So he isn't exactly forgotten, after all, The Cricket In Times Square is a Newbury winner and bestseller. However, many people are not familiar with the other books he has written. George Selden was the pseudonym for George Selden Thompson, born in 1929 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was educated at the Loomis School and then later attended Yale University, where he joined the Elizabethan Club and the literary magazine. After Yale he then studied in Rome on a Fulright Scholarship for a year.
Selden describes the way he thought of the idea for The Cricket in Times Square as follows:
"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.
He wrote several sequels and other books in the series including Tucker's Countryside, Harry Cat's Pet Puppy, Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride, and The Old Meadow. His other books includeThe Genie of Sutton Place, Oscar Lobster's Fair Exchange, and Sparrow Socks. In 1974, under the pseudonym of Terry Andrews, Selden wrote the novel The Story of Harold, the story of bisexual children's book author's various affairs, friendships, and mentoring of a lonely child. (clearly not a children's book.) Selden died in 1989.
1 comments:
I may have forgotten the author, but I have never forgotten his book "Sparrow Socks" and the endearing black & white illustrations with stripy white and red bird socks. I couldn't remember the title or author but my husband finally managed to track it down by Google and I hope to get a copy for my kids to enjoy.
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