George Selden

George Selden (1929-1989) was the author of A Cricket in Times Square, winner of the 1961 Newbery Honor and a timeless children's classic. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Selden received his B.A. from Yale, where he was a member of the Elizabethan Club and contributed to the literary magazine. He spent three summer sessions at Columbia University and, after college, studied for a year in Rome on a Fulbright Scholarship. People often asked Selden how he got the idea for The Cricket in Times Square. "One night I was coming home on the subway, and I did hear a cricket chirp in the Times Square subway station. The story formed in my mind within minutes. An author is very thankful for minutes like those, although they happen all too infrequently." The popular Cricket series grew to seven titles, including Tucker's Countryside and The Old Meadow. In 1973, The Cricket in Times Square was made into an animated film. Selden wrote more than fifteen books, as well as two plays. His storytelling blends the marvelous with the commonplace realities of life, and it was essential to him that his animal characters display true emotions and feelings.
Newbery Honor Book
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The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden--Audiobook Excerpt
Listen to this audiobook excerpt from George Selden's classic children's book The Cricket in Times Square, read my Tony Shalhoub. 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 City—the 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
Share ThisHarry Kitten and Tucker Mouse
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Illustrated by Garth Williams
FSG Books for Young Readers
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
"From the wryly humorous opening, in which the infant Tucker Mouse chooses his name, to the satisfying warmth of Tucker and Harry's defense of their drainpipe home in Times Square, the characters...are as vibrant and joyful as ever...Wonderfully expressive black-and-white illustrations." --Publishers Weekly
"A splendid prequel to The Cricket in Times Square." --The Horn Book
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Chester Cricket's New Home
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Pictures by Garth Williams
FSG Books for Young Readers
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
When two rather stout ladies sit on Chester Cricket's home in the Old Meadow, the worm-eaten stump collapses and Chester, aided by his friends, is forced to look for a new home.
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The Old Meadow
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Illustrated by Garth Williams
FSG Books for Young Readers
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Chester Cricket and his friends from the meadow have to help poor old Mr. Budd. He and his dog Dubber have to move out of their quiet corner of the Old Meadow because it has been named a historical...
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The Genie of Sutton Place
George Selden
FSG Books for Young Readers
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Tim turns to his dead father's diaries for some occult wisdom to help him keep Sam, a beloved mongrel his aunt has banished from their apartment. What he finds is a spell that summons the genie Abdullah from a thousand years' captivity in a woven carpet."-Starred, Booklist
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Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse: Starring Harry
My Readers
Story by Thea Feldman; Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov; Inspired by George Selden and Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
Favorite characters from The Cricket in Times Square star in another fun new adventure for beginning readers.
Harry Cat loves the theater. One night he jumps...
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Harry Cat's Pet Puppy
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; illustrated by Garth Williams
FSG Books for Young Readers
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse try to find a permanent home for a young stray puppy they have befriended in Harry Cat's Pet Puppy.
This sequel to the beloved...
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Tucker's Countryside
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Illustrated by Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
Chester Cricket needs help. That's the message John Robin carries into the Times Square subway station where Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse live. Quickly, Chester's good friends set off on the long,...
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Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse: Harry to the Rescue!
My Readers
Story by Thea Feldman; Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov; Inspired by George Selden and Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
My Readers Level 2: Tucker Mouse is trapped and Harry Cat is trying to rescue him in this all new story created especially for beginning readers based on characters from The Cricket in Times Square.
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Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse: Tucker's Beetle Band
My Readers
Story by Thea Feldman; Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov; Inspired by George Selden and Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
My Readers Level 2: Tucker Mouse is managing a beetle band in this all new story created especially for beginning readers based on characters from The Cricket in Times Square.
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Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse / Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Illustrated by Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
See how Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse became friends and then soar above the city with Chester Cricket and Lulu Pigeon in these delightful companions to The Cricket in Times Square.
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The Cricket in Times Square
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Illustrated by Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
A mouse, a cat, and a cricket take a bite out of the Big Apple.
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Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride
Chester Cricket and His Friends
Written by George Selden; Pictures by Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
"The fourth adventure in the Cricket in Times Square saga is aimed, through its large format and full-page illustrations, at younger readers." --Booklist
"It's a sure bet that the new Selden/Williams fantasy will be another enduring bestseller." --Publishers Weekly
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Un Grillo En Time Square
Chester Cricket and His Friends
George Selden; Pictures by Garth Williams
Square Fish
Square Fish
"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." --Starred, School Library Journal
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