The Cricket In Times Square

George Selden Thompson, known professionally as George Selden, was a Connecticut native like Chester. Selden was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1929. He attended Yale University, where he studied English and classical literature, and attended Columbia University for three summer sessions. Selden earned a BA from Yale in 1951. He also received a Fulbright Scholarship and studied abroad in Rome for a year. Unlike Chester, Selden decided to make New York City his home.

Selden wrote nearly 20 books and two plays, most intended for children. Selden’s first popular children’s book was The Garden Under the Sea (1957), about a lobster and his ocean friends who want a fair trade from people who are taking shells from their beach. The book, later reprinted as Oscar Lobster’s Fair Exchange, was successful and prompted Selden to write another book with engaging animal characters. Selden describes how he got the idea for his most famous title:

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 (“George Selden.