The Cricket in Times Square

After Chester lands, in the Times Square subway station, he makes himself comfortable in a nearby newsstand. There, he has the good fortune to make three new Mario, a little boy whose parents run the falling newsstand, Tucker, a fast-talking Broadway mouse, and Tucker's sidekick, Harry the Cat. The escapades of these four friends in bustling New York City makes for lively listening and humorous entertainment. And somehow, they manage to bring a taste of success to the nearly bankrupt newsstand.

>An Excerpt from The Cricket in Times Square

      The three of them jumped down to the floor. The crack in the side of the
      newsstand was just wide enough for Harry to get through. As they crossed
      the station floor, Tucker pointed out the local sights of interest such
      as the Nedick's lunch counter--Tucker spent a lot of time around there--and
      the Loft's candy store. Then they came to the drain pipe. Chester had to
      make short hops to keep from hitting his heed as they went up. There seemed
      to be hundreds of twistings and turnings and many other pipes that opened
      off the main route, but Tucker Mouse knew his way perfectly--even in the
      dark. At last Chester saw light above them. One more hop brought him out
      onto the sidewalk and there he gasped.

      They were standing at one corner of the Times building, which is the south
      end of Times Square. Above the cricket, towers that seemed like mountains
      of light rose up into the night sky. Even this late the neon signs were
      still blazing. Reds, blues, greens, and yellows flashed down on him. And
      the air was full of the roar of traffic and the hum of human beings. It
      was as if Times Square were a kind of shell, with colors and noises breaking
      in great waves inside it. Chester's heart hurt him and he closed his eyes.
      The sight was too terrible and beautiful for a cricket who up to now had
      measure high things by the heights of his willow tree and sounds by the
      burble of a running brook.


From the Trade Paperback edition.