George Selden, who lived from May 14, 1929 to December 5, 1989, was a celebrated American author. He is best known for the children's novel The Cricket in Times Square, which was published in 1960.
He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and completed grade school at the Loomis School, a college preparatory institution. He went on to study at Yale University where he received his B.A. in 1951, and he was a member of the Elizabethan Club and a writer for the literary magazine during his undergraduate years. For three summer sessions, he attended Columbia University. Following his graduation, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Rome for a year. Selden lived in Greenwich Village, New York until his death at age 60, and remained unmarried.
Selden wrote numerous books about the characters in The Cricket in Times Square, though this first book was his most famous, receiving both a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and a Newbury Honor. Although he primarily wrote children’s books, he also wrote an adult novel called The Story of Harold under the pseudonym of Terry Andrews.
Published in 1960, The Cricket in Times Square is a children's book that tells the story of a cricket from Connecticut who accidentally comes to New York City after getting stuck on a commuter train. It was written by George Selden and illustrated...
