The Cricket on the Hearth - a novella by Charles Dickens, an English writer who is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.

John Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his young wife Dot, their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy. A cricket chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family. One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.