The cricket on the hearth

"To have a Cricket on the Hearth, is the luckiest thing in all the world!"... Or is it? On the hearth in the home of the Peerybingle family sits a little cricket who acts as their protector. When everything is good, it chirps. When it is not, it keeps quiet. But there is more to the cricket than meets the eye. A Holiday classic this popular story is the third of Dicken's five Christmas themed stories, and is a heartwarming tale full of vivid descriptions. For fans of Valentine Davies, Hans Christian Andersen and all things Christmas. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English author, social critic, and philanthropist. Much of his writing first appeared in small instalments in magazines and became widely popular. Among his most famous novels are "Oliver Twist" (1839), "A Christmas Carol" (1843), "David Copperfield" (1850), and "Great Expectations" (1861) - all adapted to either plays or major movie productions.