Biography

George Selden was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and attended the Loomis School in Windsor, Connecticut. He 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 George Selden how he got the idea for The Cricket in Times Square, the first in the series of "Cricket" books and the 1961 Newbery Honor winner. "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.

The storytelling of George Selden blends the marvelous with the commonplace realities of life. It was essential to him that his animal characters display true emotions and feelings with which readers can identify. "A specific human characteristic, such as acquisitiveness in my Tucker Mouse, can be shown in sharpened, often comical exaggeration. However fantastic the adventures may be, the human truth that the animal characters embody must be clear, real, and accurate." The adventures of Chester Cricket and his friends are enhanced by the vibrant pen-and-ink drawings of Garth Williams, one of America's best-known illustrators.

George Selden wrote more than fifteen books, as well as two plays. Some of his stories have been dramatized and are on cassettes produced by Newbery Award Records. In 1973, The Cricket in Times Square was made into an animated film, which may still be seen on television.

Mr. Selden lived in New York City until his death in December 1989. He enjoyed music, archaeology, and J.R.R. Tolkien. His editor, Stephen Roxburgh, said, "Chester Cricket, Harry Cat, Tucker Mouse, and their friends celebrate the triumph of innocence and camaraderie over cynicism and selfishness. George Selden is gone, but his voice lives on in Chester Cricket's song."

Selected Works by George Selden

The Cricket in Times Square; Tucker's Countryside; The Genie of Sutton Place; Harry Cat's Pet Puppy; Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride; Chester Cricket's New Home; Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse; The Old Meadow