One of the best hours I had this summer was an instructional hour; a third grader and I worked on a diorama. We had been reading "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden. Many of my curricular ideas come from my old mentor, Sara, who believed third graders *should* be exposed to George Selden. But Sara's third graders were New Yorkers; my own third grader has never been to Manhattan (and this is amazing to me, because my student lives in Maplewood).
It's abundantly clear why "Cricket in Times Square" is a classic. First, the setting. A cricket and a mouse exchange ideas by a newsstand underneath Times Square; we're on a subway platform. The subterranean world of Tucker Mouse is wonderfully vivid; if you're a tiny mouse, then you notice every piece of detritus next to the trash can. Every candy bar wrapper is a treasure. This world is contrasted with the glamour of Times Square and Chinatown; Mario, a little boy, is the "tissue" that connects the two worlds. Next, the characters. Tucker Mouse is a fast-talking opportunist, a sort of James Gandolfini mouse. Chester Cricket is--by contrast--wide-eyed and innocent; for whatever reason, I think of a very young Elle Fanning. Occasionally, the mouse and the cricket play host to a weary older cat, Harry Cat (and I tend to think of Elaine Stritch in this role).
Third, the details. Tucker dreams of sleeping in a gilded cage. A piece of newsprint is an inadequate blanket, but a worn-out dollar bill has just the right level of softness. A piece of costume jewelry becomes the pillow.
My student and I used a hollowed-out tissue box to form the shell of the set. A cardboard rectangle divided Times Square from the subway station. One quarter of a "Magic Eraser" formed the newsstand, and little Q tips acted as trees. (I don't actually think there are any trees in Times Square, but I couldn't resist.)
When we weren't working on "Cricket," my student and I were working on "Dear Mr. Henshaw," which remains one of my favorite novels. Among the secrets of "Henshaw" is its enthusiastic tour of multiple kinds of writing: not just diary entries, but also country songs, silly rhymes, descriptive prose poems, surveys, even a portion of a movie script. This novel is a treasure trove for a teacher.
I think that George Selden and Beverly Cleary are both an inspiration--and I'm grateful for their work.
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