Today, we met Mario, another important character in our story. He finds a cricket in the subway station and decides that he wants to keep it as a pet.
I loved the beginning of this chapter, on page 7, where the sound of the cricket is described. "If a leaf in a green forest far from New York had fallen at midnight through the darkness into a thicket, it might have sounded like that." It really showed how foreign a chirping cricket sounded in the middle of NYC. George Selden used great descriptive language there!
Mario seems to have an instant bond with the cricket. At the end of the chapter, it says "He could almost feel the cricket, snugged away in his matchbox bed, in the darkness." I like how the author chose these words to show how much Mario already loved having the cricket as a pet.
I wonder if Mama Bellini's warning about the "first sign of cricketer friends, out he goes" will come true?
Here are some questions for thought:
Some of you were so smart to point out that Chapter 1 was written from Tucker's point of view. Did this change for Chapter 2? How do you know?
How does Mama Bellini feel about Mario keeping the cricket? How does Papa Bellini feel? Do you think your mom or dad would let you keep a cricket as a pet?
Prediction: What kind of fun do you think Mario will have with this kind of a pet?
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Walker