# The Cricket in Times Square

**Author:** George Selden
**Lexile:** 780L
**Grade range:** Grades 3–5
**Age range:** 8–11
**First published:** 1960
**Page count:** 144
**Genre:** Middle Grade Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780312380038`
**ISBN-10:** `0312380038`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-cricket-in-times-square
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A country cricket named Chester lands in a Times Square subway station and befriends a mouse, a cat, and a boy who runs a failing newsstand. Selden's Newbery Honor novel appears on state-recommended 3rd-5th grade reading lists.

## Themes

- friendship
- unlikely kindness
- city life
- music

## Where this book is assigned

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **recommended** · 3rd grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 2-3 Newbery Honor](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)
- **recommended** · 3rd grade · New York — [source: NY Next Gen Standards — NYC-set novel](https://www.nysed.gov/)

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