The Cricket in Times Square — Chapter 6

About This Passage

These two short sentences are doing something gentle and funny. Tucker has just been given a dollar bill from the cash register, and he treats it like a blanket — shaking it out the way you might shake out a sheet before making a bed. The author tells us the bill was 'old and rumply,' as if a piece of money were as soft and worn as cloth. By calling money 'rumply,' the author makes us see the dollar bill not as something valuable but as something cozy. Copying this passage teaches a writer how a single odd word ('rumply') applied to a normal thing (a dollar bill) can make us see the thing in a new way.

Narration Prompt

Tell someone what happened in this chapter in order. When you get to the most important part, slow down and tell it carefully — what happened, why it mattered, and what you think about it.

Discussion Questions

1. Mr. Sai Fong sells Mario a beautiful cricket cage for only fifteen cents — and then gives him a free bell to put inside. He could have asked for much more money for such a special cage. Was Mr. Sai Fong being silly to give away so much for so little, or was he being kind on purpose? What in the story makes you think so?
2. After Mario brings Chester home in the new cage, Chester says, 'I'm not so keen on staying in a cage. I'm more used to tree stumps and holes in the ground. Makes me sort of nervous to be locked in here.' Tucker Mouse, on the other hand, loves the cage and even asks to sleep in it. Why do you think the same fancy cage feels different to a cricket and a mouse? What does each animal want most?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide