num_pages: 82
description: Dickens gave his first formal expression to his Christmas thoughts in his series of small books, the first of which was the famous "Christmas Carol." There followed four others: "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life," and "The Haunted Man." The five are known today as the "Christmas Books." Of them all the "Carol" is the best known and loved, and "The Cricket on the Hearth," although third in the series, is perhaps next in popularity, and is especially familiar to Americans through Joseph Jefferson's characterisation of Caleb Plummer.The title creature is a sort of barometer of life at the home of John Peerybingle and his much younger wife Dot. When things go well, the cricket on the hearth chirps; it is silent when there is sorrow. Tackleton, a jealous old man, poisons John's mind about Dot, but the cricket through its supernatural powers restores John's confidence and all ends happily.
language: English
title: The Cricket on the Hearth
titlecomplete: The Cricket on the Hearth
characters: May Fielding, Tackleton, Mrs. Fielding, Tilly Slowboy, Caleb Plummer, Bertha Plummer, Mary Peerybingle (Dot), John Peerybingle
genres: Fiction, Holiday, 19th Century, Classics, Victorian, Christmas, Literature, Short Stories, Fantasy, Audiobook
ratings_count: 7012
places: England
publisher: Wildside Press