Printable Worksheets for The Cricket in Times Square Children’s Book

The The Cricket in Times Square (Chester Cricket and His Friends) is a wonderfully classic children’s book written in 1960 by George Selden, winning the Newberry Honor award in 1960. It tells the story of Chester the cricket, who comes to New York City from Connecticut  by accidentally hitching a ride in a picnic basket. He makes a few new friends, including a cat, a mouse, and a boy named Mario, whose parents own a troubled newsstand. He also discovers a natural talent for creating beautiful cricket music, enchanting most of New York City along the way.

I’m pleased to present a brand new set of reading worksheets to accompany this favorite book of many parents and kids. Included is a vocabulary word list based on the book, a vocabulary definitions worksheet, a word search using these words, plus two 10 question reading comprehension quizzes (multiple choice and true/false). The twenty vocabulary words are:

• Abrupt
• Accused
• Amateur
• Anxiously
• Concluded
• Disbelief
• Eavesdropping
• Forlorn
• Genius
• Glum
• Jinx
• Keen
• Knickknacks
• Leery
• Liverwurst
• Looming
• Loot
• Niche
• Scornfully
• Subway

Some example questions from the reading comprehension quizzes include:

• What does Mario do to help his family?
• How does Mama feel about Chester?
• What does Chester like to eat?
• How did Chester get to New York?
• What does Chester eat from the cash register?
• How does Mama feel about money?
• Who puts out the fire at the newsstand?