station and that becomes Chester's new home. While he is staying at the stand Chester meets a mouse named Tucker who lives next to it in a drain pipe, and a cat named Harry, and they all become great friends. Tucker and Harry tell Chester all about New York, and make him feel welcome. Mario has never seen a cricket in New York before, and he really isn't sure how he is supposed to care for one, so he looks for some advice. He remembers seeing some cricket cages in Chinatown, so he goes there with Chester to find some information about crickets. There he meets a wise old Chinaman named Mr. Fong. He informs Mario that the Chinese believe crickets are good luck and tells him a story about the first cricket. The story Mr. Fong tells is about a man who knew all things, and spoke only truth, but his enemies wanted to kill him for speaking the truth. The gods loved him so much however that they wanted to protect him, so they turned him into a cricket. They say that now even though people can not understand the cricket song, it still fills them up with love because it still speaks of wisdom and truth. After that Mr. Fong and Mario become close friends. He sells Mario a cage, gives him a present of a bell for his cricket, and tells him he can come back anytime to take leaves from his tree to feed the cricket. Mario returns home and they are all happy for a while, but rather than bringing the Bellini's any good luck, Chester seems to bring only bad instead. Several accident's ensue, caused by Chester, Tucker, and Harry Cat. It looked like Mama Bellini was going to want to get rid of Chester, until they discover that he is a musical genius who can play any song perfectly. People then come from all over New York to see Chester play. This makes Chester very famous, but not very happy. As the season changes Chester has a dilemma on his hands as he becomes very homesick and wants to return to Connecticut, but he doesn't want to leave Mario, and his other new friends. My girls who are six and seven loved this book. This seems to be the first book in the series by George Selden, and there appear to be other adventures of Chester, Tucker, and Harry, that we'll have to go out and pick up next.