The Cricket in Times Square

When I was really young, I used to listen to The Cricket  in Times Square on audio book all the time. It was a huge part of my childhood, and so I decided to revisit that this week, and listen to it once more. The Cricket in Times Square was written in 1960 by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams.

It’s a very short book, but it’s definitely one of my top books. The characters are so quaint and quirky, it’s hard not to fall in love with them. Each character is richly put together and George Selden did an excellent job in creating realistic scenarios, even with talking animals.

Occasionally, you’ll forget that animals don’t really talk, and that this couldn’t possibly be a true story. My favorite thing about this book is how well the author displays the locations in the book to you. You are able to picture every place in your mind’s eye, whether it be newsstand, drain-pipe, or Chinese novelty shop. If you enjoy reading books with incredibly rich visual descriptions, well rounded characters, and happy endings, then this book is for you!

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

 Cornelia Funke is a very well-known and widely recognized author for her Inkheart trilogy. Many people have read the books, or at least watched the Inkheart movie. However, I think her best piece is a beautiful book called Dragon Rider.

In the book, a dragon named Firedrake, a forest brownie named Sorrell, and a human boy named Ben go on a quest to find the Rim of Heaven, former home of the dragons, hidden deep in the Himalayas. But they are not alone in their search. Nettlebrand, the villainous great golden dragon, is hunting them along with his spies.

The book is masterfully written, with beautiful descriptions of mountains, rivers, and deserts. The characters are instantly loveable, and it’s incredibly creative as well, with all sorts of fabulous and fantastic creatures filling its pages. There are dragons, brownies, dwarves, fairies, and so much more!

And not only that, but Funke’s book has themes of love, compassion, bravery, selflessness, friendship, and forgiveness. It also strongly shows how good can always come from the most evil things. This is definitely within my top 10 all-time favorite books, and I hope you’ll read it and enjoy it as much as I have.